We finally did it; went on our trip to Chattanooga that was aborted on December 30 with the truck accident. We finally had a rain-free weekend, it wasn't hot (breezy, sunny, jacket weather with the jacket open over a sweatshirt later on, although it was in the high 30s this morning), and traffic was passable (a little more hairy coming home).

Up at 7:30, we had breakfast and I walked Tucker, then we made sure he and Snowy had breakfast and water, then we used the hand truck to walk the four boxes (there were originally three) out to the truck, put them in the back, tie the lids on (since I don't have work to get boxes from anymore), and then set out.

I drove up there and I have to say it was a treat. When we had the chair lift put on the old truck, it became a bit hard to drive; it would sway slightly from side to side. So we had the mechanic put on heavy-duty shocks in the back. That helped, but it was still a bit unbalanced. Either this truck was built more solidly or it's just because it's newer or the company that originally owned it had it upgraded, because it is nicely balanced and you can hardly tell the chair is back there at all. A very smooth and even drive.

We got to McKay's about eleven, unloaded our books, and then commenced to browsing. The place was quite crowded and there were no carts or baskets when we got there, so I had to get shopping bags out of the truck. When I went back to get our credit-or-cash when our number was posted on the board, my jaw dropped because they offered me so much in cash, so I took it, along with a little bit of credit. And we only got about half of one box of books back (will donate them to the library for their booksale), too. Plus we didn't bring much home: James got mostly CDs (the band Yes, some bagpipes and marches, and part 2 of the Carl Stalling project) and a couple of books. I got a brand-new book I can't mention because it's intended as a gift, two "Live It Again" books from "Good Old Days" magazine (1940 and 1948), Alistair Cooke's One Man's America (which I'd never seen  before), Bill Mauldin's autobiography The Brass Ring, a book of correspondence from pioneer women, This Victorian Life (written by a woman who dresses and lives in a Victorian fashion), and the Babylon 5 season-by-season handbook we were missing (season four), a "Dear Canada" book, and a "Dear America" book.

We got out of there about 1:30 and immediately headed for City Café for lunch. Even at almost two o'clock they were still crowded, and we had to wait while other folks who came in behind us got seated in booths because of the power chair. But finally we got to chow down: their wonderful savory (and not overly-salted) chicken noodle soup (with broken-up spaghetti in it instead of noodles like my mom and aunts made), a salad, and I had an open-faced turkey sandwich and James had open-faced meatloaf. We had to take half of it home, because their portions are so big, and I bought two more soups to take home as well.

Finally we went to the Hamilton Mall to check out their Barnes & Noble. Why is it everyone else's B&Ns are always better than the ones in Atlanta? This one has so many more books! I bought the second Lilly Long mystery (which no one near us carried), Walter Lord's book about Dunkirk, and a travel book about a man and his girlfriend who just drop everything and backpack around the world. Wouldn't that be a wonder?

Traffic was a little techier on the way home and James' ankle was bothering him, but we got back unscathed after having a wonderful day and spent the remainder of the evening watching The Incredible Dr. Pol. Why is it any time we watch lately they are gelding something? 😀

Labels: books, excursions, food, music

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