Georgia on Our Minds

We've been playing catch up this past week and thus didn't get a chance to update our blog until now. On June 10th Clint and I were able to fly out to Atlanta, Georgia (with no kids) for a week of business and vacation. After flying into Atlanta we drove to South Carolina where Clint did some work. As soon as he was done working we hit the road. Clint served his mission in South Georgia so we took our rental car and toured his old mission sites. After 1500 miles on the road I felt much more familiar with his mission and the stories that he has been telling me for the past 7 years.

The first place we stopped was actually in South Carolina where he had a chance to serve in Bluffton and Hilton Head. Hilton Head is a resort island but his accomodations there were quite the opposite. The place he stayed was nicknamed the "Roach Coach". The name tells it all. Unfortunately that particular trailer had been taken down but I took a few pictures of similar ones.

This was the local dumpster. I thought it was amusing.

Near where he was staying was an inlet from the ocean. Clint tells me it is called Bluffton Beach. I can gaurantee you that I would never see anyone with a beach ball and towel there to soak up some rays. In the picture all of the little things that look like rocks are really hermit crabs. They are EVERYWHERE.

In Bluffton we were fortunate enough to catch a family that Clint had gotten to know pretty well while serving there. The husband's nickname is "Barefoot Barry" because he never wears shoes. He had nicknamed Clint "Reverend Sorefoot" while he was there. Since then Clint has used rev_sorefoot for e-mail addresses and other computer-related user names.

Near Bluffton, South Carolina is Savannah, Georgia. I was very excited to visit that area. I had heard that it was very beautiful and full of history. We had a really good time there. We spent a few hours on the river walk and spent some more time walking and driving along the squares. It wasn't as beautiful as I was hoping but I had probably built it up too much in my mind. My favorite part, weirdly enough, were these huge, crooked staircases that led from the river walk to the road. As you can see Clint had to take a work call so we took a break on the stairs and I was lucky enough to be asked by an old, drunk bum in the alley to reset his "new" watch that he had just purchased for a dollar. After I did it he argued with me for a few seconds that I hadn't set it to the right time.

After Savannah we made our way to Southern Georgia. It is so green. I love the trees but driving through them for 1500 miles can get boring! The highlight of the trip was visiting with a family that Clint had spent a lot of time with in his first area. He was even fortunate to teach their niece who was baptized. They live in a really small town and live on a street bearing their name. The parents live at the end and almost all of there family live nearby. We were lucky enough to have almost all of them (even those who live out of town) there while visiting. They fed us dinner, let us pick blackberries, and had us stay to play games with them. It was a blast!! Here is a picture of Clint with this wonderful family.Overall it was a wonderful trip. Clint and I had a great time together and it was fun to visit the places where he served and grew to love. I really feel like I understand him better because I have visited these places and I am really grateful that we were able to do so. My mom had the kids while we were gone and they did great. But by the end of the trip I was VERY anxious to see and be with them again.

This kind of stuff is much cuter when you've been away from your kids for awhile!

The day before we left for our trip Clint wanted to prove to me that he knew how to sew a pillowcase. I had bought some fabric a few days earlier but wasn't sure how to go about it and Clint was trying to tell me how because he claimed he knew and had done it before.. I was skeptical. Later that night I had been downstairs and when I came up this is how I found him. The pillowcase turned out great!