My recent trip to Atlanta

It had been decided months ago that we would drive 8 hours to Minneapolis, stay the night in a hotel and then fly to Atlanta the next morning. The drive was interesting...meaning there was a little bickering and one incident of gas tank drainage resulting in a 45 minute wait for CAA. We were about 1 hour away from our hotel when the van began to loose speed. It was ok, most of us just kept our cool and decided to eat dinner while we waited.

On the drive, I found one thing quite weird and a little alarming. Any bodies of water we drove by in Minnesota were surrounded by dead trees. The water was so full of algae that it killed all trees in and around the water. Made me think twice before I drank their water.

Everyone else (Jer's parents, brother and Mike) had left on an earlier flight so Jer and I shopped a little at Mall of America. After an hour I was done though. I've never been too fond of shopping.

As we received our boarding passes...we realized that we were sitting on opposite ends of the plane. I was totally annoyed at first, but it was kinda nice to have some down time. When we arrived in Atlanta, we hopped onto a clean Marta train so I was happy. I thought that they had finally replaced the old smelly ones that I remember from the last time we were out there. But, I later found out that the smelly ones were still in use. They smelled so bad that I felt disgusted any time my skin happened to touch anything on the ride. It smelt like someone had urinated all over the carpet, daily, for years. Ew! Not my fondest memory.

The day after we arrived...it all started. The 3 hour sessions 3 times a day. The first day I was a complete grump because I was more worried about our money situation than pretending to be happy and excited about being there. The sessions were too long for me. I was very fidgety and my attention span just barely made it. Thanks to hand held Yahtzee and my ability to daydream. I did get some good things out of the sessions...but I was not "gung ho" like everyone else there was. So I felt very much like an outsider for the most part.

I do believe that Primerica sells good products and genuinely cares for the consumer; Something most companies don't consider. Some would argue against that, but this is what I have come to believe, through research, information from "Primericans" and also through observing how each agent talks about what they have done for their clients.

The highlight of my trip: Visiting with my "brother from another mother". This was the second time I met up with him. Him and his wife are great people. Nick was adopted by a family in Ontario when he was almost a year old. His official adoption date happened to be the day I was born. I wish they lived closer. I could see us getting along very well.

The day we began our treck home...I was so glad! This was where the "I want to sleep in my own bed" feeling set in. I get a little annoyed when I'm around tons of people for long periods of time too. I guess I like my own space.

All together, the trip was alright. I can't say that I'll do it again for sure. Atlanta is a great city when you put aside the bums and the stinky Marta train. The architecture is interesting and the people are very friendly, even the bums. If they ask you for money or food and you don't have any, instead of swearing at you (Manitoba bums are all about the swearing) they'd say "God bless". It was sad to see how many homeless people there are in the city. So many would crowd around the church to sleep at night.

If I visit again, I'd like to see the Coke Museum and the Aquarium. I did get to go to IKEA though. So that made up for everything.