Atlanta/Warm Spring

Friday 2 May 2008

Well, there’s not a real lot to say about today as we left Warm Springs to drive back to Atlanta for an overnight stay at the airport Hilton before flying off to Washington, DC tomorrow morning. We did have a final farewell with Greg Schmieg and, in response to a variety of questions, showed him an actual map of Australia. It’s hard for American’s to reconcile the size of Australia compared to the relatively small population we have. However, Greg is now keen to reciprocate the visit and I’ve already been working on an itinerary for him. Before we left, Greg presented us each is 2 books – one, the story of a well known polio survivor and the other, a book on FDR at Warm Springs – as well as a copy of the “Warm Springs” DVD which I’m pleased to be able to add to my resources. If you haven’t seen this movie, let me assure you that it is very inspiring and a good watch. I already have 2 copies, and I’ll be happy to loan them out on my return.

The only notable thing on our return was a half hour traffic jam on a 6 lane highway that, when it finally cleared, we could see no reason for. With Jill’s expert navigation, we managed to find our way to the Hilton to unload our bags, then back to the rental company where we said goodbye to the convertible. Someone must have been smiling down on us because, just as we thought we would have to climb aboard a shuttle bus to take us back to the airport, then catch another shuttle from the airport to bring us to the Hilton, the staff decided to drive us directly back in one of the rental cars. Jill’s wheelchair speaks volumes!

I had contemplated going into Atlanta proper, but decided to spend the afternoon uploading photos to the website and catching up with my nearest and dearest with whom I had been out of contact with due to the lack of cell phone coverage in Warm Springs. Jill also spent the time productively by completing “Jill’s Jottings”, which I will be uploading with this report.

What awaits us in Washington, DC? Hopefully, we’ll be able to do a bit of sight seeing . . .