Presently we're in the small town of Alma, Georgia, and just treated ourselves to some down-south bbq at Smokey's. We haven't received our next load yet so we're taking advantage of the library to update ourselves with a few things online!
We were at the TA truck stop north of Atlanta on I-75 Saturday evening and took a stroll to a nearby foodmart advertising bbq (unfortunately the bbq place had closed years ago). While inside the foodmart, we observed two large crockpots filled with boiled peanuts. Huh? What on earth is a boiled peanut and who decided this would be a good thing to do? The clerk was kind enough to let us have a taste-test of the regular and spicy variety; they boil the peanut in its shell with spices or just plain water. It's a mushy mess, but kind of tasty. Has anyone ever heard of this southern delicacy before? :-)
While we were in training, neither of us were able to make it to Sunday Mass. Since we had a long period of time in which to deliver this load, we requested permission from dispatch to botail (i.e. drive the tractor without the trailer) to a nearby town 15 miles away to attend Sunday Mass. Thankfully they said yes! It was such a blessing to be able to attend; the congregation was welcoming and the priest was top-notch in his celebration of the Liturgy and in his homily. He greeted us afterwards asking, "Are you two of mine, or just passing through?" A nice shepherd to his little flock. We also received a nice treat: the second communion song was "O God, Beyond All Praising", a beautiful hymn which Ben and I had set for our gathering hymn at our wedding (but unfortunately wasn't played). I'd never heard it played before so it was a sweet blessing from above!
One of these days when we get a little more time on the internet I hope to post some things from our training weeks and first starting out together. We'll also get some pictures up of our rig (a Peterbilt!) and of the various sights we get to see everyday as we travel across this great country. Stay tuned and keep us in your prayers for our safe journeys!
God bless,
deb & ben
