{"id":1481,"date":"2025-01-19T08:15:59","date_gmt":"2025-01-19T13:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gassett.info\/david\/?p=1481"},"modified":"2025-01-22T09:46:57","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T14:46:57","slug":"a-trip-without-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gassett.info\/david\/2025\/01\/19\/a-trip-without-you\/","title":{"rendered":"A Trip Without You"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

January 17-19, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SL, Adam and I decided to take a quick trip up the cabin in Blue Ridge<\/a> where David and I spent so many wonderful days and made the sweetest memories doing everything from exploring the towns, light hiking, grilling out, making fires in the fireplace, looking for bears, watching the stars, entertaining ourselves watching Lifetime movies, and just being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I knew it would be difficult, but we all thought it would be good to get out and Adam has not seen the North GA mountains in his visits here. We went on Friday, stopped for a few supplies and went in my favorite antique consignment shop that moved from Ellijay. We enjoyed looking around at all the variety of stuff. We picked up some takeout and then ended up playing card games for a few hours after we got settled in. It had snowed a few days before and made for nasty dirt roads to the cabin, but we managed to make it up the rutty, muddy, icy hills intact. The tonnage of mud caked on my car notwithstanding,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday, it was supposed to rain but we had planned to drive into Tennessee and then up to Lookout Mountain<\/a> to Rock City<\/a>. When we got up it was so foggy, but we decided to go anyway. The drive over to Rock City took around an hour and a half and we had no problem finding something to talk about the whole way. Adam shared his playlists with us and even some music he created using his lyrics and AI generated melodies. He is a pretty damn talented lyricist and not a bad guitar player although he would say otherwise. \u00a0We made it up the mountain and it was even more foggy up there. Rain was more of a light mist and it was cold but we bundled up and it ended up being a nice day anyway. At least the weather matched my dreary demeanor now. We couldn\u2019t see the amazing views of the \u201c7 States\u201d but the fog made for some pretty interesting atmosphere. David and I had been a few times over the years, and I wanted to go back and take Adam. David said he had been there and done that, but I know he would have enjoyed it again. We missed him. It was weird being on a trip without him. Very weird. I didn\u2019t like the feeling and was sad but tried to just keep moving telling myself what he would have been saying about this or that and pictures he would have been taking. I got separated from the kids for a little bit so I had some time to walk around alone. That was also a weird feeling and just how it is now. Being alone. It just feels so strange after all these years of someone literally by my side. We shopped in the gift shop and I got a patch for David\u2019s bag he carried around. He would grab a patch if there was one when we were visiting someplace like that. Now I just have to figure out how to sew it on because he was the sewer.\u00a0 I also bought a coffee cup. I don\u2019t know why. I don\u2019t drink coffee and he isn\u2019t here to continue his collection of mugs, but I just felt like I should to remember him. He would have liked this one too. We bought some fresh candy fudge and headed back to Blue Ridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, we slept in a bit then decided to head on back home because more snowy weather was coming in that night. We didn\u2019t want to get stuck on the mountain. They wanted to stop at Expedition Bigfoot: The Sasquatch Museum<\/a> on the way out, so we did that and it was a fun little stop. Another thing David and I said we should do one day and didn\u2019t. We were always in a hurry to get to the cabin and act like teenagers with their parents gone for the weekend, I guess. At the museum, they allow you take all the pictures you want, so I took a bunch of the signs and articles to read later. David was a big fan of the 99% Invisible podcast<\/a> and we listened to it frequently on road trips. One thing we both learned from Roman Mars <\/a>early on is always read the plaque<\/a>. It became a mantra to the show and also to us. This is something SL learned from listening along with David also, and we make sure to stop and always read the plaque even if we don\u2019t have a lot of time and need to take a picture to read later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We made it back home in good time since there weren\u2019t many people coming through Atlanta at that time. Always feels like some sort of major accomplishment when you can cruise right through 75 without stopping.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was sad and felt very lonely seeing people coupled up the whole weekend, but I am glad we went. I did confirm that I toss and turn away from home without him just as much as I do at home.     <\/p>\n\n\n\n