A Tagalong Tale

Part 2...Shopping Day

If you read a few days ago, you know that I spent the latter half of this week on a tagalong adventure with my traveling husband. Bright and early Wednesday morning, he took off in the car to make some money.  Not long after, I left the hotel on foot to spend it.

It's a system that works for us.

Compared to the rest of the country, we’re having a heat wave. It was a sultry 41 degrees with a slight wind when I headed out that morning.

 I stepped out across the road...

And across the parking lot...

And through the trees
and across yet a busier road...

Can you see it?

You didn't think I went to Atlanta for the specialty shops, did you?

When you live half way between

Podunk and East Bumble, 

you are just as happy as a clam  

to get to

Bed, Bath, and Beyond

and

Target.

We don't have either one
within an hour us.

I blame Walmart.

But then, I blame Walmart  for everything.

I covered every inch of those two places

Taking pictures of things that struck my fancy.

Then I meandered on down to Kirklands

and did the same

And then to  Marshalls…

And then Steinmart…

 

In one store, and out another

All the way to the next intersection.

There, I pushed the button and waited.

And I waited.

And I have a question: 

 Does that angry red hand ever turn into a happy green walker?  It never did for me.  I finally just gave up and did a serpentine across four lanes at the most opportune moment. 

It was worth the risk, though. Across the street was a mall at least twice the size of the ones in Podunk and East Bumble. Fortunately, the food court was at my end, and that’s where I was headed.

'Cause nothing fortifies like a Styrofoam clam shell full of teriyaki chicken...

After lunch, I meandered through the mall, hitting every store with a home department. An hour or so later, I emerged from Dillards, clear on the other end.  I was a bit disappointed in what I had found so far so I decided to pioneer forth in another random direction.

I was certain I had spotted a Home Goods on the way to the hotel.

 

 Since I’m directionally challenged, I used Dillards as my North Star. As long as I could turn the head and see it in the distance, I knew that I could find my way back to that mall.

So I walked…
And I walked...

And I walked…

Good thing it was all downhill with a bit of a tail wind.

I finally reached the outpost and was rewarded with not only a Home Goods, but a Michaels and a TJ Maxx to boot. I sat for a few minutes to catch my breath and locate the North Star.  Then, I photo shopped some more.

Personally, I think Manuela is almost as cute...

By 5:00, I was pretty tuckered out so  I gave the husband a call to see if he was close enough to swing by and pick me up. 

Unfortunately, he was still an hour away.   I had little choice but to head back towards the hotel on foot.

Uphill.
With a bit of a head wind.
After a full day of photo shopping. 
I'm pretty sure the temperature was dropping too.

Bless my heart, I finally made it all the way back to the food court.

Now folks, with all that meandering, there is absolutely no way to determine how many miles I put in that day. Therefore, I estimated around a hundred.  And I figured that any 49 year old woman who walked a hundred miles, uphill, with a head wind, deserved a skinny decaf caramel macchiato. 

So I ordered one.

I watched as a besotted barista attempted to make my order while making time with the pretty young gal at the counter next to me. I worried that I might end up with a macchiato that was neither skinny nor decaf. At that point, though, I didn’t really care. Plus, I’m a romantic at heart so I silently cheered him on.

He struck out.

He scored with the macchiato, however, and it was just what the doctor ordered.  It was as I was sitting there sipping that well-deserved goodness that my phone burst into song.

Well, thank God. 

It was the husband. He was back at the hotel and had discovered his missing person.  He showed up a few minutes later and asked me what I had done with all my packages.

And I’m the blond one?

I explained that one can not trudge a hundred miles uphill in a head wind whilst carrying a mother lode.  He agreed.  He also agreed to accompany me back to the stores so that I had something to show for my tagalong shopping trip.

And he did.

All that walking, and this is all I got.

Some of it was for the Duchess, too.

Oh well. At least I had the adventure.