As Nick pointed out, I've been missing for the past five days. I flew to Atlanta last Thursday for my friend Erin's birthday and didn't get back until Monday. Erin and Wende live in a small town called Tallapoosa (formerly known as Possum Snout), which is about an hour out of Atlanta. During my visit, we saw the sights, hiked a bit, attended an opera (La Boheme), and had a lot of organic food. For your edification and enjoyment, here are some pictures of the trip.

This retired military helicopter was in a small park just outside Tallapoosa. Notice that the huey is attacking Erin. Run, Erin, run!

Erin stages a protest in front of the immobile tank. Power to the people!

Many years ago, there was quite a large Hungarian population in this part of Georgia. Here is a neat-looking cemetery hidden just off the main road.

This is one of the graves in the Budapest cemetery. Notice that the mound has been deliberately covered by natural materials—tree bark, stones, etc. I'd never seen anything quite like it.

We also visited the Carter Center in Atlanta. Apparently, it was the first presidential library to feature interactive exhibits, such as short video clips you can access that discuss portions of Jimmy Carter's presidency, like the gasoline shortage, the meeting between Sadat and Begin, and the hostage crisis. It was really cool. One of the more peculiar exhibits was a peanut ring made from gold that was given to Carter by a foreign dignitary. That's pretty weird, even for the Seventies.

This is one of the interactive exhibits designed for kids. Look familiar? Erin and I were so excited about this one that we watched it twice. "I'm just a bill..."

Stay tuned for more pictures from my travels with Charley! (In honor of Steinbeck, I have named my camera Charley.)