Interstate 75 Drama

So... yesterday I had to take Sweet Mama to Atlanta for her pre-op at Emory. We left at 9:00 a.m. for our 1 1/2 hr drive. It was not a bad ride...pretty day! Our time at Emory went very fast (Sweet Mama is in excellent health except for her nose!) and after a trip to the dentist, we made our way home.

While stopped for lunch (around 3pm) we called Red to tell her we would be home soon. She asked had we seen any police or a police chase on the Interstate 75? No, it seemed pretty normal traffic, moving right along.

Well...she said that the Interstate had been shut down and that police were chasing the cab of a tractor trailer down the South 75. It had been carjacked (or was that truckjacked?). Of course that is the way we are heading. Sweet Mama asked where it was. Red, who was watching it live on Fox News, said that it started in Fulton County (Atlanta) and was in Spalding County (which is where we were eating our Chick-fila!). Not too far from Atlanta. hmmmm.... "There is a guy on the back of the cab hanging on........" "They are blowing put his tires with those strip thingies!" "The guy jumped off!!" "They are pulling out the driver....police dogs are there!" (We are partial to police dogs as Red's husband, Kojak, used to train them!! ) "He is being hauled away!" "Popo got 'im!"

Now, keep in mind that Sweet Mama and I are in a restaurant with people talking and loud 50's music being played...so we only caught parts of the conversation. Red also has a major cold and has a very deep voice and laryngitis.... What I got was... Interstate shut down...Spalding County....big mess! Hmmmm Plan B ..... knowing my way around the back roads, (Atlanta can have some doozies of traffic messes!) Sweet Mama and I planned our way home. We thought that since it was in Spalding county we would just go far enough the back way and then hook up with the Interstate and zip home.

We got down to Locus Grove (about 20 miles from where we ate) and looked at the traffic and it was moving normal...sooo.... we got back on! Sweet Mama had just got out of her mouth "lucky us, we missed it" when 7 miles later we are stopped dead on the road...traffic backing up behind us. A quick call to Red and, now that we can hear every word,...find out that the chase lasted until Monroe County...which is now in front of us!! Grrrrr

We look for the next exit...Red is on the computer (repeating "I told you not to get on the Interstate, it's right before Macon")...and see that the exit is 1 1/2 miles ahead. An hour or more later we finally get there!! We then take the backroads and make it home at 7:30 p.m.
Needless to say, I was tired of sitting when I got home. Had to stay up til the eleven o'clock news to see the details of what I missed! What drama!! An ordinary 1 1/2 hr trip took us 4 1/2 hrs....! Ya know the Interstate is faster!!!