Rosa Gonzalez

A late and overdue life update. Brace yourselves. It’s a long one.

A few weeks ago I invited a friend to come over from Florida and spend the weekend with me in Georgia. We had all sorts of fun.

On Friday we set out to climb down Stone Mountain. We couldn’t have picked a hotter summer day. I thought Florida was hot, but now I know why they call it HOTlanta. Boy did we break a sweat.

Saturday we explored downtown Atlanta, took a tour of the CNN station and went to World of Coca-Cola.

CNN was very informative and educational. We got to see all the behind-the-scenes activity and technology. Aileen particularly enjoyed it since she loves journalism.

We headed to World of Coca-Cola next, but before getting there, we were stopped by an intriguing fellow offering free hugs. “What the hey!” I thought. I handed the camera over to Aileen and got my free hug. But I forgot, you just can’t hand over your huge SLR to your friends.

The blurry picture below was the result. It’s okay Aileen. I forgive you. I also forgive you for the 20 other blurry pictures you took of me too.

Aileen got the spontaneous urge to model at a public park on our way to Coca-Cola. The grown men nearby were watching us and laughing. But hey! So were we!

Even I joined in on the modeling fun.

Some Mexican guys claiming to be professional photographers stopped us and asked if I could take a picture with them. They were also lugging around an SLR. He was lucky I was in a particularly friendly mood and I kindly accepted.

They later offered to take pictures of us. The funny part is that more than half the pictures they took were blurry! So much for professional! Here’s an OK one:

The line for World of Coca-Cola was a mile long. We were literally melting in the sun. The heat index must have been around 105 that day. They should have given us our free Coca-Cola at the entrance not the exit.

The visuals inside Coca-Cola were inspiring. Coca-Cola is, after all, the epitome of great branding. It was interesting to see how the brand evolved over the decades and how alive it remains today; their classic logo-mark, practically unchanged.

We got to taste coke brand sodas from all over the world. The European colas were bitter and gross.

We later met up with some friends for a night of karaoke at Echo Karaoke, a korean-style karaoke joint that lets you rent out a private room for your group. The microphone at this place makes you sound amazing and the disco lights that move in tune to the music make even the worst singing sap feel like a star! We sang the roof off the place. Good times!

Sunday was the big day. White-water rafting on the Ocoee River in Tennessee! I can’t say enough good things about this experience. If you ever have a chance to do it, DO IT!

The raft guides knew the river like the back of their hand and performed all these crazy tricks, like jumping onto the rocks and back onto the raft while it was moving. Insanity.

Don’t worry. We came out alive from that one.

Aileen and I fell in love with our raft guide Ben. What a southern sweetie-pie. Highly entertaining, and well, great eye candy too! Of course we asked for a picture.

All in all, a fantastic fun-filled weekend.

A post on my trip to Chicago coming soon!

I MISS YOU AILEEN! XOXO