road trip with a bridesmaid

A couple of weeks ago I flew one of my bridesmaids/nieces out my way. She is doing a summer conservation program that selects high school students from across the nation and places them in random locations. She lives in Utah but was selected to work in a recreation area in Georgia. I was going to fly her into Atlanta but my fiance loves hanging out with her too. So she came out to Miami and I drove her up to her site over a few days after she soaked up some of our sun. There was a lot of girl talk, singing, and watching random late-night TV in our hotels. Here are some highlights of being on the road with my emo bridesmaid.

First her and my fiance dorking around at breakfast while still in Miami. He is mocking her sunglasses, those really aren't his.

We took the coastal route to Georgia and I couldn't resist Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island. Large trees are the driftwood and she was blown away by how gorgeous it was.

We made our way to Savannah and went on a ghost tour with Sixth Sense tours, it was pretty sweet. For the previous two days before this picture was taken she was all about wearing her skinny jeans and keeping her hair perfect. By the third day she realized the humidity and heat was kicking her butt and that she needed to travel for comfort and not fashion. She finally decided to wear shorts and a t-shirt. She felt defeated and dreaded having a picture taken at Forsyth Park.

After Savannah I drove into Atlanta and up to the Blue Ridge mountains. It was a respite from the heat and humidity and our last chance to hang out and get her ready before I wold drop her off. This is a shot of her in the coin-op laundry in Jasper, GA. I have a lot of backpacking experience and lent her a some equipment for this trip. She has been letting me get all up in her packing business for a few weeks prior to this trip. We were doing one last run-through of everything she would be taking after I dropped her off.

I confiscated another pair of skinny jeans and a hair straightner but she got to keep her cons and studded belt. This is just before I dropped her off with her crew at the ATL airport.

It was really nice to hang out with her on the road for a few days. She wanted to talk to me a lot for a 15 year-old hanging out with a geezer. She had random questions like, "What is Darfur?" and crazy deep stuff that her mother does not talk to her about. We also talked a lot about our family and some situations that have caused tension with her and her mother in the last few years. I found myself being fiercely overprotective of her on the trip while pushing her out of her comfort zone at the same time. The kid is all right and a lot of fun. Being an aunt is rough because I think I punctuated a lot of stuff with, "be glad you aren't my kid... you'd have a lot more boundaries" but I am still able to talk to her about music and fashion (her mom is 12 years older than me). I took a break from wedding planning on the road but did manage to sneak in some rudimentary Spanish lessons to prepare her for Costa Rica. I can't wait to hang with her down there.