So we got a not-so-early start on Monday, but tried to make good time driving south. We were two to three hours in when we found ourselves sitting dead still right after the Metropolis exit. People were driving in reverse up on the shoulder to get back to the exit. And not just cars, but semis were doing this. I was about to freak as one of my greatest fears is travelling backwards on the interstate. I hate seeing people do it and I myself have never done it, but 100% confident it would lead to my instant death so no, Gary, do not attempt to do this backing up business. Amongst hundreds of vehicles. Let’s be patient and I know at some point this day, or the next, we will get across the Ohio River. Besides at this point, three days delayed, what’s your rush?
Finally, traffic did get going and we managed to cross at Paducah and all was good. We stopped somewhere in Kentucky for lunch and did you all take advantage of the $2 subs at Subway in December? ‘Cause we did. More than once on this trip. Mmm, the slimy cold cut combo and meatball sandwiches. The boys often order the meatball marinara, so they didn’t mind at all sticking to the $2 menu. Not often you can feed a family fast food for less than $20 so of course we didn’t let that pass us by.
We stopped somewhere in Georgia south of Atlanta for the night. I unfortunately led us pretty far off the beaten path for a “Southern Food” restaurant recommended by my smartphone, but yeah, not so smart since the dang phone forgot to indicate the place was apparently closed on Mondays. So back through on the wind-y dark road to finally arrive at a Chick-Fil-A that to all of us seemed like the best meal we’d ever et. How’s that for southern? And then I lucked us into a sweet Ramada Limited hotel with two adjoining rooms that was clean as a whistle and so comfortable. They asked if we had a Triple A discount as most places ask and I said “no, but we have State Farm,” being kinda funny I thought. Did you even know there is such a thing as a State Farm discount??!! The gal said “Ok, I can give that to you.” I am not 100% certain it really even exists but we got these rooms for a steal so, okay! Then I threw in that also “we have a Boeing membership” but that didn’t do jack.
We slept fine and had a pretty large breakfast free there at the hotel, so we were ready for Day 2 on the road. Except I went to check us out at the front desk while Gary and the kids were bringing the van around, so as I was walking around the exterior of the building counterclockwise to find them, they were driving counterclockwise to find me. That would’ve been a funny scene, had it been in a movie. What I did learn from this as I got a mini-lecture once we found each other, is that next time, I should walk clockwise and we will find each other much more quickly.
So yeah, back on the road. Throughout the trip, Gary and I would take turns driving for about three hours each and then there would inevitably be a bathroom, food, and/or gasoline need. Jack brought his driving permit (one of the forgotten things we went back for), but the traffic headed south to Florida moves at quite a clip for an limited-experience driver so he didn’t drive then. I gotta say, the kids were really good travelling. We had a few instances of having to shut down Caroline, but other than that, they did well. So much easier to take your family along when they are well past the toddler stage. Plus, they all packed for themselves and we took minimal snacks and no toys or anything, so this was the easiest family trip for me ever. Hallelujah.
Caroline put her new iPod to work right away on the trip, so I found an abundance of pictures from a younger point of view that I can include, like these simple palm trees. Look at that blue Florida sky!
Amongst all those interesting and educational Florida billboards, we spotted one that advertised CiCi’s Pizza’s $5 buffet. I knew Ross liked the one in St Louis and we decided a pizza buffet would be perfect for everyone getting something they like. Plus the big boys could eat big and get their money’s worth. Only glitch was that the smartphones, both Gary’s and mine this time, had the location at the back of a “mall” and once we found the “mall,” we saw there was no CiCi’s pizza there. A little detective work and we finally found our place. It was an interesting lunch. We saw a pirate, or at least a guy with a eye patch missing half a leg in Florida so it must be, and a guy with one of the most memorable mullet/hair nests you can imagine. Good times. I had some Big Mac pizza and that was a first. And yeah, probably a last. Grant decided to close the intake at 8 pieces of pizza, a bowl of pasta, ?? breadsticks, brownies, and dessert pizza. I am pretty certain they lost money on him.
We drove on and realized how spotty good radio can be across all these miles. I happened to have a total of three cd’s in the van (Chilis’ By the Way and Stadium Arcadium - only the Jupiter disc, and No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom) and was kicking myself for not loading up the 6 disc changer. I found a Black Keys cd loose in the glove compartment and once I wiped off all the gel?/gummy substance off of it, it played well enough to give us about three new songs to add to our rotation. One of these days I’ll reread this and bet I’ll be astounded that our music choices were limited to 3 1/3 cds and radio. I think I am already astounded. Multiple i-instruments (Pods, Phone) in our hands, but no auxiliary jack to play them through, so yeah, room for improvement there, outdated minivan.
We got to Julia and Neil’s finally that evening. I had forgotten how long it takes to cross Georgia and get down through Florida, but as soon as I saw their beautiful yard and home and them!, it was already worth the drive.
Julia had a delicious lasagna meal waiting for us.
And Neil always seems to have good desserts. All we had to do was eat and figure out who claimed what bed. Now we’re on vacation!
Such fun pictures!
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