The alarm went off at 6:15, because my husband said, we should plan to leave at 7:30. In this family, the announced time of departure is a good 15 minutes earlier than actual departure time. Today, we left at 8:10. Since we were taking my car, I was the first driver. Thus, with the odometer reading 16936, we headed out.
Traffic moved well until the I4 exits in Orlando. How do people do that every day? That much stress cannot beagoodway to start the day. We made it to the Okahumpka service plaza on the turnpike by 9:19. (One of these days, I should look up the origin of that name.) It was a sunny day and Sirius XM was good company after we finished listening to Morning Edition on WMFE. We reached Oak Hammock, in Gainesville at 10:25. We were stopping to see my husband's parents and to deliver a birthday cake to his dad for his 86th birthday today.
We'd planned to stay just an hour, but they invited us to lunch in the dining room of this retirement center and that seemed rather practical. My husband and I split a fabulous appetizer of melon wedges wrapped in prosciutto. Then, I had a delicious Southwest chicken salad, while he had a salmon burger BLT.
We hit the road again at 12:58, but by 1:29, my eyes were beginning to roll around and we switched drivers. I'd found a really nice neck pillow that turns into its own pouch at Bed,Bath and Beyond. It also snaps under the chin, which kept it nice and snug. Before I knew it, I was asleep.
When I woke almost two hours later, I found myself really perspiring. It wasn't that the air conditioner wasn't working, but rather that we were driving into the sun on a hot Florida day. I was really glad, I'd had the foresight to sit on a beach towel, rather than directly on the fake leather seat of the Jetta.
I took over driving at 3:37. A short time later, we stopped in Quincy for gas. Diesel at the BP station was $3.999, but my husband's BP card let him use points to lower the price to $3.059. Since then, we've seen it as low as $3.149 in Mississippi.
At 4:23EDT, we crossed into the Central Time Zone. But, we were still in Florida on I10, one truly boring road. There is just no variety to the scenery. Swampland or trees. That's it.
At 4:47 CDT, I was fighting for consciousness and turned over the driving duties. That let me note the welcome sign with "Alabama the Beautiful " at 5:50. It also let me ponder just how dull a slogan that is. It really says next to nothing about the state.
We'd planned to eat around Mobile, but decided it was getting a bit late to wait that long. We pulled into the McDonald's in Loxley. Now there's a town name! I immediately thought of Robin of... and texted the daughters with the same. The older promptly wrote back Haha.
It was not the best dining experience. My fries were the first thing out, so they quickly cooled. They had no fork for my husband's salad. I suggested using two spoons as tongs. Luckily, some forks were deliveredto the restaurant not long after he started eating.
By 6:53, we were on the road again. I got some nice shots of Mobile and the bay as we drove in. I pulled out the gps to plot our trip to Jackson, Mississippi , but "Sarah" (named for the house on Eureka), couldn't get a satellite signal. Eventually, we pulled over and she found it.
Between 7:30 and 7:45, we say 6 cop cars with people pulled over. What the heck is that?
Route 98, got hillier and we noticed an incredible number of Dollar Stores and Family General stores as we drove along. What does that say about the economy of the west side of Mobile? Also, we saw plenty of churches, but not one was Catholic.
At 8:05, we hit the Mississippi welcome sign (couldn't see a slogan) and the road went from 2 to 4 lanes.
At 8:30, we knew we were in the "north", when we saw a sign saying: Bridge may be icy in cold weather",
At 8:50, we made a final pit stop at Tater's Food &Fuel. Great name. Husband was still good to drive.
Eventually, to keep us both awake, I searched for the comedy channels. We alternated between Comedy Central and LaughUSA, switching when they went to commercials. (Commercials? I don't get any on the music stations. What's with having them here?) some of the bits were so hilarious, is glad I wasn't driving!
At 10:52, with the odometer reading 17670, after 734 miles, we pulled into the Fairfield Inn on I55, exit 102, in Jackson, Mississippi.
My husband has been asleep for 20 minutes and I can feel myself crashing. It's been a good day. We haven't killed each other or snapped too viciously at each other either. This is our first road trip in our own car in years and it is off to a good start!
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