Wednesday, December 31, 2008
It's Always Longer Coming Back
Fortunately, we had no incidents with the local constables on the way home. What we did experiences, though, was more about how seedy Louisiana is and how freaking long a trip this is.
We left NJ at 3 PM on Monday, knowing we wouldn't have a real long day of travel. We made it to Roanoke, VA by about 10:30 PM and decided that was a good place to stop for the night. It also meant we had a hell of a lot left to go -- when you look at a map, NJ to Roanoke looks like you've barely left.
I set the alarm for 6 AM and hoped to hit the road by 7, which is 6 central time. I did this because by the time I went to sleep I had it in my head that we could get home in one more day, rather than having to stop a second time.
Well, we awoke at 7:20. Whoops.
In the end, we were on the road about 8:30, Eastern Time. And we plowed ahead. The rest of Virginia, then into Tennessee, touching the corner of Georgia and then on into Alabama.
Alabama's a big state. And so is Mississippi.
I drove until about 3 PM and finally needed to be relieved and so my darling wife took over. I tried to rest my eyes but didn't sleep much. Truthfully, though, even being awake but riding shotgun is better for you because you're not using your brain as much as when you're driving and making however-many decisions-per-second.
Lovely Wife finally ran out of steam after about 350 miles, in which she drove us through most of out Alabama portion and all of Mississippi. After seeing the "Bienvenue a Louisiana!" sign, we found a seedy place to stop (there's no other kind in Louisiana, it turns out) and switched. Maya got to take a walk in a dark, murky field next to the gas station that had bottles and old car engine parts strewn about it. Lovely. And every person who walked past the car my wife was waiting in looked sketchier than the last. Time to go.
So at this point we had about 400 miles left. Seems reasonable when you're on a 1700 mile journey (or, 3700 miles, if you count the miles driven since we'd left Houston). I was ready to roll. We got some dinner and I had my first energy drink ever. Full Throttle, I think it was called. I had no idea if it was going to have some effect, no effect or make me go clinically insane.
I felt okay for a while and we talked to friends on the phone for more than 100 miles. But those last 200 or so were brutal.
The good news is we got home to our beds (at about 1:30 AM Central) and were able to sleep at our own house and wake up on New Year's Eve at home without more travel ahead of us, and I think that was worth the 18 hour day in the car.
In total, we left Houston the morning of 12/20 and:
-Used ten tanks of fuel
-Drove 3700 miles
-Got one speeding ticket (thanks, Virginia)
-Celebrated Christmas
-Introduced Maya to snow (she's not a fan; clearly a Texas dog)
-Brought Maya to seven new homes she'd never peed in
-Set up my parents' home computer network (they're amazed by wireless Internet and video chatting blew their minds)
We also saw more than thirty different state/province/gov't license plates on our trip, but I don't care to list them here.
Home sweet home.
We left NJ at 3 PM on Monday, knowing we wouldn't have a real long day of travel. We made it to Roanoke, VA by about 10:30 PM and decided that was a good place to stop for the night. It also meant we had a hell of a lot left to go -- when you look at a map, NJ to Roanoke looks like you've barely left.
I set the alarm for 6 AM and hoped to hit the road by 7, which is 6 central time. I did this because by the time I went to sleep I had it in my head that we could get home in one more day, rather than having to stop a second time.
Well, we awoke at 7:20. Whoops.
In the end, we were on the road about 8:30, Eastern Time. And we plowed ahead. The rest of Virginia, then into Tennessee, touching the corner of Georgia and then on into Alabama.
Alabama's a big state. And so is Mississippi.
I drove until about 3 PM and finally needed to be relieved and so my darling wife took over. I tried to rest my eyes but didn't sleep much. Truthfully, though, even being awake but riding shotgun is better for you because you're not using your brain as much as when you're driving and making however-many decisions-per-second.
Lovely Wife finally ran out of steam after about 350 miles, in which she drove us through most of out Alabama portion and all of Mississippi. After seeing the "Bienvenue a Louisiana!" sign, we found a seedy place to stop (there's no other kind in Louisiana, it turns out) and switched. Maya got to take a walk in a dark, murky field next to the gas station that had bottles and old car engine parts strewn about it. Lovely. And every person who walked past the car my wife was waiting in looked sketchier than the last. Time to go.
So at this point we had about 400 miles left. Seems reasonable when you're on a 1700 mile journey (or, 3700 miles, if you count the miles driven since we'd left Houston). I was ready to roll. We got some dinner and I had my first energy drink ever. Full Throttle, I think it was called. I had no idea if it was going to have some effect, no effect or make me go clinically insane.
I felt okay for a while and we talked to friends on the phone for more than 100 miles. But those last 200 or so were brutal.
The good news is we got home to our beds (at about 1:30 AM Central) and were able to sleep at our own house and wake up on New Year's Eve at home without more travel ahead of us, and I think that was worth the 18 hour day in the car.
In total, we left Houston the morning of 12/20 and:
-Used ten tanks of fuel
-Drove 3700 miles
-Got one speeding ticket (thanks, Virginia)
-Celebrated Christmas
-Introduced Maya to snow (she's not a fan; clearly a Texas dog)
-Brought Maya to seven new homes she'd never peed in
-Set up my parents' home computer network (they're amazed by wireless Internet and video chatting blew their minds)
We also saw more than thirty different state/province/gov't license plates on our trip, but I don't care to list them here.
Home sweet home.
Labels: driving to Tejas, Houston, Merry Christmas, on the road again
