Chapter One - Part One: Over the Hills

Note: My original intention was to split the drive down to Florida over two entries. Then, once I got writing, I decided to just keep going while the words were flowing pretty easily. Then, as I tend to do, I changed my mind again, especially after seeing how long of an entry it was going to be if I included both days. So, this is day one of our trek to Florida. Day two will be coming soon, you'll just have to check back to see the chilling conclusion...dun, dun, duuuuunnn... No, wait, that's not right. 

BE SURE TO CHECK THE BLOG ARCHIVE TO THE RIGHT 

AND START FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE JOURNEY!

My GPS was suctioned to the windshield, destination Florida. My S3 (that’s a model of cell phone for those technologically challenged readers) was in it’s holder on the dash, playing the Lex & Terry morningradio show. A cooler full of water occupied the middle seat in the U-Haul cab, and the last load of clothes I had washed the night before, along with a few small odds and ends, filled the passenger seat. The sky was still a little hazy with the last of the morning fog lifting, only an hour before midday.

Putting the truck in drive, I pulled out from under the awning into the bright sunshine of a warm, September day. I stopped just before pulling on the road, checked both mirrors, and made certain that I’d actually remembered to get cash for the tolls on the turnpike. Check! It’s somewhat important to note that this may be the first time I’ve ever actually remember that last item on the list at any point before seeing the first sign for the toll and having to dig through my car for change. That small accomplishment on its own made me feel more positive about the journey on which I was about to embark. I headed east  on I-64, a drive that I’ve become very familiar with over the years, at least all the way into Virginia, to connect with the roads that would take us south.

The drive through WV was as beautiful as always. Actually, it was more beautiful than usual, because I got to see more of it. When I take road trips, I usually travel at night to avoid traffic. This time I got cross the mountains and look down in the valleys on all the little towns and homes. The views are magnificent by night, when one’s imagination fills in the gaps between the lighted windows and street lamps below, but even more breathtaking are the scenes where all is visible. There were a couple times I was very tempted to pull over and take pictures, but a large U-Haul on the side of a mountain road in WV tends to spook some drivers. So, I just recorded the images of the rolling hills and white churches to memory.

I spent the second part of the drive after finishing the morning’s Lex & Terry Show like always working my way through playlists on my phone. I use Google Music, so, I have access to pretty much every song I own, which, being a musician and DJ is a pretty extensive library. Over the course of the trip to Florida, I’m sure I went from George Strait to Chuck Berry to AC/DC to BB King to Usher to Led Zeppelin to John Williams and back again. I also took some time when we stopped to try and locate some podcasts I’d enjoy, but I lost interest in that and instead spent some time listening to 24/7 comedy on I Heart Radio.

Just in case you were wondering about
my song selections...

The first day of driving was pretty uneventful to be honest. We drove most of the way staying together pretty close. We made the same stops for gas and at rest stops for both us and the roommate’s dog, Reno. When we got food, it was just something we could eat along the way. FYI, if you are ever at a Sheetz, a chain which hasn’t made its way to Florida, yet, and have the chance to get churros, do yourself a favor.

I was honestly kind of worried about driving the truck that far, not handling it, but just gentle sway of the weight truck putting me to sleep. Based years of study, I almost always fall asleep when I’m riding in a car, In fact, my parents used to drive me around in my car set to get me to fall asleep until they figured out putting me in the car seat on top of the running dryer worked just as well. I don’t often have trouble staying awake driving, though, but I have made the drive to Florida twice in the past and did it all in one shot. Both times I split the drive with someone else, but still, being in a car for that long wears on you pretty hard. This time around, the drive was split over two days, and we were staying overnight in a motel. Surprisingly, I wasn’t even all that tired when we stopped. The lack of fatigue probably had a lot to do with the excitement and adrenaline associate with moving to a new place.

The cause of our less than
desirable accommodations.

The first night after leaving home, we stayed at a Quality Inn that allowed pets. I’ve stayed in them before, and they’re not the nicest places, but it’s usually pretty clean and pretty cheap. This wasn’t a vacation, so, cheap was good. My previous experiences with this and similar chains did not prepare me for the condition of the room. It wasn’t even that the room was dirty – it wasn’t the cleanest, but it wasn’t disgusting – it was more that it was “broken”.

The pet friendly room had obviously held its share of pets in the past based on  the shape of the accommodations we encountered once we got settled in for the night and had a look around. There was a large place at the head of one of the two bed’s where the padding underneath the carpet shown through to the surface. Each lampshade had its share of holes under the plastic cover. A large portion of the wallpaper on one wall was torn with a large corner being peeled back, and in a fashion that reminded me of my home state, the fix for the rest of the split was to tape it back down in place. Being too tired to trudge back to the front desk and complain/switch rooms, we slept in the room, and I made a phone call to Choice Hotels’ customer service department the next day. 

           

You get the idea!

Before I go any further, I’d like to say his about the motel situation. Having spent a lot of time in different chains and locally owned hotels and motels over the years, I’ve found that you can’t really judge one based on its name. You’ll usually find that most chains can be corporate run or locally owned. The corporate locations pretty much all run the same and held to the same standard. The locally owned locations are a different story. The quality you find in these locations is determined by how the owner chooses to run the establishment. I’ve stayed in Marriots and Super 8’s and Red Roof Inns and everything in between. I almost always go with Choice Hotels, and it almost always turns out well. This one experience just happens to be the bad apple.

Anyway, the next day we woke up and got quite an earlier start than the day before. We grabbed something from the continental breakfast and hit the road again. The plan was to get to the apartment by early evening, unload what we had need for the night (beds, a few clothes, bathroom supplies, etc.), spend the rest of the evening cleaning, and finish unloading the truck the next day. It was a nice, easy schedule, not putting too much work on ourselves all at once, but the best laid plans, etcetera, etcetera…

Next: Connection Lost

Feel free to check out my other blogs, too. 

I've got a movie blog I update once a week, and a music blog I update once a day.