“All things are ready, if our mind be so”
William Shakespeare, Henry V
Lots of planning goes into a trip, even when you aren’t the host! This trip started weeks before, booking the hotel, arranging vacations, getting the vehicles ready. Done wrong, the preparation is a chore. Done right, the preparation is part of the trip!
For some reason I thought the reunion was the last week of September. Fortunately my dad James told me on Sunday (the 16th, before the event) that we in fact would be missing Church the following Sunday… and I had to scramble to change my vacation reservations!
Love for Waze!
Google Maps is a great travel aid, but I love Waze! After looking at all the drive options, we decide to take the Florida Turnpike. Waze is saying 700 miles, and will take less than 10 hours. Wow, that is great! Less than ten hours all the way from Miami to Pensacola!
But wait, there is more! Well, a negative more. Seven hundred miles, at seventy miles per hour (700 miles / 70 miles / hour) is ten hours. Waze is saying we are going to be going more than 70 miles per hour the whole way, no construction zones, no stops for gas, no stops for breaks? Maybe there are problems with Waze.
I figure it is going to be more like 50mph average speed, resulting in 14 hours total. James is thinking 70 mph average speed, but with breaks and reasonable slowdowns, resulting in 12 hours total. I know the suspense is tremendous! You’ll have to read to the end to find out what actually happens!
More preparation for the trip
So a bit more about this trip. James has a broken hip, badly. On a walker at the moment. Not a good thing for travel. We have a bit of a concern for this. Then I wind up throwing out my back on Sunday! Been on a heating pad and ice packs for a few days. The only other time I threw out my back, I wound up in a wheelchair for a week, and a walker for another week. Fortunately this time I’m able to avoid the walker. James is on a walker though. And this adds to our adventure!
Wednesday’s Memoirs of Miami
We decide to get started with the drive at noon. The thinking is we drive until we don’t want to drive any longer, probably around Tallahassee, stay the night, then complete the drive on Thursday. Thursday evening is the first event with the reunion.
Well, “on time” departure from Miami turns out to be about 1pm — which for me is actually really good!
But 1pm departure isn’t really 1pm. As we get to the end of the block, I notice James doesn’t have his baseball cap. He likes to wear caps when outside. So…. U Turn to get the cap.
Also I want to get fruits and snacks for the trip. If you know me, you know that I do NOT allow eating in my car. Up until this trip, there has been exactly one person who has been allowed to eat in my car. I don’t even eat in my car. But I’m going all out for James, I decide he is allowed to eat in my car for the trip. No drinking though. [On a side note, last year someone borrowed my car for an hour and spilled freaking sweet tea all over the floor, and didn’t even tell me afterwards. The carpets were all sticky, and even now remain stained. Jerks.]
Back to the story….
On the way to WalMart (one of my favorite stores!), I remember that I did not grab my spare car key. I’m thinking, darn, hate to wind up 700 miles away from the key and need it. I guess I ought to turn around and get the key before we leave Miami.
I ask James, hey, want some chips for the trip? He says wait, in your car? I’m like yeah, this trip is okay, you can eat in my car. He says sure. I’m like okay, what kind? He’s like oh anything is fine! I say great, I’ll get Doritos, my favorite! He is all grumbly. He is a really picky eater. I’m like okay, what do you want? He says oh anything you want, as long as it is plain salted potato chips. Great… I’m dealing with Henry Ford’s descendant!
“Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.”
Henry Ford
At WalMart I grab bananas, mandarin oranges, apples, chips, and trail mix. Haven’t had trail mix in a long time! Check out time: 1:34 Eastern time. Still looking good! Run back to the house for the key, and we are almost ready for the road.
Almost.
I check the vehicle endurance. Says we can go 250 miles before empty. Sounds like a good number. Instead of filling up in Miami, we’ll just drive until we need gas, which will get us out of the car earlier rather than later.
Now…. we are ready! Soon and very soon, Miami will only be a distant memory in the rear view mirror!
Breaking bread
The time for breaking bread in my car didn’t take long. I don’t even think we made it to the actual turnpike. We were still on the turnpike extension!
I started with a banana and an apple. Then came the trial mix! Yum.
Note to self…. when someone is going to be eating in my car, always put a towel down on their (or your!) lap. Just… well, just trust me, it is going to be better for you this way.
Turnpike time
Jumping on the turnpike at 2pm, we hardly even hit any traffic! We are able to make good time, a few heavy but short rainstorms in the drive, but still make good time.
Three hours in, vehicle duration says we can go 70 miles until empty. No problem, I’ll start looking for a service plaza in a bit. A little while later duration says 43 miles until empty… but I haven’t seen a sign yet. Hmm. Little while later I’m down to 35 miles until empty. Now I’m getting a bit concerned. I start thinking about my first drive to Pittsburgh in the middle of the night, not being able to find a place to get gas. Not a good feeling, and not a good memory.
Now I’m at 34 miles. I decide to turn off the air conditioner and slow down to 55 miles per hour. I’m like, you’ve got to be kidding me. Oh but wait, a sign up ahead! 33 miles, and it says six miles to service plaza! Okay, we are good, AC back on, back up to 75mph.
Whew. Hey, I’ll eat an apple in celebration for success!
Nathan’s Hot Dogs at Saint Cloud Service Plaza
Let me warn you, don’t buy a chicken sandwich at a hot dog stand at a service plaza. To be honest, I’d recommend not buying anything at a hot dog stand at a service plaza. Just saying. The best part of this stop was that the service attendant gave us both large cups of water.
Go North young man, haven’t you been told?
Leaving the Service Plaza, my copilot James tunes in Waze so we have an idea of how far and how long the rest of the drive will be. As we get to Orlando, the south bound traffic is HORRIBLE! We are there during rush hour, and there is a lot of construction. Fortunately, the northbound lanes are not boxed in, good for us.
Calculating the last gas
One of the huge problems with the Lexus SUV is lack of highway range. The vehicle goes from full to zero in 350 miles, which means really more like 300 miles to have safe margin in dealing with closed stations and after hours limited operations.
As the miles behind us is clicking up, the endurance range is clicking down and the distance to Pensacola is equally clicking down. we do a quick calculation somewhere along the way. It goes something like this: Total range to destination is 400 miles. But… total range left on car is 200 miles. If we go 200 miles of course, we’ll make it all the way in just one more stop. But… and a big but… it is going to be 11pm in 200 miles, and knowing from my history drive to Pittsburgh, some little cities close down that late. For more risk calculations, we are getting ready to travel into lesser populated areas that might not have as many gas stations in general. So, 11pm to a near empty tank isn’t a good idea. However, we can’t fill up now, because total duration on the car will only be 350 miles to total empty, which isn’t far enough to get us to our destination.
What to do… what to do… okay, if we go 100 miles, it will be 930 or so, we’ll have a hundred miles left on the range indicator, and we’ll be in Tallahassee, where we are expecting something to be open. This works! Get to Tallahassee, get gas, then go the rest of the way.
Tallahassee
We get to Tallahassee at 945, perfect timing. Stop at a Circle K. Ask James, do you want to go to the water closet? Nope, he says, he is good, nope will not be going to the water closet, it is not necessary, no reason to waste the steps. Okay, okay, I get the message.
But he has been sitting for a long time, as have I. So I get his walker out and tell him to at least get out and stretch his legs. He agrees. Then decides to go to the water closet.
I finish pumping the gas, then clean the windshield and rear glass. Lots of bugs have accumulated. Then I go to use the water closet myself. He’s in the facility, and there is a line outside the single stall. He comes out and I hand him my car keys since I’ll be in line for a little while.
My turn in the water closet! Sounds bad, but it isn’t. Clean place, although the door is exceptionally hard to open. In fact I had to help James open the door.
I finally get out of the closet, and there is an even longer line outside. I thank the service lady for helping James get through the other door too. James is sitting in the car. I see he is already settled in. Looking good, I think! It is sprinkling rain, not much, just kind of dribbly. Not exactly misty. Kind of more dribbly. I head over to the car, jump in, and we head off to Pensacola! We’ve decided that we are going to be able to make it the whole way instead of stopping so close. It is only another 200 miles, only three hours or so.
Do you see what I’ve done wrong? hehe, yeah, you will soon…. 🙂
It’s almost Pensacola Time!
Pensacola! Only another three hours! We will be there by 1:30am Eastern time, only 12:30am Central (Pensacola) time!
Drive drive drive. Well, turns out three hours is further than I think at midnight. Little rain storms and construction sites has delayed our 1:30am (12:30 am Central) by half hour. Forty minutes from the destination I decide I need to get my heart rate up. We stop at a service plaza and I run a quarter mile. I’m pumped now! James doesn’t get out of the car. Fortunately… more on this in a bit… ugh!
The Hotel! But not our final destination
Oh my gosh we made it to Pensacola! James has entered the actual address to the hotel in Waze, and we are minutes away! James is wondering, can we get a discount since it is only half the night that we’ll be staying? I tell him if it were me, I might opt to stay in the car until morning, then check in tomorrow.
I park in the porte-cochère, as close to the entrance as I can. Are you anticipating what is going on here? I jump out of the car. Do you see what is going to happen here? I go to the back of the car, pop the hatch, and reach in for the walker that isn’t there.
I’m like wait, where is Rod Serling? I go to the side door where James is, open the back door, and reach in to grab the walker that is…nowhere to be found.
You have got to be kidding.
As we fumbled over words, it turns out we left the walker at the Circle K in Tallahassee!
“Play it, Sam”
I’m like, oh no. This is not a good thing. It is 130 in the morning, in a city of which neither of us are familiar, with a fellow who has been told has to use a walker or risk a catastrophic hip break and displacement that will result in emergency surgery. James suggested asking the hotel clerk if the hotel happened to have any walkers for loan. Answer came back not just no, but an almost “are you kidding me?” shaking her head no. I’m not sure if there is some liability risk with loaning a walker? Tell me, what would you do?
This is what I did. I got my phone out, fired up the WalMart app, searched for an all night 24 hour WalMart, found one less than ten miles away! But, does WalMart carry walkers? Yes! They do! And this one has “limited stock” on isle C30. I’m in!
Met a great fellow at WalMart, offered to loan me tools if necessary. Turned out it was all snap together. Great! We are rocking! All because of Sam Walton, and his great work at WalMart. Thank you Sam!
Hotel room, please.
Finally. We made it back to the hotel, and able to get into the room. The bed was the most comfortable bed I had seen all day! And now…..zzzzzzzzz…..
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