Day 1 - The Drive to Tallahassee
1:30 AM - I am still awake and watching the clock. Who in the world decided that leaving at 4:30 in the morning was a bright idea?
3:30 AM - I actually slept for two hours. I have twenty minutes more before my alarm goes off.
3:45 AM - I might as well get up. My god, I'm tired.
4:27 AM - My ride is late in picking me up. We are already late for our meeting at the school. Darcy is wide awake and carrying on a conversation as if it were 4:27 PM. She is very loud and doesn't seem to grasp the fact that the neighborhood is ASLEEP!
4:50 AM - We are on the road. It is very dark at this time of the day and very few people or cars are out and about. Smart people. We are traveling in Jyoti's van with four children, two of them not our own. These parents were smart and opted to stay behind. These parents obviously have jobs.
5:17 AM - We are just passing my inlaws house. I can't believe that we have gotten this far in a short amount of time. At this rate, we might actually be on time, something that didn't happen on the last trip to Tallahassee. For some reason, all the teachers and other parents blamed me for this and I wasn't even driving!
7:30 AM - Our first pit stop is at a McDonald's. We have run into another school car full of kids. This is their second stop so they aren't eating. They are waiting to join two other carloads behind us. We stay and eat a healthy breakfast. Well, the two children that aren't ours do....choosing yogurt and fruit.
9:00 AM - We have overtaken the three cars in front of us. Jyoti is from New York and not one to drive in the right lane. The leader of this caravan is the owner/principal of our school, Mr. G. I hold up a sign that reads, "We will take it from here." He honks as we pass.
9:45 AM - We are in Tallahassee. We do not have to be at our first stop until 10:15 AM. Remembering the last trip, I remark that we should find parking. Our leader, Mr. G, passes us, rolls down his window and tells us to follow him to McDonald's where we will reload on some food. The boys in his car roll down the back windows and yell, "Boo Steelers." They would be the same boys who told me the Cardinals would win the Super Bowl. Silly boys.
10:00 AM - Most of the kids are eating. We have lunch scheduled for noon at the museum cafe. I order Darcy water and a hash brown. Jyoti's daughter is having ice cream. The other girls in our car are not eating anything. They are still full from the yogurt and fruit. Mr. G. is exchanging phone numbers with a woman who heard us discussing our trip. She is trying to help him with directions. We razz him about picking up strange women.
10:05 AM - We are following Mr. G. to the parking garage. We are the third car in a line of four. We are traveled through Tallahassee to the garage. It is a beautiful city, very old Florida. It reminds me of a midwestern college town. Jyoti is quite taken with the city. She didn't think it would be this scenic.
10:15 AM - We have lost the two cars in front of us. We entered the garage behind them, but as we climbed the ramps and turned the second corner they were gone. Poof! Disappeared into thin air. We think he ditched us on purpose. Perhaps that comment about picking up strange women.....
10:17 AM - The car behind us is gone now too. Poof! Disappeared.
10:20 AM - We are parked....on the roof. There is no elavator. We walk down the five flights of stairs to the ground floor. We walk and walk and walk and walk. There is no exit. We are lost in the depths of the parking garage. Mr. G. is a dead man.
10:30 AM - We are out of the parking garage. The exit is on the second floor. We are now walking toward the Capitol. My phone is ringing and the Humanities Teacher, CJ, is wondering where we are. He tells us the entire group is waiting for us at the stairs of the Capitol. I tell him we are already there....upstairs in a meeting with the Governor. He tells me to hurry.
10:38 AM - We have joined the rest of the school. No time for harrassment as we are scheduled to tour the Capitol. On we go....
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