Spring Break II 2018 - Day 1

A few months ago, my friend SueG asked me to accompany her and her two children, Alex and Sydney, on their Spring Break trip. She wanted to go on a road trip "not too far," and so I found a couple of Wyndham resorts in South Carolina. I brought along the travel journal, and off we went. Here then is our trip from the journal.

Cara journaling - I believe this is, and of course, I can look back through these journal pages to check, the first trip where I've left ON TIME. Our goal was 6:30 a.m., and the car was loaded, and we were in it by 6:27 a.m. We couldn't go because Tom was out walking Elliot and I thought I should say good-bye. He did arrive soon after, and we were, no kidding, heading down my street at exactly 6:30 a.m. Whoa!

It took us half an hour to get out of our county and through Tampa. It was lickety-split through the darkness with minimal traffic. Another half an hour, and Alex and I were wondering aloud about eating breakfast. The driver, SueG, shook her head, and we knew to be silent on the subject. We kept driving. We speculated on the weather where we were headed, so I checked it out on my weather phone app. It was at this point that I remembered that I hadn't packed my jacket. WHAT?

I DIDN'T PACK MY JACKET. The weather is supposed to be in the '50s, and 60's and I didn't pack my jacket! I obsessed over this mistake for a good 45 minutes. I had just bought a coat for New York City, for god sakes! Eventually, I let it go. My sweater would have to do until I found something to purchase to keep me warm. Brrrr.....

I've decided that I am the Kelly of the trip. That is the person who joins the family on a road trip to provide levity, entertainment, great stories, and fun. I've also brought the cuss/negative jar to keep things positive and on the straight and narrow, even keel. As of 11 a.m., I've put in .40 cents, and our total thus far is .60 cents. Oops.

Before we left, we made a list of belongings and things to bring. (See the list before this page) I thought about checking this list this morning, but I had already packed the journal and thought that I had everything on the list. We did. Except for my jacket and duct tape, which was really more of a joke than a true need. My jacket...ugh. Letting it go...

The plan for today is to drive to Savannah, GA. We have all been there before, but SueG decided she wanted to leave a day earlier, and we thought this would break up the driving. We thought we could explore the city today and maybe tomorrow, weather permitting. As of our last stop, over the Georgia line, it is as hot as Hades (I don't need to add another .10 cents to the jar) in my sweats and a long-sleeved shirt. Hmmm...might not need the jacket after all.

SueG journaling- I just want to say how positive I have been so far and how good I've been with my no cursing. And there are a lot of A-holes on the road. (At this point, we protest over that word, and SueG disagrees that it is a curse word. She goes on a five-minute discussion/lesson on sexual organs, etc., and we give her the win)

Take, for instance, this guy pulling the cougar behind him. He's been weaving all over the road from one lane to the other. See, here he goes again. No patience. He's in a hurry.

Alex: "To meet up with another cougar, maybe."

Sue G: (makes cougar noises with her tongue0 "See how the cougar trailer is bouncing up and down as he hits bumps and things? I wonder if when it is stable, and the occupants are having sex, does it bounce around like it does now so that everyone else knows what is going on in that thing? Google that, Alex."

Alex: "Nothing but movie trailers and porn are showing up."

SueG: "You'll probably have to type in a recreational vehicle instead of a trailer."

Cara: "No pun intended."

Alex journaling - We have played music roulette. Cara has been doing passenger aerobics or whatever she is doing.

Cara: "I'm writing a book. I'm calling it Passenger Aerobics for Long Road Trips. It's something I started while vacationing with Susan."

I feel tired. I've decided I'm never again going on a road trip. It's boring to sit here and do nothing.

Cara journaling - It went downhill after Alex's journal entry because then a little discussion was had regarding Alex's getting his driver's license, an apparently sore subject in that household. Alex, though, has been a great road trip warrior, unlike his sister, who has done nothing but keep her head down in her phone, earbuds in her ears. I forgot she was even with us for a while.

Alex, however, despite what he said earlier about being bored, has been involved. He did take a 15-minute nap during our Greatest Showman soundtrack music (which was the first and only time Sydney got off her phone so she could sing). But other than that, Alex has participated in our music game, one I invited years ago on another road trip. He accompanied me into a Walmart stop where we bought some creamer, looked around for a jacket, and ended up adding poptarts and apples to the purchases. Alex has contributed to conversations and has asked great trivia questions. He does owe .10 cents to the cuss/negative jar but is still far behind me on that one.

We made great time, arriving in Savannah, GA, around 1:00 p.m. We wasted probably 45 minutes driving around the city looking for the trolley station, and when we finally found it, after following several different trolleys, we discovered we had been there in the beginning, just in the front of the building instead of behind it.

Our guide Ben was great. He was from Georgia (Deliverance country) and had a southern accent, a list full of overused jokes, and a headful historical knowledge about the city. We rode with Ben for the entire two hours, and he kept us informed and entertained. He did steer us wrong on his choices of food, but hey, no one is perfect.

We got off the trolley, ate an early dinner, and walked around the city checking out various shops and sights. Sydney pet all of the horses that were lining the walkways. She's a horse fanatic. I ignored them. We could not find lodging under $150, so we said good-bye to Savanna around 6:30 p.m. and headed north. Most of the inns were full, but we finally found a Best Western in some forsaken town in SC. Most of the hotel was booked with a huge wedding party, but we were given rooms around that party, and we ended our night playing cards and laughing hilariously.

Day one is in the books.