Last Leg

The preceding picture was taken last night upon having first entered the state, but as of this moment (about 4:35pm CST), it is still accurate because after nine hours of driving,

::Billy Mays::

WE'RE STILL NOT DONE! IN FACT, IF YOU CALL NOW, WE'LL ADD 200 MORE MILES TO YOUR ORDER, ABSOLUTELY FREE!

::/Billy Mays::

Sorry for yelling - I couldn't resist.

Anyway, we are now on I-10, which means that there are about three more turns between here and home. West Texas remains a vast vortex of absolute suck, from which no light or hope can escape, but we were at least able to tackle it this time after spending the night at Brittany's cousin's house. Becky, Ryan, Miriam and Ben graciously opened their doors to us late last night to allow us to sleep in a real bed, which was greatly appreciated over the car seats we had slept in on the way out. Of course, I ought to clarify that "real bed" is something of a relative measure, as the bed in question was Miriam's, and she stands (and sleeps, incidentally) at just over four feet tall. While I was comfortable from the shins up, my feet spent most of the night suspended off the edge, which led to the further problem of shifting every few hours. At least two of said shifts sent me off the side edge of the bed, and there are few things quicker to rouse one from the stupor of sleep than the sudden realization that the bed is no longer there, and that the floor is an indeterminate distance away. Regardless of my inability to stay still, the generosity was very much appreciated, and we look forward to returning the favor in a few months.

97 miles to El Paso . . .

On Our Way

We are now just over the Louisiana border and are therefore just a few hours away from today's goal of Flower Mound, Texas. Rather than go all-out and race for Arizona non-stop, we decided it would be better if we stopped for the night, caught up with Brittany's cousins, and recuperated before taking on west Texas. That stretch of road makes for a long fight, and both of us had best be well-rested before undertaking that portion of the adventure.

Brittany summed up our (busy) week pretty well, so all I really have to offer at this point is my take on a few things:

1:
Having now crossed the Mississippi River, there are no longer any live trees to be found. As a precursor to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, that is extremely depressing.




2:
The following picture was taken at the Alabama welcome center:




The Welcome Center has a back porch and rocking chairs. The only way it could possibly be more Southern would be if it had a bug zapper and a resident hound dog or two.

3:
Rain is terrifying. Perhaps it's exacerbated by the fact that I live in a desert now, but as we entered Alabama, we were hit with a wall of water that would have drowned most species of fish. This was a "seven-foot visibility," "shake-the-semi-next-to-you," "don't even think about using your brakes" kind of storm, and it played havoc with our travel time. After nearly playing hydroplane pinball with a Mack truck and a Chevy Suburban, we decided to get off the highway and wait it out for a bit.

4:
The laws of physics are not my friends today. Motion and force, along with the energy needed to provide them, walk a delicate line in a dance of balance and grace that while predictable, rarely work in a motorhead's favor. I, for example, would like to get home as quickly as possible. In order to accomplish this, my strategy would typically be to put my foot to the floor in selective recognition of local speed limits in order to expedite our arrival. However, I would also like to spend as little money as possible to do this, which means that I need to manage my fuel economy. The catch-22 lies in the fact that as speed increases, the need for power to make and maintain it increases as well. As that happens, the rate of fuel consumption can jump dramatically.

This paradox came about during the aforementioned deluge - between my questionably-excessive speeds in Georgia and the inclement weather in Alabama, our fuel economy dropped significantly from 350 miles per tank on the way out to just under 300 on our first tank going home. I had averaged about 80mph coming out of Georgia, and the Alabama downpour had me on and off the throttle sharply for the better part of two hours, which greatly increased consumption. After filling up for the second time, I decided to try to increase the Fit's fuel economy back to its previous numbers by parking the cruise control right at 70mph and holding it there. This has been painful to do because 70mph is the speed limit for most of the way, and I am certainly not known for my profound respect for white signs with black numbers. I had grandpas in Buicks passing me with quizzical looks and the occasional trucker blow by me with horns, lights, and middle fingers flying in full force, but it seems to be working. With 3/4 of a tank remaining, we have gotten almost 250 miles, and I would venture to guess that we will get another 100 miles before the "low fuel" light comes on.

This leaves me with a quandary: do I get the extra tank or two of gas to get there sooner, or do I take it easy on the wallet and back my speed off?

The answer is actually easier than you might think. I stopped at a rest area and let Brittany drive. Now it's her decision.

Recap

Well folks, the time has to come to head back to the desert. Car is packed, tears have been shed, and goodbyes have now been said. We are now out of Georgia, and as for me- I'm not too happy to be going back to reality. This trip has been wonderful and packed tight of visiting and eating. A diet will be in order after our return....

I'm sorry we haven't been updating as often as we should, but as you can guess we have been very busy bees.



Monday was full of sleeping and visiting. For the first time that day in a long while, all of my mother's children were home. That was a joyous occasion! (Those pictures will come later as we don't have them yet.) The evening was spent with David visiting with an old girl-friend at Steak and Shake(I still win!) and I stayed at home with his sister and mom to watch chick flicks.


Heather played with my phone durring the movies- and when there is a camera around, there's sure to be one of these pics.

Tuesday we got up bright and early to drive another 4 hours to Savannah. First off, it should be illegal to have to awake so early while on vacation. And second, we realize we are crazy for driving so far after our first long drive. But honestly, after 29 hours of driving, 4 didn't seem too long. Besides, it was worth it. We had lunch with Trevor- David's youngest brother then headed to the beach.



The tunnel of trees and Spanish moss made a beautiful drive to Tybee.


Then to see the landscape change to above picture, well I was getting excited knowing we were so close.


The water was numbingly cold, but felt so good.


We enjoyed the beach, then headed to Riverstreet.


This picture doesn't do it justice. Riverstreet has so many awesome little stores and so much history! I don't know that you can consider rocks pretty, but the cobblestone streets are absolutely gorgeous. We made sure to stop at Riverstreet Sweets to pick up some of the best fudge and prailines in the country. But I think we had the most perfect day ever in Savannah. The image of holding David's hand walking down Riverstreet listening to a man sing 'Georgia' and tasting candy pecans will be filed under 'Most Picturesque Day' in my memory.

Wednesday was spent gathering decorations for B's wedding and visiting with friends. I went visiting with my mom and David went out on his own. That night, we had Nana pizza! Between Nana pizza and Nana cookies alone- our trip was worth it. Yum!

Thursday we hit O'Charley's with my brother.


Don't those nachos just look so delicious? We really need O'Charley's in Arizona. After that, Paul and I hung out.


We hit Stone Mountain and it was totally empty. We walked around and a lot of it was blocked off. It didn't stop us, but the cold and rain did. So a drive we took until it was time for dinner. David and Heather were supposed to cook, but Heather was sick. So David did most of it himself. Bacon wrapped shrimp, garlic steak, broccoli, garlic mashes potatoes, rolls, and both of our families made for a great night.

(Are you tired of reading yet? Sorry, we're almost done.)

Friday I spent with my sisters while David caught up with more friends. We ran around a lot that day and ended up in Peachtree City decorating for the main reason we came out. We were worn out by the time we finished, but we still went to Steak and Shake to meet the old girl-friend I mentioned earlier in this post. While out, we found out David's brother Brett got into town and proposed to his girl-friend. Congrats to Brett and Suzie!

Saturday was the wedding, which deserves it's own post. But in short, it was beautiful.


We enjoyed another night of friends and today we are on our way. We are sad to be leaving, but ready to get back to our own life. Sorry for the long post- we promise to update better in the future.

Arrival!

Sorry for not letting all y'all know we got here safely. We've been a little distracted. But we made it! We made it home! We arrived at 4:00 a.m. yesterday morning and conked out pretty hard. But we got some good rest and were able to visit with a lot of family and friends already.

We're already trying to get our hands on every food that we don't have in Arizona and by the end of this trip will most likely have gained 20 lbs from said good food. You just can't beat southern cooking.

Today we're headed down to Savannah. It is one of our most favorite places in the world. It's so absolutely beautiful you can't help but love it. And for the old lady historian in me, there is plenty of good ol' southern history down there.

We just hit the I-16, so not too much further. Yay! Enjoy the picture below from one of the Georgia rest stops.


Fail!

Quick Hello

As David said, we are in the final stretch and we are just flying by. Alabama is becoming a blur. So while David fills up for gas for the last time before arriving, let me just say,



(waves hello)

Home Stretch

Finally - after 1700 miles and 24 hours of driving, we are finally in Alabama. There is precisely one refueling stop remaining between us and home, so it is now time for the final push. It's my turn to drive, and this will be the last leg of the trip, so that means just one thing:



Let's go home.

Louisiana

Finally!!!! We made it to Louisiana! We beat Texas!




And now we just plan on flying through. We'll try to update, but forgive us if we don't add pics for each state. We need a shower and a real bed so we are going as safely and quickly as the law allows us. We'll let you know when we reach Georgia at the very least.

But we beat Texas!!!!! *Does happy dance!*