A Florida update
Ah, well... seeing as I've some time this morning, I may as well run through the last three days, mm?
THURSDAY- I was supposed to get my lazy tail out of bed at 6am, so that I could depart my house by 7. As though plans ever work out. The alarm clock never went off, so I didn't get up until my father came in and woke me up at about 6:40. So up I was, took a quick shower, loaded my car with my things, and managed to leave by 7:15 or so. I drove from there to a town called London, in southern Kentucky, where I stopped off for some gas and two bottles of Tropicana juice, since I didn't bring anything to eat or drink with me. From there I continued onward, stopping off once again for a bit of stretching my legs... somewhere in northern Georgia... and realized that I'd forgotten my gas cap. In Kentucky... 300 miles behind me. So, thus I had to make a mental note that somewhere in my blitzkrieg travels to the Retirement State I would have to set aside time and effort into finding an Auto Zone or something to get a replacement cap. I got back to my driving, and made the timing error of going through Atlanta at 5pm. Generally the traffic on the entire trip down wasn't bad, with the exception of a few slow downs due to construction and such, which is to be expected. But Atlanta at 5pm was certainly... worse. All the same, I made it through there, continued down I-75, stopped for gas just off of state route 16, and then went onward once more until I reached I-16. I hopped on I-16, took it east just outside of Savannah, GA, where I merged onto I-95, and headed southward. By this time on Thursday evening, it was around 9:30 pm... once I was through Savannah I think it was closer to 10 or so. Regardless, I decided I should look for a hotel. And thus the largest mistake of my travels- I'd forgotten my walled, with my driver's license, in Ohio. Hotels won't allow you to check in without any form of ID, and if I were to get pulled over by a friendly neighbourhood police officer, that certainly wouldn't fly, either. Lucky for me I managed to find a hotel just 3 miles short of the Florida state line, in a little town called Kingsland... or St Marys. Basically the same town. I called my father and asked him to send my wallet overnight to nexrad and loopter's address, so that I would have it by Saturday. I keep all of my money separate from my wallet, by-the-way, so thus I still had all of my cash on me. Lucky dog that I am. Far, far too much driving for a border collie dog, but I nearly made it to Florida, which made me a happy border, all the same. By the time I got into the hotel, it was a little after 11pm, and by the time I got to sleep, it was closer to 12:30 on Friday morning...
FRIDAY- I got myself up, dressed, and out of the hotel by around 8:30 or so, and headed to a local Advance Auto Parts just across I-95, got a replacement gas-cap, and then headed south once again. The driving for Friday, compared to Thursday in terms of time and difficulty, was so much better. I had no other road to take but that one, and there weren't any large cities (relatively speaking) to go through apart from Jacksonville, which I made it through by 10am, I believe? I made better time traveling south than I thought I would, and ended up arriving at my destination in southern Florida (city withheld simply because I'm not sure if Nex and Loopy want me advertising their location... *snickerwoofs*) by 3:30pm. Once I had brought everything in, and met my gracious hosts, the rest of the evening was so very delightful. Nex and Loopy are very sweet and attentive gentlemen, and I find myself wondering exactly how it is that I deserve such delightful treatment. Regardless of that, I fancy myself in good care, to say the least. I can only hope I'm as considerate a guest as they are a host. ^^ We ended up going out to eat on Friday evening, to a local Mexican establishment, which had some great food, yes. ^^ My hosts were... a bit upset with me once I'd told them what I'd actually had to eat for Thursday and Friday- My total intake included one and a half Tropicana drinks, a small bottle of Minute Made apple juice, a few mini-donuts, a glass of water, and two bottles of Lipton Green tea. I thought that was more than enough for two days on the road, but they apparently enjoy food. *Wags his tail in amusement* Of course, so does a border collie... but I'm going to be such a fat dog by the time I leave them, tomorrow. *Muses* Anyways, after we got back from eating, we sat and talked a bit more... oh, and we watched some sort of home redecorating show, before finally retiring off to bed at around 1 or 1:30 in the morning. ^^
SATURDAY- Everyone was up and dressed by 10am, though unfortunately we couldn't get out and about right away, as my father had decided to designate my wallet's delivery as "signature required". That's fine, except then I felt quite at fault for having forgotten it in the first place, thus further delaying our plans. Bad guest... >_< It did end up arriving, by 2:30 or so, and we all donned our beach clothing and headed for... well, you know... the beach. I've not been swimming, at all, in a good 5 or 6 years, and I've never been swimming in the ocean. Wow. The weather was great (despite a high UV index reading, according to local travel planner nexrad) the water was just fine, and bark... so many shells! *Wags his tail absently* And I do believe I've quite the sunburn... *Flicks an ear* ...which made sleeping last night so very... interesting. We stayed at the beach until sometime around 5 or 5:30, came back home, cleaned ourselves up, and headed out for dinner again. This time to a small but well-regarded Italian restaurant. How does a dog such as I get this kind of treatment? Out to eat at such fine places, the beach, a relaxing place to stay in the evening... I truly am an indebted border collie. After dinner, we came home once again, let ourselves settle from such a meal as that (the food was amazing, by-the-way), and then went out to see a movie (Kung Fu Panda) later in the evening... I believe the showing time was 11:15pm. The movie was amusing, and well-done, so I wouldn't say it's not recommended. *Muses* Hmm... ah, then we came home for the final time, and all headed off to bed shortly, as it was around 2 am. I honestly don't think I've had a day as good as yesterday in a long, long time. ^^
And here we are for today... I'm not sure what the plans consist of, but I'm sure it will be just lovely, as everything else has been. But now the wolf and the jackal are awake, so I believe I should be on my way for now. Further updates sometime soon. Do take care, you lot! *Gives a happy bark*
THURSDAY- I was supposed to get my lazy tail out of bed at 6am, so that I could depart my house by 7. As though plans ever work out. The alarm clock never went off, so I didn't get up until my father came in and woke me up at about 6:40. So up I was, took a quick shower, loaded my car with my things, and managed to leave by 7:15 or so. I drove from there to a town called London, in southern Kentucky, where I stopped off for some gas and two bottles of Tropicana juice, since I didn't bring anything to eat or drink with me. From there I continued onward, stopping off once again for a bit of stretching my legs... somewhere in northern Georgia... and realized that I'd forgotten my gas cap. In Kentucky... 300 miles behind me. So, thus I had to make a mental note that somewhere in my blitzkrieg travels to the Retirement State I would have to set aside time and effort into finding an Auto Zone or something to get a replacement cap. I got back to my driving, and made the timing error of going through Atlanta at 5pm. Generally the traffic on the entire trip down wasn't bad, with the exception of a few slow downs due to construction and such, which is to be expected. But Atlanta at 5pm was certainly... worse. All the same, I made it through there, continued down I-75, stopped for gas just off of state route 16, and then went onward once more until I reached I-16. I hopped on I-16, took it east just outside of Savannah, GA, where I merged onto I-95, and headed southward. By this time on Thursday evening, it was around 9:30 pm... once I was through Savannah I think it was closer to 10 or so. Regardless, I decided I should look for a hotel. And thus the largest mistake of my travels- I'd forgotten my walled, with my driver's license, in Ohio. Hotels won't allow you to check in without any form of ID, and if I were to get pulled over by a friendly neighbourhood police officer, that certainly wouldn't fly, either. Lucky for me I managed to find a hotel just 3 miles short of the Florida state line, in a little town called Kingsland... or St Marys. Basically the same town. I called my father and asked him to send my wallet overnight to nexrad and loopter's address, so that I would have it by Saturday. I keep all of my money separate from my wallet, by-the-way, so thus I still had all of my cash on me. Lucky dog that I am. Far, far too much driving for a border collie dog, but I nearly made it to Florida, which made me a happy border, all the same. By the time I got into the hotel, it was a little after 11pm, and by the time I got to sleep, it was closer to 12:30 on Friday morning...
FRIDAY- I got myself up, dressed, and out of the hotel by around 8:30 or so, and headed to a local Advance Auto Parts just across I-95, got a replacement gas-cap, and then headed south once again. The driving for Friday, compared to Thursday in terms of time and difficulty, was so much better. I had no other road to take but that one, and there weren't any large cities (relatively speaking) to go through apart from Jacksonville, which I made it through by 10am, I believe? I made better time traveling south than I thought I would, and ended up arriving at my destination in southern Florida (city withheld simply because I'm not sure if Nex and Loopy want me advertising their location... *snickerwoofs*) by 3:30pm. Once I had brought everything in, and met my gracious hosts, the rest of the evening was so very delightful. Nex and Loopy are very sweet and attentive gentlemen, and I find myself wondering exactly how it is that I deserve such delightful treatment. Regardless of that, I fancy myself in good care, to say the least. I can only hope I'm as considerate a guest as they are a host. ^^ We ended up going out to eat on Friday evening, to a local Mexican establishment, which had some great food, yes. ^^ My hosts were... a bit upset with me once I'd told them what I'd actually had to eat for Thursday and Friday- My total intake included one and a half Tropicana drinks, a small bottle of Minute Made apple juice, a few mini-donuts, a glass of water, and two bottles of Lipton Green tea. I thought that was more than enough for two days on the road, but they apparently enjoy food. *Wags his tail in amusement* Of course, so does a border collie... but I'm going to be such a fat dog by the time I leave them, tomorrow. *Muses* Anyways, after we got back from eating, we sat and talked a bit more... oh, and we watched some sort of home redecorating show, before finally retiring off to bed at around 1 or 1:30 in the morning. ^^
SATURDAY- Everyone was up and dressed by 10am, though unfortunately we couldn't get out and about right away, as my father had decided to designate my wallet's delivery as "signature required". That's fine, except then I felt quite at fault for having forgotten it in the first place, thus further delaying our plans. Bad guest... >_< It did end up arriving, by 2:30 or so, and we all donned our beach clothing and headed for... well, you know... the beach. I've not been swimming, at all, in a good 5 or 6 years, and I've never been swimming in the ocean. Wow. The weather was great (despite a high UV index reading, according to local travel planner nexrad) the water was just fine, and bark... so many shells! *Wags his tail absently* And I do believe I've quite the sunburn... *Flicks an ear* ...which made sleeping last night so very... interesting. We stayed at the beach until sometime around 5 or 5:30, came back home, cleaned ourselves up, and headed out for dinner again. This time to a small but well-regarded Italian restaurant. How does a dog such as I get this kind of treatment? Out to eat at such fine places, the beach, a relaxing place to stay in the evening... I truly am an indebted border collie. After dinner, we came home once again, let ourselves settle from such a meal as that (the food was amazing, by-the-way), and then went out to see a movie (Kung Fu Panda) later in the evening... I believe the showing time was 11:15pm. The movie was amusing, and well-done, so I wouldn't say it's not recommended. *Muses* Hmm... ah, then we came home for the final time, and all headed off to bed shortly, as it was around 2 am. I honestly don't think I've had a day as good as yesterday in a long, long time. ^^
And here we are for today... I'm not sure what the plans consist of, but I'm sure it will be just lovely, as everything else has been. But now the wolf and the jackal are awake, so I believe I should be on my way for now. Further updates sometime soon. Do take care, you lot! *Gives a happy bark*