This morning it was time to pack up the car and drive back to the chilly north. Since it was already 75 degrees at departure time, we had to dress in layers so we could add more as the temps dropped. We got underway a little before 7:00 am with audio books, GPS, and snacks at the ready.
I-95 is the major north-south artery that connects New England to Florida. As such, it’s always crowded this time of year. The interminably straight flat sections of Florida are usually run at high speeds. I think it’s a combination of terrain and personality. I try not to drive too fast, but get left in the dust by vehicles with Florida tags. This is a long, long state, and it seems to take forever to get to Jacksonville.
We can always expect slowdowns through the perpetual construction zone that is Georgia. We also know that there are only two rest stops in the state of Georgia – one at each border welcome center. The clear message is “Welcome to Georgia. Now keep moving.”
South Carolina brings more familiar territory, but it always takes longer to cross those portions than we anticipate. Mentally, we think we’re almost home since we’re in our home state. However, we’ve still got a couple of hundred miles to go +/-after crossing the Savannah River. It gets even worse when we leave I-95 for I-26.
On long trips such as this, it’s interesting to note how cars tend to travel in packs. Most of the time I don’t pay attention to the parade of Taurus’s, Corollas, SUV’s, and vans. However, certain ones catch my eye, and these serve as landmarks, or at least marks of progress or lack thereof. There were the three vans with New Jersey plates, flying American flags, and driving in close formation. These were obviously together. There was the van pulling the little Scamp camper. There was the woman with the hairdo which I mistook for a small dog. There was the jeep with the kayaks. There was the red van that tried to cut me off on the last entrance ramp. Even with stops for lunch and other breaks, we kept encountering these same vehicles. As we pass them, or they pass us, we would comment, “Oh, there’s THAT vehicle again.”
As we turned north on I-26, the weather went south. We had anywhere from mist to heavy rain along the final stretch to home. We did pull in to Greenville at 5:00 pm after ten hours of driving. That’s about typical for this trip. It was fun, but I’m glad to be home.