Going Out The Door

I really didn’t think I’d be writing a true trip post this soon. After all, we are in Phase 1–driving to Louisiana and then Texas, which is something we do several times a year. Yet, I think this worthy.

Normally, when we make this trip, we avail ourselves of the generous hospitality of our friends Eric Hansmann and Cheryl Torsney in Murfreesboro, TN, which is about the half way mark between home and my mom’s house. Because we had so many last minute things to do to close up the house for a few months, we didn’t think we’d really make it that far. We decided to make a game-time call and book something on the road when we had a better idea of how far we were going.

Now, we do this on a regular basis. Priceline has been great, but when we have Papalote, I still call the hotel to check on pet policy and how much the extra fee is. Things were hectic but we still got out at a reasonable time, and somewhere around Louisville decided we could make it as far as Nashville. I found a decent looking place that was on the right side of town to launch out in the morning with minimal traffic. Booked it. All good.

Until we arrived. Because I had prepaid, it wasn’t a big deal to check in, but the Internet service was down, along with some of the electrical systems in the hotel. They were already working on it, and we had power (and AC) in the room, so no big deal. And because of the hassle they waived the pet fee ($25), so, even better. We went out to a nice dinner, finally relaxing a little from the frantic day. Then back to the hotel.

By the time we went back, all of the power, and the water, was out. Thought about waiting it out, but it was in the 90s, and just too hot–so they said we could transfer to a sister hotel a short eight miles away. No problem.

Getting there was a breeze. And that’s where it stopped. Let’s just say, the evening ended up in crappy hotel, with me having a showdown with the manager (which I won, by the way), and nobody getting much sleep. Awesome.

Next day didn’t have the best start as they ran out of coffee by 7:45 a.m. and wouldn’t refill it (I probably didn’t help with that whole manager thing the night before). But, we were still able to get on the road at a reasonable time with an expected arrival at Mom’s around 5:30.

Which would have worked great, except for the semi truck that caught on fire outside of Jackson, MS. Fortunately, there were no injuries, but a 1 1/2 hour wait on the highway while they cleared it.

But Phase 1A, is under our belts and we get a few days off before Tom and I head to San Antonio.