Driving on a budget or is it on a prayer?

The hardest part of any trip is the going home. Especially as I was down visiting some of my absolute favorite people in Louisianna. Meemaw has grown pretty attached to the littles and their parents. Okay I was already attached to their mom, and their dad has just kind of seamlessly joined the clan making our little circle of three a bigger circle of six. It’s amazing how my circle has grown, but not in the way that I thought or maybe even hoped. After all these years I still find myself alone with no prospects in sight, so I am in the market as it were if you have any recommendations. Just saying. 

No matter which way I am going on the highway, I have a lot of anxiety about my trips between Maryland and Louisianna. It’s not just the expense that I incur (the gas, food, and hotel room costs can really add up), it’s also the emotional toll of leaving my loved ones behind, and the overall daunting task of being on the road for about 1,300 miles by myself. Let’s just say, there are a lot of conversations with myself, God, the other drivers, and my voice recognition text so I can pass the time working on posts for my blog. It’s either that or go crazy. Of course, talking to myself or people who can’t hear me, might already mean I have gone round the bend. I will leave that for you to decide.

No matter how much I dislike the drive, I enjoy the journey. There is always something new to see or someone new to meet. And it must be done, and unfortunately, I am the only one who can do it because again I am still as single as I ever was. Not to mention I have a job that likes me to be onsite sometimes, another daughter in Maryland that likes to have me around occasionally, my sewing basecamp is in Maryland, and I have community responsibilities that I am required to make an appearance at on occasion. Contrary to popular belief, I am not a hermit. Although upon reflection I wouldn’t mind being one. But for now I will just stay a Meemaw.

This journey in particular was very stress inducing. I never thought I would find myself back in this situation, but I only had $300 to get myself 1,300 miles back to Maryland with a cat in tow. Typically, I would just have used my IHG points to stay at a hotel on the way for free, but I didn’t have any in my bank to draw on because I just used the ones that I had for a previous stay. And I am sure that I would have had to pay a pet deposit along with the incidental hold, so a hotel room was not in the budget for this trip. It has been a long time since I had to make an 18/19-hour drive in one shot, but it had to be done.

Luckily, I have made this drive many times over the past year + that the kids have been in Louisianna, so I knew the roads my GPS would take me on and the possible stops along the way. Plus, I know my car. I have been the one to put all but 6,000 of the 94,000 + miles on my car and know that I can get roughly 300 miles, give or take 40 miles, on a tank of gas. Which brought in my least favorite part of any journey, which is the math. I took the 1,300 miles, divided it by the 300 per a tank, and knew that I was going to have to fill up at least 5 times along the way. It usually costs around $44 dollars to fill up the tank if the price is over $3 a gallon, so I was able to calculate that I was going to need to allocate at least $220 for gas.

No, your math is not wrong, that only left me $80 for food and the hope that nothing went wrong. Needless to say, I stopped at Starbucks a couple of times for my Venti Chai Tea Latte, extra hot, with cinnamon powder, and two extra pumps of chai (this is the way to my heart if you were wondering), one stop at McDonalds for a ‘real’ dinner, and everything else was just gas station snacks, the cheaper the better. Fortunately, the cost of gas was under $3 a gallon the entire trip. Yep, even when I reached the more northern side of the east coast it was still only $2.98 when I stopped for the last time in Virgina, so I managed to get home with a little bit to spare. Good thing since the bank didn’t open until Monday and I got home by 11:30 Sunday morning.

Now that most of the logistics are covered, its back to the actual drive and the journey that it took me on. As I said, I have made this drive many times, and I know that the Nashville area is roughly the middle of the trip, so I did my best to time it where I was able to stop at Bu-cee’s in Sevierville for my few hours of shut eye before hitting the road again. But like every journey this one held some surprises along the way.

For anyone who has not driven in Louisiana, it appears that this state, as much as I love it, only has one real interstate. Everything else is back roads and state highways, so you have to time gas stops and bathroom breaks between little areas that look like Deliverance and little towns that if you blink you miss them. My first stop was an hour from the house to grab my morning Starbucks and to fill up my half-full tank of gas. Needless to say, that tank did not cost $44 dollars to fill up. Then it was across the back roads until I reached the real interstate and the possibility of utilizing the facilities. Of course, it was pouring down rain and I had to make it quick, so the cat was not in the car for a prolonged period of time. Yes, I had the windows cracked even with the rain, and the car was still cold from having the AC on. Fortunately, the rain only lasted for five minutes once I got on the interstate and started towards Mississippi. Not that it made a big difference in my ability to see since I spent most of the first few hours tearing up at the thought of leaving part of the clan behind.

After that it was a pretty straight forward drive until I hit Tennessee. I hit the time change at that point and added an hour to the clock, but it seems much easier when that happens in the afternoon, and you are wide awake for it. Not too much later I reached Buc-cee’s and although it was later than I am used to getting there, around 8:30/8:50 at night, I timed it perfectly to need to fill up my tank and I was able to get my rest time in. Which is a good thing because I am of the mind that if you are using a location’s bathrooms and napping in their parking lot you should be spending your money there. Not that I think Buc-cee’s minds, but I mind because I was taught to do the right thing and not abuse someone’s kindness. I mainly wanted to stop at Buc-cee’s because it is well lit, there are always people around, and there is access to bathrooms and food without much issue. While I would love to say I feel as safe and secure in rest areas, I think we all know that is not exactly true. It doesn’t help that there always seems to be a message about human trafficking on the back of every stall door at the rest areas. They are fine for daylights hours, but not so much at night. Especially when you are a woman traveling alone.

I found a back corner of the parking lot and settled in for a few hours of rest. My rest ended up being cat naps due to doors closing and the lights, but I needed the downtime. Apparently, I set the standard for the napping club because each time I woke up there was a new vehicle in my corner with a napper in the car. I slept off and on for about 6 hours and then I was back at it again. I didn’t feel as well rested as I wanted to, but it was 3am and I was ready to start the final leg of my journey.

One good thing about leaving this early is the fact that there was no fog in the fog advisory area. I hate when you run into fog since most people’s normal reaction is to slam on the breaks, but in fog you have to be like Dory and just keep driving. Either that you or you end up the middle of a multicar pileup. I managed to get all the way past Bristol and then it hit me. I was suddenly exhausted. I tried to push through, but it couldn’t be done. I had the air on as cold as I could get it, and I was slapping my face to keep me awake. I know you are asking why I didn’t just stop, but I was actively looking for a truck stop or the next rest area as soon as it hit me. Unfortunately, it is not safe to just stop on the side of the interstate. As soon as I saw the next rest area, I pulled into the first parking spot, grabbed my pillow and went right to sleep. I ended up sleeping for about an hour and then I felt like a brand-new person. I didn’t even have to get out of the car, just adjusted my seat and went on my way. From there it was a pretty straight shot to home with a stop at Starbucks once I was sure it would be open.

By the time I stopped at Starbucks I was basically on the home stretch and could have driven it blindfolded. It gave me an opportunity to reflect on the trip and make some realizations. One, I still have it. What is it, you ask? Those skills the Army taught me about being self-reliant, able to go for hours without resting, and the ability to sleep just about anywhere through just about anything. Two, I really need to get back into my sewing game. I used my sewing to pay for my youngest to go to dance classes all through her school years, and now I need to be able to use it to pay for my travel back and forth. So please feel free to check out my store and see if anything catches your eye. I also take special orders, so if you don’t see what you want just reach out and I can hook you up.

Until next time my friends!

Sydney