Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Exactly 16 years ago here on my blog – I wrote about my road-trip westward from the Jacksonville Florida area (specifically Fleming Island in Clay County) to the Dallas Texas area (specifically Allen in Collin County).
This was a very unique road-trip. It was a relocation road-trip for my parents. After a dozen years of living at 3 different homes in and around the Jacksonville area – they moved to the Dallas area to be close to my younger brother and his wife. My dad had Lou Gehrig’s Disease at the time, and it would ultimately end his life the following year in 2010.
The moving truck had already come and gone – headed to Texas. All that was left was to drive from Homestead to Fleming Island, pick-up my parents and their cat Pumpkin, and head west. And so that’s what I did. I left Homestead shortly before 4:30 AM on that Tuesday, and I drove about 375 miles to my parents’ home (which was deeded over to me). They got in my mom’s car, and I drove her car. We drove about 345 miles westward along I-10 on that first day, and we made it to Milton Florida (just east of Pensacola). We ate Dinner at a fancy Mexican restaurant called La Hacienda. (It’s still there today.)
We got back on the road again on Wednesday morning. We made it another 415 miles – straight into the heart of Louisiana. You know – timing is everything – and we hadn’t planned on it – but we got mixed in with very heavy traffic coming out of New Orleans. It was Ash Wednesday – the day after Mardi Gras. Thousands of tourists were heading north out of New Orleans. I remember us eating Lunch at IHOP, and it was jam-packed. I also remember us missing National Pancake Day at IHOP by exactly one day.
We stayed at a hotel in Alexandria – near their airport. Their airport used to be England Air Force Base for 50 years until 1992.
Incidentally – Pumpkin the cat – who didn’t care too much for me – stayed with me in my hotel room for both nights. (We stayed at pet-friendly hotels.) Pumpkin was completely terrified during the trip – especially in the hotel rooms. It was quite the chore chasing that big heavy cat out from underneath the bed.
On the 3RD day (Thursday) we arrived at my brother’s and sister-in-law’s house in Allen Texas. It was about 1,075 miles in my mom’s car. It was the first and last time I ever drove that car.
Meanwhile – my own car was still sitting in Florida on my parents’ former driveway. I flew back to Jacksonville International Airport on that Saturday. I then took a taxi back to my car some 35 miles away. I then drove 375 miles back home to Homestead – arriving late at night.
You think I have such a great memory from exactly 16 years ago ? Not so much. Most of these facts were copied and pasted from that blog post that I originally wrote.
I think I’m driving to Arcadia Florida today. If I am then I’ll let you know how it went – next #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.
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