It wasn't out of necessity. We actually wanted to. In fact, Eric brought it up after our drive back from Atlanta back over Labor Day weekend. He enjoyed that drive and thought he might actually like a full trip driving, even all the way to FL. I had no problem with that - I had done the drive numerous times before. And besides the fact that my Armada slams down the gas, it's actually a nice ride!
Since we already did a big holiday celebration with his sister and her family before her husband was deployed (and they didn't want to do a big family thing without him), we knew we were 'free' to do this drive when we wanted. It was the perfect year to try this option out. We left on Saturday (the 21st). We planned to make it a two day trip down, with our overnight spot being at the State Park in GA we found over Labor Day (Amicalola Falls). It was a lofty goal to get to that point, since it was off the road a bit and up a mountain... but we had faith in ourselves.
Of course, you can plan for everything but weather and other people's car accidents. It was raining when we woke up Saturday morning. We didn't let it dampen our spirits, though. We loaded up and we still on the road before the sun rose. Well... from what we could tell... the sun never did come out for us that day. This was no little rain, mid you... it was a torrential downpour that was slated to leave behind a lot of flooding in central Indiana. We saw about three slide-offs along I-65 before we were even a hour away. And this was JUST rain - not ice or snow! But we trudged on.
Despite the rain, things really weren't all that bad. We were making pretty good time, even with an extended Starbucks/bathroom stop just north of Louisville and a stop around Nashville for lunch. Even I-24 was an easy drive... until we approached the I-59 interchange. Near stopped traffic. It sucked! We were crawling for about three miles... but at least it finally stopped raining! And once we started moving, we saw the accident pulled off in the next rest area, with a State Cop assessing the damage.
Needless to say, this killed our goal of getting up the mountain in GA before sunset. Not that it mattered... probably wouldn't of seen much since as soon as we go into GA, we had rain again. And then as we climbed up into the mountains, it got really foggy. I truly learned the benefit of fog lights during this trip.
We got up to the lodge in time for dinner, though, and we didn't want to do much more than eat and crash for the night. Even if it was nice out, I'm not sure how much hiking I could've done. Traveling just wears a person out! We had a nice big room in the lodge, at least, so we were able to relax and get some good sleep for the next leg of our trip.The next morning, it was still raining. And foggy. We decided to just get on the road and we'd figure out if we really needed breakfast once we got going. So we loaded up, again in the rain. At least it was just suitcases, this time. And we were off. Down the mountain we drove, into and through Atlanta. Once we got on I-75, it got crazy, though. I think everyone decided to start travelling at this point. It was stop and go all the way to Macon! I think the rain was the main culprit, though we did see an accident or two. But I think they were because of the rain.
Earlier, we had debated about going to Savannah, since Eric had never been there and it was the type of thing he liked checking out. With the rain, we debated more. But after looking at the radar, we figured why not. We should becoming out of the rain around Macon and, sure enough. a lunch stop in Macon and then we were actually out of the rain for the rest of the trip! The sun even peeked through the clouds a few times!
Savannah turned out to be the right option for us. We got on I-16 and there was NO ONE on it! Traffic was so sparse the entire length of it and between that and the lack of rain, our faith in driving was restored. Not that we had really lost it, I guess. And Savannah, itself, turned out to be the perfect stopping point. We go there a little after 3pm, and since it was Sunday, most places closed around 5pm, which gave us a definite end time to get back on the road. And from there, it was a straight shot down I-95 to Jacksonville. Traffic on I-95 moves so much better than I-75... I think it's a direct result of where the traffic is from. How else do you explain the difference?
We go to the hotel, checked in, and went over to my parents for dinner. We were weary travelers, but we made it in once piece and were quite happy with the overall driving experience. So far, no souring to driving.
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