2,815

Google Maps put the trip at 2,774 miles, but my odometer said a little more.

NY NJ DE MD DC VA NC SC GA AL MS LA MS AL GA TN VA WV MD PA NJ NY

                                            Atlanta             New Orleans      Bristol?

                                                         CENTRAL TIME


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The driving was not so uneventful.

I heard a strange noise when I was drinking my fist (of many) cups of coffee.  I thought I was driving next to a truck that had a big leak, or something.  There as a very out of place sloshing sound.  It turns out it was the sound of the hot coffee poring out from under the lid onto my sweatshirt.  A lot of it pored out until I felt the burning.  Then it was too late, my shirt was then soaked through with hot coffee.  My screams only woke some of the family.  The good news was that it cooled quick.  I was able to put my cold damp shirt on my burnt skin at 80mph.

Route 85 just West of 95 in Virginia was kinda creepy.  Super strait with lots of tall leafless trees on either side.  We called it Ax Murderer Highway. Maybe that was not so funny.  We drove through some rain and saw the remains of some very serious accidents.  We saw a car wedged sideways and backwards between some trees.  There was also a large contingent from the Virginia State Accident Investigation Bureau, and a truck from the Coroner's Office.  I told the kids that it was all put there to remind us to drive carefully.  I lied but it worked.

Approaching Atlanta there was a loud thud against the windshield.  In the morning we saw that the widow was broken.  Good thing we got "full glass".  I will find out later in the week if that is really worth it.

In Alabama we passed a sign that said "Confederate War Historic Sight", not Civil war, but "Confederate War".  I never heard it refereed to as the Confederate War.  And actually until a few years ago when I chaperoned a class trip to Gettysburg I thought Confederate meant fake or counterfeit.  As in the fact that confederate money was not worth much in the numismatic world.  If I woulda seen it again I wolda taken a picture.  I also just spent some serious time looking for that image online, but to no avail.  But I am serious, there was a sign leading to a  "Confederate War Historic Sight."

God seamed to have a lot of signs too. Not just billboards for radio stations that profit by talking about god. Lots of homes and business owners felt compelled to make sure the world knew what religion they believed in.  Lots of religious symbols on private property and many even covered their walls with numbered lists of "commandments"   As an Atheist this worries me.  So if some guy suddenly he is not worried about his afterlife he will have no problem killing me.  OK, I will stop.

Another issue that I had on the road is that I had to do all the driving back home.  That is doable because I never found the passenger seat to be a relief from driving,  But since I had to cover over 1,300 miles in 2 days I drank A LOT OF COFFEE.  Lately I have been drinking one cup a day.  In each of the 2 days of driving I think I had 10 cups.,.,,,,,,,..... Did you ever pee and when you were done say to yourself that that was the most you ever peed in your life?  (Don't answer that out loud.)  Well I did that twice a day for 2 days.  And this morning I did not have the energy to run.  Ya know why?  Because I was dehydrated.

Also on the way home my wife had to participate in a conference call.  Some of the people were in the West Coast, some were in NYC.  When the call was set up we were in Alabama.  The conference call app on her phone have her the correct time to join the call when we were in Central Time and alerted her to he time change when we moved from one time zone to another.  I didn't see that coming.

When the photos come back from the drugstore I will post a more touristy blog.