QC12-01 Unexpected trip to Florida

May 18, 2011 (Wed) Home to Kenly, NC (500/500 miles) - We got a call late Monday that Bom, Joy's mother, had been taken to the hospital emergency room with, among other things, congestive heart failure. This didn't look good for a 99 year old, especially since she had just returned home from the hospital with an infection a week or so before. Joy and her sisters decided that a trip the Florida to see her was in order so we spent yesterday getting ready for travel. Although we thought we'd only be gone a week or two we needed to do everything we do to be gone 3 months (albeit on a smaller scale) plus cancel all our near-term plans and appointments, of which there were many!

We got off this morning at about 7:17am and drove separately over to the Applebee's near US18 where we hooked up our toad. The rain started just as we were finishing up. Then it was South on US18, West on I-195 and South on I-295 where we stopped to top off our gas tank before leaving NJ ($3.75/gal). We've been having problems with Lamont's battery going dead while he is in tow so we took the opportunity start him up while we were there to for some recharging.

The last time we crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge into Delaware the toll was $16. Today we paid $6.00! We asked the toll taker if he realized that we had a car in tow. He said yes, that's why the toll was $6. We think he didn't realize that we had dual rear wheels. But $10 for two extra wheels? That's outrageous! Tolls down through Delaware and Maryland were $6 and $7 respectively. The Francis Scott Key Bridge toll East of Baltimore was $9. (We are not allowed to go through the tunnels in Baltimore because we carry propane.)

Traffic down I-95 and around Washington wasn't as bad as we'd expected - until we got to Tysons Corners and the major highways out to Dulles Airport from the city. Construction slowed things down considerably. By 2:00 we were ready to pack it in but we still had a long way to go if we were going to get to Florida in two days - our plan.

The drive down I-95 through VA was much better and after Richmond actually beautiful (relatively). NC was especially beautiful because of all the wild flowers planted along the highway by the North Carolina Department of Transportation Wildflower Program. There were many long swatches of sometimes brilliant color in the berm between northbound and southbound traffic lanes. Ah, North Carolina in the Spring.

We stopped to eat at a Wendy's in Kenly, NC and found it was part of a large truck stop complex with several fast food establishments, several brands of gas and diesel in the area and a huge mall catering to a trucker's every need. We could have bought a couple of chrome tail pipes to decorate Q's cab and to direct his exhaust out and over the roof line for instance. It also had a very large relatively empty parking lot, separate for the trucks, with markings for RV parking and even sanitary dump facilities. We decided to spend the night there rather than going over to the Flying J truck stop on the other side of the highway.

Q076605 Kenly 95 Truck Stop.
___________________________

May 19, 2011 (Thu) Kenly, NC to Englewood, FL (660/1160 miles) - We worried about it being a noisy night as we turned Q's living room to a bedroom. The big 18 wheelers were using their noisy engine brakes as they come off nearby I-95 but it turned out be a very quiet - or we were so exhausted from the long drive yesterday that we slept through it all. At any rate, we were awake at 5:15 and back on the road at 6:15 - well almost. We went over to the Flying J for gas ($3.73/gal, 3¢ a gallon cheaper than the BP where we'd spent the night). Then we were off.

We picked up some General Tso's Chicken at a Walmart hot food counter (Gourmet all the way) for lunch, ran Lamont to circulate the transmission oil and recharge the battery and got back on the road. We've been noticing a lot of highway police activity all the way down. They seemed to be particularly active through NC and into FL. We saw them every few miles either with someone pulled over or sitting in wait.

Honda specs call for us to stop every 8 hours to run their CRV for a few minutes - to insure that the automatic transmission doesn't dry up. It had been 6 1/2 hours since we'd run him last at the Walmart at noon so we pulled into the rest area off I-75 West of Ocala, FL to do that and to give the battery a shot. Too late!! The battery was completely dead! Not even a click from the starter! So unhook, turn Q around, and employ the use of our jump cables. Fortunately the parking lot where we were was completely empty so we could move to an almost flat space to unhook. We drove separately down to the next rest area (to put some charge back into Lamont's battery) and hooked back up. And Joy fell in the parking lot, bruising her hip and scrapping the skin off her elbow. Fortunately our rig blocked the view of the trucker sitting in his cab with the door open watching us hook up.

These adventures cost us two hours. Instead of getting in a 9:00, it was after 11:00. Bed was well appreciated!

May 20, 2011 (Fri) Englewood, FL (2) - A lot of people are waiting for Bom's prognosis. As are we. It's certainly better than a couple of days ago but still uncertain. Joy and her sisters (and Alison, Gail's daughter) spent the day at the hospital. And we all went out to eat last night. Word is that Bom will be coming home tomorrow.

May 21, 2011 (Sat) Englewood, Fl (3) - Bom came home about noon today. She was very tired and was asleep almost immediately. Gail's son Craig arrived this afternoon and we all had lunch together at Panera's Bread. Otherwise we just hung out - visiting Bom one on one (or so) when she was awake. We don't know what the prognosis is, but at least she is "home" and with the people who love her.  A lot depends on what the visiting nurse says tomorrow.  Right now she is sleeping.  The trip home was exhausting for her.  Thank you all whose prayers are with us, it means so much to us.  

Q77265 Jeanne's back yard