My last two trips, October 2017 and April 2018 were solo adventures, but this trip I have a fellow traveler... My father... Last time I was on a vacation with my dad was December 2015, a year after my mom passed away.. My dad, brother, and I decided we wanted to go to Walt Disney World for Christmas since Christmas 2014 was not full of good tidings and cheer... Plus, a friend of mine and her mother suggested we go, saying it would help.. It did, even if a little....
Fast forward to 2018, and here my dad and I are again... This time without my brother... He just got married, two weeks ago actually, and he and his wife are just going back to work...
Sunday October 21: Started out as a typical departure day... We were both up by 7:30 am, dressed and packed by 8:00 AM... We were driving to Disney so we decided to get breakfast at a local diner before hitting the road... After breakfast, I stopped at the gas station to make sure my car was full... And here we realized we left our snacks at home... My father had bought snacks the day before so we had pickings in the room when we stopped over night, and of course for Disney... But we said no to turning around... So off to the New Jersey Turnpike I go...
Drive started off uneventful, 9:00 AM on a Sunday morning, no traffic, kind of empty, my kind of highway... I'm driving at a nice steady pace, watching cars fly by me... Things starting off uneventful... AND THEN.... a car comes flying right up behind me, rides my bumper, then the flashing lights of a State Trooper's car... I moved over thinking he was trying to respond to an emergency, but nope... he moved over with me... I said HE CANT BE PULLING ME OVER... but sure enough he was...
I roll down my winder and he asks for license, registration, insurance, the typical standard procedure... I hand him my documents, he gives me back my insurance card and asks ANY REASON YOU WERE DOING 90? Color me shocked to be honest... I said OFFICER NO I DIDN'T EVEN REALIZE I WAS DOING 90... Truth is, I really didn't realize I was going that fast because people in the right lanes were flying by me, which led to me being shocked I was pulled over... But I wasn't going to start questioning cause that's when things go south in a hurry... He asked if I had points on my license and I answered honestly, NO... He goes back to his car to run my name, check to see if I had points warrants, if I was wanted and what ever else they check up for... I must have disappointed him, NO ARRESTS TODAY OFFICER!! LoL...
So after a few minutes the trooper comes back and hands me the rest of my documents... He said OK SO I AM GIVING YOU A WRITTEN WARNING, THIS IS NOT A FINE OR A SUMMONS TO APPEAR IN COURT AND YOU DON"T HAVE ANYTHING TO PAY, IT IS JUST A WARNING FOR YOUR SPEED, PLEASE DRIVE MORE CAREFUL CAUSE SPEED LIMIT IS 65... YOU WERE DOING 90, BE SAFER... I thanked him, wished him a good day and off I went... And I laughed cause not even a minute after letting me go he pulled over someone else... I bet that other guy didn't get off so easy...
Ah well, I refused to let that 10 minute delay ruin the drive... And I made up for it on the road... Until I got to Virginia... And sorry to our Virginian members but ugh I really hate driving through your state... I rather drive through DC 100 times than 3 hours through VA.. Traffic up and down 95... FOR NO REASON... None what so ever.... Even my father passed comments about the traffic... And no, I didn't hit traffic on the Beltway or in Arlington... I hit it where I always do, WOODBRIDGE, VA... Several miles long... Finally clears up, get a little momentum going then BOOM traffic again... And again, NO REASON...
Our plan was to stop over night in Manning, South Carolina, my typical overnight stop... I figured Manning is 10 hours from my hometown, we'll be there the latest 7, probably sooner... Well Virginia messed that all up LOL... We stopped for gas in VA though... and I celebrated the minute we crossed state lines into North Carolina... I stopped at the rest area, used the rest rooms, texted family and friends to let them know we were OK, and off I went... My father and I figred we would probably get to Manning between 7:30 PM and 8:00 PM, 30 minutes to an hour off the pace if should have taken us...
We crossed into South Carolina, stopping at South of the Border tourist trap to get gas one more time and off I went.... We finally arrived at Manning, SC for the night at around 7:30 PM, thirty minutes off the projected time... Thankfully I was able to make up some of the time lost in VA while driving in NC and SC...
I checked in, we brought our stuff to the room and walked over to Shoney's for dinner... We were kind of hungry at that point... I had a burger and my father ordered a turkey club.... Truth be told, I actually like Shoney's...
We walked back to the room, texted everyone to let them know we arrived at our over night location, and got ready for bed... We watched NCIS LOS ANGELES then my father went to bed... I stayed up a little while longer watching Impractical Jokers and YouTube videos before calling it a night... The plan for day two was to get up at 8:00, go to Shoney's for their breakfast buffet and head back out on the road...
Over all, day one driving down was fine... My father and I had some nice conversations, something we don't have enough of... Other than being pulled over in NJ and the nightmare that is I 95 in Virginia, day one was a success...
If anyone is wondering, we stayed at the SureStay by Best Western... The hotel offers free WiFi and free continental breakfast... I believe they are pet friendly cause when I was checking in I was asked if I had pets.... the rooms seems to be recently renovated... and sort of modernized, at least as much as you can for a road side motel basically... Key things are hotel is clean, affordable, and beds were comfortable... I would recommend this hotel to anyone driving down to Disney and looking for an overnight stay... No I was not paid for this endorsement :)
Day two: We arrive coming up...
