Well, I'm back from vacation.
Whew.
I hereby officially apologize here and now to the entire state of Georgia. If you were driving on some of the state roads (like 83, 11, 53, 129, 75) on Monday afternoon, that blue car with the Florida tags going about 35 in a 50 MPH zone? That was me.
I'm certain there were more than a few folks wanting my head on a pike. Some of them generously shared thoughts about my heritage when I'd pull over to let them pass.
A drive that was supposed to take about 9 hours ended up taking 13 hours each way. On the way up, the length was due to potty breaks (the boys) and a lovely case of vertigo (me). And on the way back, the length was due to a freakish backup on I-75 southbound, somewhere around Ocala and extending down to Wildwood area. Never did find out the cause of that. Yuck.
I swear, I don't know how y'all manage to drive up there in Georgia. The little roads with narrow, unpaved shoulders, that are right beside some scary dip down several feet (if not more)... shudder.
Any doubt that I was meant to be a flatlander -- despite my love of land with actual contour -- has been utterly erased.
Then I nearly freaked out crossing some bridges. Like "almost couldn't move the damn car" freaked-out. The hell?
I don't have a fear of heights, or at least I haven't up until now, so I don't know what was up with that. And I have to do bridges fairly regularly, considering the fact that I live in a very watery state. At least I managed to survive the drive back home without any further breaks with reality (the bridge is NOT going to crumble under you,Amanda!).
The car's air conditioning, now that was another story.
More on this later. I'm beat, but the trip was fun (vertigo aside) and the boys got blissfully muddy on a daily basis. My laundry may never be the same again.
Chicken Saltimbocca
19 hours ago
3 comments:
The embankments are worse around rivers and especially when they're on curves too. Takes extra special care and extra special training of the kids as they learn to drive and be aware of their surroundings.
Not sure what bridges you were crossing that were making you nervous. Should go over the one in Brunswick sometime - tall curved suspension bridge they built to replace the drawbridge and only those short concrete spacer thingies as a barrier - now THAT makes ME nervous.
Glad you're safe!
Welcome back!!!
Sorry about the vertigo :X
I have things that freak me out at the worst times, for no reason.
Embankments! Thanks, Babs. And yes, I noticed they were much worse in some places. Normally I can just stare at the road and dismiss the drop-offs from my mind (I managed that on the trip home rather nicely), but I think the exhaustion of already having driven seven hours with two small pee-machines managed to combine with the unfamiliar road lay-out, resulting in a totally freaked-out me.
And oh, that bridge you mentioned definitely would have had me squealing! But these were normal little bridges (one flat, and one with just a bit of an up-and-down curvature) that somehow managed to utterly scare the snot out of me to the point where I was afraid some poor Georgia cop was going to come across my car stopped dead still on the bridge with two little boys. That would not have gone over well, I suspect. It's insane because I drive across the Frankenstein... erm, Howard Frankland Bridge... any time I go to visit family over in St. Petersburg.
I'm going to have to be careful next time I cross the Sunshine Skyway, though... that *is* a suspension bridge, and a rather healthily sized one at that. Moments like these make me hate getting older!
And Angel, thanks. The vertigo was way less than fun. We ran into my parents on the road up to our cabin, and the boys and I got out and walked the rest of the way with my mother (on the nice FAR side of the road from the edge, thankyouverymuch!)while my father drove my car up the rest of the way. I was never so happy to be on my own two feet in my life.
I haven't had many of these total freak-out moments, although I've had a few over the course of my life. It'd be nice, though, if they'd confine themselves to happening when I wasn't the sole adult in the car with two little guys. Ugh :(
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