Day 4: Will this drive EVER end?

Let me start by saying, that whatever you think about the Howard Johnson, they are not on the same level as the Holiday Inn Express.   We are really lucky that we didn’t see any bugs.

Our requirements for booking a hotel are easy:  Under $50 a night because we’re just sleeping there, we aren’t spending much time there.  Free continental breakfast, because I’m not sure why, but breakfast is the most expensive meal for us to eat out.  $40 for pancakes and eggs is just ridiculous!  and of course the standards, like 2 queen beds, a private bathroom, and running water, and clean.  I want to pretend that no-one has ever slept there before.

Dave says that I need to keep my expectations equal with the under $5o a night.  I just expect things like pride in ownership.  If I owned a hotel I wouldn’t give a room with a wet carpet because of the ancient air conditioner.  Or I wouldn’t give a room that had duct tape on the carpet.  I also would insist on my maids doing a very thorough and good job, even if they are probably illegals from across the border.  Everyone everywhere really should have pride in ownership, things would be so much nicer.

Whatever the case, we slept moderately okay.  If one can ever sleep well with two toddlers wanting to sleep with both of their elbows in your back.  Everyone showered with hot water, watched a little tv, we repacked the car, filled the ice chest with ice (did I mention we were eating our lunch out of the back of the van.  Kinda like the taco truck, but a crappy one, one that only offers sandwiches and water), and went down to breakfast.  Actually, we descended upon the breakfast buffet like a pack of locusts.

Hotels.com:  0

The Gaines’: 1

We found a Costco for gas and a Whataburger for soda and we were off again! We drove and drove through Texas.  We ate lunch in Texas.

And then we finally found Louisiana.

Don’t let the smiles and nonchalant stances fool you.  If you look close Nathaniel is covering his eyes because he’s sure that at any moment a big rig truck is going to crash into our minivan causing it to run us all over.

Me:  We should just skip this one.  It’s way too dangerous!

Dave:  It’ll be fine.  We’ll be like 10 feet off the freeway.  Safer than your grandma’s backyard.

Me:  I can just see the headlines now “Vacationing family all killed while taking a picture on the side of the freeway.  No survivors!”

Dave:  That’s ridiculous, at least someone will survive. Remember, this was your idea to begin with.

Me:  I had no idea it was going to be so dangerous!

We got out, took the picture and ran back into the car where I handed out candy bars.

Let me tell you something about Louisiana, it is not for the person with a phobia of bridges.  I think there is more water than land in southern Louisiana.  This means that there are more bridges than roads.

After driving for 45 minutes on possibly the longest bridge I’ve ever been on, I told Dave I thought I might puke from the stress.

Dave:  What are you talking about?

Me:  The bridge.  What if it breaks?

Dave:  I’m sure it’s safe.

Me:  Remember that bridge collapsed last year.  They did some kind of assessment and most of the roads in our country aren’t holding up too well.

Dave:  Don’t worry.  We’re only like 2 feet off the water, I’m sure the water isn’t even deep this is marsh land.  We can probably stand up and only get our feet we.

Me:  That is until the crocodiles come and eat our feet off.

Dave:  don’t be silly, they don’t have crocodiles in Louisiana.  They have alligators.

Eventually we made it out of Louisiana into Mississippi.

 

The kids were so excited for their candy bar:

We’re sorry Alabama, we’ll catch you on the flip side, it was too dark for a picture.

Somewhere around midnight, we arrived in Florida.  Let me just say, the HoJo in San Antonio seemed like a four star resort compared to the Days Inn in Pensacola, FL.