Last week Jan and I took the long journey from upstate NY to the middle of Alabama. Our quest was to deliver a 21hp riding lawn mower to our daughter Andrea. Never having hauled something so large in our "new to us" pickup truck, we were a bit apprehensive how things would go. Knowing we couldn't stop overnight and split up the sixteen hour drive, we left at 4:40am, hoping to arrive around 8:00pm (the time change in southern Kentucky gave us an extra hour).
We learned several things during this adventure;
1. The typical driver that tries to cause an accident while texting is a mid-twenties female. You can tell they are texting by the weaving between or over the road lines, especially on three lane highways. Usually they had no hands on their steering wheel when we nervously passed them. As soon as the texting was done they took off, weaving between cars and using all lanes going at least 20mph over the speed limit. Our non-scientific findings determined the ratio to be 7:1 in favor of females age 20+.
2. Coming up on a drunk, slobbering, weaving, dangerous drunk driver at 6:00am on a lonely dark Interstate I90 is not fun. This happened to us a bit south of Buffalo. It was unbelievable how this driver (male, probably 40ish?) went from the right shoulder, to left shoulder, back to middle of lanes, and repeated. My truck horn did nothing. Jan called 911 and reported him. I finally got around and within a mile looked into the rear view mirror as he headed off the road into the median, up a slight hill and narrowly missed some trees. Thankfully he didn't hit another car!
3. The roads in Nashville have been under construction for at least 12 years. I don't think it will ever end. I hate driving through that city, but it's the most direct route to Birmingham.
4. Why are NY and Pennsylvania the only states with a 65mph speed limit instead of 70?
5. Why is NY the only state we have to pay tolls on?
6. Why is NY the only state without a Welcome Center? Some of these are absolutely beautiful, like Alabama and Georgia. They know how to appeal to tourists. NY, not so much.
7. It has become mandatory for us to stop in southern Kentucky for a case of Kentucky Bourbon Beer. You can't buy this beer in NY. It is the perfect drink to have while riding a 21hp lawn mower in Alabama on a hot day, I know, I tested to make sure.
8. As Jan and I age we are having a more difficult time combining our gasoline stops, food stops and bladder stops all at the same time. It is a cause for concern. Maybe we are just out of practice?
9. We (I) forgot our road atlas. Yes, a printed road atlas. We had the GPS working and Jan's phone assisting, but there is something about printed maps I have always found fascinating and extremely useful. I don't always need the technology, though it can have some advantages.
10. It was okay being without internet access for much of the trip. Sometimes being disconnected can be relaxing.
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