At approximately 8:45 PM today, we embarked on our journey toward Florida. Our trip began with just the four of us: Tom, Pat, Skyler and I. We did not leave without a few minor setbacks. When we first attempted to leave, we forgot the maps and had to turn back to get them. We also had to stop back at Skyler’s to pick up some of the stuff he had forgotten. Pat was the first to drive as we had Cory’s van and he had previously talked to the Proctor’s. We began in Indiana and started heading south towards Indianapolis. We all were excited to begin the trip and the energy in the car was high. We had many laughs about all kinds of things, including Wade. We made our first stop for gas in Alpha, Ohio.
We all got out and stretched and made our way inside to the convenience store. The cashiers, acting as they had never seen an Asian (Skyler) before, referred to him as “cornbread” (read that with a southern accent). Also, a side note for Josh if he happens to read this, the store sold Ale-8. We all piled back into the car to begin the next leg of our journey. We traveled southeast through Ohio and came into West Virginia. This is where my late night training came into hand. Pat and I stayed awake to do the driving while Tom and Skyler both fell asleep like little babies. Tom had earlier challenged us to see how long we could stay up and not go to sleep, but now he was the first to fall asleep! Pat and I found West Virginia to be the most interesting state so far. We drove on the interstate weaving through the mountains and over the Ohio River and many other rivers multiple times. We also saw a lock and dam on one if the rivers. It was pretty cool to see, but would have been better in the daylight. We also passed a nuclear power plant. It was all lit up in the night, and the cooling tower was clearly visible. We also went through a few tunnels on the West Virginian interstate. Our second stop was in West Virginia about a little after 3 AM. Pat and I got out and stretched and used the restroom while Tom and Skyler slept. I began to drive here and continued to drive through the night. Pat stayed up to keep me company as it was rapidly becoming morning. I drove through the rest of West Virginia and Virginia. Virginia did not have anything noteworthy to add to our chronicle, and it was soon behind us. We came into North Carolina nearing daybreak, and Pat and I finally decided to take a break. We decided to look for a rest stop to take a break at and sleep a few hours. We did not come upon a rest stop so we decided to stop at a gas station. When we arrived there, Pat and I settled in to take a nap. This was about the time that Tom and Skyler awoke from their slumber. They decided to carry on with the journey to Charlotte, North Carolina. We were planning on stopping here to visit one of Tom’s friends from high school. Tom took over driving and Skyler navigated. Pat and I were embarrassed to find out that we stopped only one exit before the rest stop. Tom navigated us through Charlotte to his friend’s college. Here ends day one.
I have added links to the right side of the page to the day's pictures and the maps for the two legs of the trips.
