We left Wilton, CT around 6:45 AM the day after Thanksgiving. We drove to Norwalk and took a quick swing by the old house to get a look at it, stopped for gas and got some coffee and breakfast at Dunkin and off we went.

The plan was to go to Petersburg, VA where we had a reservation at a Hampton Inn, it was just about the 1/2 way mark, and with no traffic we were scheduled to get there by about 3 pm. We were, as I had hoped, well ahead of any issues in CT/NY/NJ. It was clear and the traffic flowed nicely. When we crossed over to the Delaware Memorial Bridge, the GPS changed to show us a 55 minute delay somewhere up the line in the DC area (no great surprise). However, the same GPS suggested a detour that lowered the delay to 8 minutes. We wanted to sit and have some lunch but alas, it was not to be, so drive through fast food was the choice and we continued along the road. We were lucky in the rerouting. We never did have to stop and rubber band in traffic. It was slower because of the alternate route but it was constantly moving. On top of that, E-Street Radio was broadcasting a special with the entire 1979 No Nukes Concert, I was in heaven. We arrived at the Hampton Inn only about 30 minutes later than planned, only to be told the room was not ready, but would be soon. “Soon” was pretty accurate, as when I was walking back to the car with the “bad news”, the front desk person came out to tell me the room was ready.

Petersburg, VA has nothing but a LOT of hotels, it seems to be a stopping off point due to its location. The hotel was clean, and comfortable but very, very tired. Nonetheless, we checked in and relaxed and tried to decide on a place to have dinner. Well, not much was open, so we settled on place near the hotel (after spending all day in the car, the last thing we wanted was to drive around), that touted themselves as having the best margaritas….NOPE….terrible would have been a better “advertisement”. So much so that Sue gave me hers and opted for a glass of wine that could have been from a box. The portions where huge, and just “ok” so much of the dinner was taken back to the hotel (fridge in the room), so we could take it with us on the road the next day should we need it.

We slept pretty well (amazing how being tired will do that), had the breakfast provided by the Hampton (not great, but not bad), packed up the car and headed out for the last leg. Clear sunshine, nice temperatures and yet, the GPS indicating a 59 minute delay, and it kept creeping up. The amazing part was there was no suggestion to re route….what I learned is that does not happen when the delay is too far away to impact the trip at that time. So, on we went, making the decision to pull over in Lumberton, NC to have some lunch and hopefully allow the accidents (the GPS did tell me why the delay and even where it was) to be cleared. Well, Lumberton was really, really busy with a lot of folks, likely on the way to Florida, doing the same thing, we tried to find a diner CLOSED, a few other places, CLOSED, CLOSED and CLOSED again…so off we went deciding to tough it out for about another hour. Bottom line, we ended up in a Waffle House, somewhere over the SC border. It was Sue’s first Waffle House and she was taken aback by no fries with her burger, only hashbrowns…however, the burger was good as was my sandwich, so off we went, yet again, We had hoped to arrive around 3 pm, but the delay had us closer to 5….BUT…as we got closer to the delay, (no it had not been cleared) the beloved GPS did give us an alternate route, and so, we set out following it and managed to keep moving and see a lot of the SC back roads. Our new eta was 4 pm, not due to a delay, there was none posted any longer, just due to the slower speed limits on the local roads.

We arrived just a little before 4 pm, and Abbey THE dog was kinda nuts when we walked in. To say she was happy to see us would be a really dramatic understatement, to say we were happy to see her would be the same. She had been cared for by a pet sitter we used overnight for the first time and while she was clearly cared for, the arrangement we thought we had was not how it turned out. She spent a lot of time alone, more than we thought she would. However, again, she was happy to see us and it was good to be home.

What a journey….a whirlwind trip with many smiles, a lot of laughs, more than a few drinks, interspersed with long periods of time sitting in a moving car, driving that car, listening to music, Sue finishing one audio book during her driving stint and starting another one….

Toto, There’s No Place Like Home!!