A Travel Tale

Last week, I took my first ever solo drive to Florida, and I lived to tell about it. This is not a story about all the fun times I had in Florida (because it was a pretty uneventful trip) but rather, the ways that it was different from vacations past.

I'm no stranger to long drives. I make the 8-hour trek from College Park to Toledo Ohio 2 or 3 times a year. The Florida trip (to Jacksonville) increased my total time to 12 hours, but it used fewer roads and had no tolls, so overall, it was less stressful.

Arriving in Jacksonville at 7 pm, I was 1) starving and 2) ready to explore the city, get my vacation started with a bang! Unfortunately, it was a Sunday, so all the shops closed right before I got there. Kind of reminds me of my disappointing trip to Denver last year. I was forced to settle for carrying frozen yogurt back to my room and watching TV in bed.

The next day, in the few hours before I had to pick up my mom and her husband at the airport, I decided to really live it up and buy my breakfast at Walmart. On the way there, I achieved another first: I ran (that is, jogged slowly) all the way, which turned out to be a mile. I ran a mile! Marathons, here I come! My trip to Walmart involved crossing 3 freeway exits and a busy road, so I can also claim the distinction of having cheated death.

By that time, I was fairly certain I was getting another head cold (the third one since mid-February!). My nose was getting stuffier by the minute and my bones ached (some of that may have been from running in my less-than ergonomic shoes), and the first thing that I did upon arriving at our villa on the beach was burrow into a bed and nap for an hour and a half.

My memories of the next two days consist mostly of battling fatigue and struggling to breathe. Tragically, the only day during my vacation which I spent any significant amount of time on a beach, I was forced to bundle up in jeans and 3 layers of shirts. I did not so much as touch a wave the entire holiday.

By Thursday, I was pretty much back to my usual health, which means I have no more drama to add to this tale! I must report, however, that, as on most vacations, I found a great number of new Giant Cookies to add to my roster, so look forward to those reviews shortly!