We all met in the lobby at 5:45 Tuesday morning to begin our journey home. Carl and I had to walk the block to the parking garage to retrieve our vehicle and were relived to find that it was still there! We were loaded and on the road by about 6:05.
Before talking more about the trip home, I will share some photos from our last night in the city. Carl's knee has been bothering him for the entire trip, he is in the process of getting knee surgery setup, but he has been a trooper, trudging miles and miles every day with us. Tonight he decided he would not make the last trip out before the long drive tomorrow. Kay, Janet and I decided to walk down to Woldenberg Park, by the river. This is a great place to sit and people watch along the river. As the sun started down and the temperature begin to drop, we were treated with a group of skaters an skate boarders. We watched these guys for about a half hour before heading back to the condo.
The costumes, tattoos and piercings were also interesting...
The group getting ready for a celebratory photo.
On the way back, I got a good photo of one of the trams. They run 24 hours a day, but reduce the runs to once a hour from midnight to 6:00 AM.
Now, back to Tuesday morning. As I said, we were on the road by 6:00AM and watched the sun rise.
We had an uneventful drive back, using I-10, I-65 and I-85 back to the ATL car rental return. It was a relatively fast 460 miles, but quite boring compared to the nice quiet leisurely drives we have been experiencing for the past two weeks.
It was quite an aggravation dealing with the cars. We had to drive the rental back to Park and Fly, where we had left our car at the airport. We were really ticked that they made us pay $4 just to enter the lot to retrieve our vehicle. It was only a 10 minute drive from the Park and Fly to the airport rental center, but was a pain to get to the correct place. The actual return of the vehicle was fast and smooth. It wasn't until we were back to Woodstock where we stopped for dinner at Chile's that Kay realized she had lost her phone. After thoroughly searching the car and calling the phone, it was not to be found. We walked across the lot to Chile's and found this sign. Fortunately it was only about 5 minutes to 4:00 when we arrived.
Talking to the manager, it was the same old story, no help. The workers they had have been working 50 and 60 hour weeks due to being short handed and they were needing and deserving of a break before summer was over. Several were on vacation or scheduled for vacation and the only alternative was to shorten operating hours. During our travels through nine states from near the Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico, it was the same story; HELP WANTED. We saw numerous signs advertising hourly rates and many times signing bonuses.
After our meal, I tried to call Kay's phone again and got an answer immediately. It had been found in the auto return area but they could not mail it to us... Wednesday morning we made the drive back to the airport and retrieved the phone. Thankfully it was easier than I thought it would be. Their website lists items left in vehicles by day. For Tuesday only, they had 5 cell phones, several wallets a purse a couple of sets of keys and other miscellaneous items. I was amazed at how much is left. I was also amazed that there were enough honest employees that the items were retrieved, stored, cataloged and made available for pickup.
Now for a short summary of our trip. These observations are mine alone and none of my fellow travelers are responsible or perhaps even agree with my observations.
Itinerary:
7/13 - Flew from Atlanta to Minneapolis, overnight in Bemidji, MN
7/14 - Overnight in Little Falls, MN
7/15 - Overnight in Red Wing, MN
7/16 - Overnight in Dubuque, IA
7/17 - Overnight in Fort Madison, IA
7/18 - Overnight in St. Louis, MO
7/19 - Overnight in St. Louis, MO
7/20 - Overnight in Dyersburg, TN
7/21 - Overnight in West Helena, AR
7/22 - Overnight in Vicksburg, MS
7/23 - Overnight in Natchez, MS
7/24 - Overnight in Metairie, LA - drove to Venice LA and back to N.O.
7/25 - Overnight in New Orleans, LA
7/26 - Overnight in New Orleans, LA
7/27 - Drove back to Canton
We traveled for 15 days, spent 14 nights in 12 different locations, spending two nights in St. Louis and two in New Orleans. We traveled through all 10 states which border the Mississippi River, but I didn't realize we had been in Kentucky until a week after our return. The ferry ride across the river was from Missouri to Kentucky and we thought it was to Tennessee. We were only in Kentucky for about 6 miles and there are no state sign markers on the small roads we were travelling. I had to make revisions in the blog for that day!
Our rental car registered 3050 miles, added to that is the 105 mile round trip to the airport for a total mileage driven of 3155 miles. In addition my Fitbit showed that I walked just under 100 miles (98.7mi.) Our vehicle was a 2020 Chrysler Voyager van. This was not a vehicle I was especially excited about, but I got a surprise. It proved to be exactly what we needed. It was very comfortable, it drove nicely, the sliding doors made entry easy and it had plenty of storage.
We mostly made plans along the way having only booked lodging for the first two nights and the last two nights before our departure. For days 3-12 we basically decided the night before how far we would travel and where we would stay. Sometime we had to slightly change our plans because of availability of lodging. We stayed in everything from an economy motel to Courtyard by Marriott and our timeshare condo in New Orleans. Some of the lodgings were definitely better that others, but none were horrible, all were clean. Our biggest disappointment was in Vicksburg MS and it was my fault. There were very few rooms available and I finally found two at Best Western. The rooms were fine, I just failed to notice that they were NOT non-smoking rooms. The odor heavy. I obtained a can of de-odorizer from the front desk and met Janet on the way to do the same as I was returning. When we went out for dinner, we stopped at a Dollar General and picked up some additional air freshener. We survived, but from then on I was careful when booking our rooms.
Overall, I think we all would deem the trip a success. When we left, none of us really had any idea how it would go. Although we have traveled together many times, it has always been on cruises or organized tours. Spending two weeks in the same vehicle was a different experience. Fortunately, we knew from past trips that we were compatible. Our interest are similar and our tolerance for less than ideal situations is also similar.
I personally gained a lot of history about the Mississippi and the development of our country on this trip. We all enjoyed making spontaneous stops, whether to eat a freshly baked pasty or to gaze from a roadside overlook or take an unexpected ferry ride across the river. I enjoyed talking with locals, and as I usual find, when in smaller towns the people are genuinely NICE. Whether asking for directions, making a purchase or just striking up a conservation on the street, most people in this country are good people. Unfortunately the news we are inundated with 24 hours a day focuses on the "other" half of the country, the urban areas. I firmly believe we do live in a divided country. But, it is not divided by race or socio-economical differences or religion. It is divided by rural and urban. The cultural differences in these areas far exceed any of the other differences.
We were disappointed a few times when there was something we wished to do but could not get tickets for the activity. Due to the nature of our travel we could not plan far enough ahead to make a commitment for a specific time (or sometimes even a specific day) and some activities required reservations days or weeks in advance.
Driving along the secondary roads, staying as near as possible to the river was very relaxing. We literally passed through 100's of small towns and communities. I think the smallest I noticed was population 18. We agreed there were many of them we could certainly live in. I was especially impressed with northern Minnesota as well as Wisconsin and Iowa. Only if they weren't so cold in the winter!
Did I have fun? Absolutely. Would I do another trip like this? I certainly would. I hope my fellow travelers enjoyed it as much as I did.
I hope those of you who lasted to the end of my tale found it at least a little entertaining.
Until our next travels....
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