Alaska to Florida Adventure: Last Day!

We didn’t really want to leave the wonderful Drury Inn & Suites (but we did anyway, FL was calling).

Chick-fil-Awesome

Megan hadn’t had Chick-fil-A in over 5 years (Alaska doesn’t have any) so we found one and hogged 5-ish parking spaces (I was loving parking sideways across multiple spots with the Uhaul/auto trailer; it’s like having an excuse to park however and wherever the heck I wanted. I felt like a rebel – a harmless, dorky rebel). By the way, the bagel sandwiches were excellent.

The Last Leg!  

I’ve hauled up and down I-75 many times for water polo tournaments (as the van driver) so, once we pulled onto that familiar road, I instantly got that “practically home” vibe.

Glorious Rest Stops

I think it’s fairly obvious FL is a tourist state for which I am thankful (and proud). Not only are rest stops frequent and announced by signs several times before appearing, but they have running water, more than one toilet, solid shelter and usually the convenience of food/drink vending machines (luxury, redefined).

(Later that summer on my way back to school, I sent this picture of a FL I-95 rest stop to Megan:

Oh, FL. You spoil me.

The Local Roads of We’ve-Got-This

Racing southward, we cut across some roads we knew, I pointed out my father’s storefront in passing and we pit stopped at one of the new warehouse-like Publix stores before arriving at Megan’s father’s home. (Did you catch that? WE MADE IT HOME!)

(You know, it’s funny. It’s actually a relief to get to this point in documenting our adventure. I was super stressed when I wrote about South Dakota and Memphica. Too soon, maybe? Weird, because Megan and I have already discussed driving that sucker again – next time, without Memphica or a little zoo of bunnies and anthropophobic deer-dogs.)

Afterthoughts?

Megan and I may compile some tidbits of experiences and random things that didn’t make it into my main narrative for a later post.

Alaska to Florida Adventure Summary: Looking back, I will admit the trip had been unlike anything I’d ever done, had challenged me in ways I couldn’t have anticipated and was probably insane. But, as the first 18 days of quality best friend time in 5 years, it was 118.2% worth it!

[Did you wanna read the AK to FL mayhem from the beginning? Start here: Road Trip Manifesto” Go Big or Don’t Go.]