GRASSLANDS BELOW CHIRICAHUA |
I will miss driving to work through a wash-"rugged," right?! |
I finished packing in the morning, in complete darkness, wind fiercely blowing. I stopped at Chevron around sunrise, went in for coffee, asked where the air compressor was located. The attendant started a pot of coffee, and he filled my tires with air. I think he was anxious for me, a solitary young woman, driving an overloaded Georgia-licensed car in Arizona.
Hours later, I retrieved my Dad from his hotel in Phoenix. We stopped by the car dealership, where they tightened my windshield wiper and sent us on our way. I was sitting in the passenger seat under some books, a briefcase, and a bag or two, as there was not enough room in the car to pack my Dad's luggage. We located a UPS store and picked out a few boxes to ship to Georgia, making the drive slightly more pleasant.
We were ready to grab lunch and hit the road when traffic stopped. A funeral procession, for a police officer who was killed in the line of duty. An endless line of law enforcement vehicles snaked by. Even in January, heat sank and settled in the car. After boiling in frustration for ten minutes, we pulled into a shopping center and went to a restaurant, to eat, and to wait for the end of the hour-long procession.
The drive itself was uneventful. We drove until midnight, slept at a hotel for five hours, then drove again until midnight, then slept at a hotel for four hours, then drove the remaining five hours to Atlanta. We ate at Cracker Barrel and Wendy's and Steak 'n Shake and McDonald's, and we listened to a lot of podcasts.
In Atlanta, we went to the hospital to see my grandma. I hid tears, startled to see her that way. At my parents' house, I unpacked and repacked my car, and I tried to take a short nap. Within three hours I was back at the hospital for a goodbye that became final. Four more hours, and I was in south Georgia, eating at IHOP with my sister. Then the fourth and final day of my cross country trek, a nine hour drive through Florida, and I began work at my new job the following morning.
My new street (the waterfront is at the end of the road) |
EVERGLADES CITY, FLORIDA |