01 NOV 2017: I’m dyslexic and Tom gets lost in a swimming pool. Driving to Florida seems like a recipe for divorce, and we had already done that once. And we drove to Florida with the kids too many years ago to count.
This time though we had a brand-new GPS, great Rand McNally map AND Dave and Kathy Hunter’s book ‘Along Interstate 75’. We didn’t get lost once.
Dave’s book was amazing and really the best part of the trip. Yes, there is Siri now, but this book added an ease to the trip, and was fun, and informative for the navigator to read.
As a planning guide it has all the information we needed. It looked a bit overwhelming at first, but once I started to use it, it made perfect sense. Each page is 25 miles, or about 30 minutes driving time. So, the easy way to figure out how far you’re driving in a day is to count the pages.
Every page is crammed with useful information, such as where the state troopers were hiding … and Dave was always right. This started conversations like, “You’re going 77 miles in a 70 mile zone, and Dave says there is a state trooper right outside of Walton.” And there was.
This would be a great gift for those clients who drive to Florida, but use you to book their Europe trip for 24 of their nearest and dearest. Order the 19th edition of Along Interstate 75 in bookstores or from CAA. He also has written the 4th edition of Along Florida’s Expressways.
“Make America great again,” seemed to mean that there was road construction at every town and city. However, with the book you get a special update website so you can see traffic and construction updates on line. Handy.
I was impressed with the highways, having expected the crowded 401 I guess. Traffic except around big cities mostly was fairly light.
The exit information was really useful. We knew which motels were at that exit, and which accepted pets. We knew where the fast food restaurants were, and even the ones with playground facilities for kids. We knew where the gas stations were as well.
Let me do my rant though on eating on the road. It was dreadful, and in my mind expensive. Next road trip in December, we must do better, anyone any suggestions? We have already bought a bigger cooler, thinking we’d pack a lunch for the rest stops. Dave did suggest some good restaurants with website addresses so you can check menus and prices before you visit.
What we did like though are the rest stops. The insider tips helped us plan ahead by scanning the right-hand milepost scale on our 25 mile maps. Why can’t we have those in Canada? They were large, clean, had tons of vending machines, that mostly worked, picnic tables, places to walk the pooch if you have one, spotless washrooms and a chance to talk to people. I remember them as being good, and they’re even better now. Dave’s 1-75 guide recommends picking up the Discount Coupon Books at the rest stops. Two companies “own” this market. We did get discounts when the motel was where we were ready to stop for the night.
We were taking our time, not knowing just how far we were going to be comfortable driving. Tom did 3/4 of the driving, I did the rest. When I drove I heard, “You know the speed limit is 70? I think you should keep up with the rest of the traffic.”
I’ve always liked the Choice Hotel group, and we started with Roadeway Inn in Findlay, when the only room they had was a smoking room, and then moved up to the Econo Lodge North in Knoxville. This was my absolute favourite. Loved the manager, who pointed out we qualified for privileges if we joined, and then discovered we were already members.
Never managed to sort out my Choice privileges with the next four Choice hotels so gave up my loyalty and went to other chains. I called the “special” number three times, and flew into rages after 15 minutes of “Your call is important to us.” Fourth time, I got nice efficient Rolland and got most of my points put on my account except for one hotel, I need to call back in two hours!!! By the end of the call, I was fond of Choice again, until Rolland said “You’ve been selected!” And there I was talking to a timeshare salesperson. So beware!
Dave recommends the Drury Hotels, and we’ll try them next time, this time the timing didn’t work.
The book is full of interesting tidbits. For those like me who love Antique Roadshow: Dave suggests going off on Exit 161W,175 to Jeffrey’s Antiques. He suggests shoppers allow at least a 1/12 hours to browse.
As many of you know, we were driving to Fort Lauderdale to dog sit. I heard Tom say to someone yesterday “No, we don’t have a dog anymore, we drive 2740 km to take care of other people’s dogs,”
We loved it.