What A Trip!

[AJ_Gil]

My brother has been ill for a while, last Sunday he passed and I found myself needing to get from Ft. Lauderdale up north pronto. The airlines stood there perfectly willing to rape me for a ticket so I decided to drive Maggie up & back.
Then I got to thinking, I left Rocky Mount, NC a couple of years ago, was home the same day so if I left in the middle of the night I could still make it the same day.
I left 3am Monday morning, set the cruise on 78mph (seems to be the best speed while still making it easy for the MDS to be on 80% of the time). I was at the GA border when the sun came up, took 295 around Richmond at evening rush hour and despite 95 being paved and down to 1 lane between Wilmington & Phila pulled into a buds house in Yardley, PA at 10:15pm. I came to the conclusion that night driving is the way to go as long as you do it on the front end of the trip. 1.259 miles in 19 hours
My one bitch WHERE DOES DELAWARE GET OFF MAKING 95 A TOLL ROAD FOR THAT LITTLE STRETCH. What at ^&%$# rip-off!! Putting a toll booth on a road my taxes already paid for

Got over to Jersey on Tues and spent lots of time with my nephew stepping up when needed. Did the service and at took off again at 10pm Thursday night (I DID NOT want to be anywhere near DC for rush hour. When I went through that area coming up there was 4 lanes of traffic dead stopped at 7:30pm...I was going the other way). I had to catch a catnap in NC but was back home by 6:30pm.

I got a CEL coming through Palm Beach so I left it at University (and had them do the 30,000mi service too). My undying thanks to a guy that pointed out my LR tire was going flat coming out of NC saving me a big mess (picked up a screw and had it plugged at the next stop )

Would I do it again?? With 2-3 people to share driving & expences (almost $500.00 in gas 4+ tanks each way) and leaving at dark, sure. But alone?? . One way was ok but coming back really kicked my butt. Oh well.....had to be there.

Here's a shot of Maggie in Yardley, PA. As you can see my Colgan Bra did fit over Mopowers spoiler and despite the CEL at the end IMHO she held up well running 80mph 19 hours at a clip.
I pick her up from University in a couple of hours and I'm almost glad to get back to the solitude of my cubicle at work............almost LOL!

[Stockman]

So sorry to hear of your loss.

Sounds like the Mag performed well and It would seem you had some good quality time with your nephew and yourself.

Thoughts and prayers go out from me and my family to you and your loved ones. Take care.

Marty

[Blondie]

I am sorry for your loss, my thought and prayers are with you.

[sugar-tj]

sorry to hear of your loss,
you where in my neck of the woods,
where in jersey does your nephew live?
as far as delaware goes, they dont have a sales tax, so, everyone that goes thru, has to pay for their state government... LOL...
that was a long ride for one person, glad you made it in one piece...
tom

[DaILLestWun]

Sorry about your loss man...

[rtr0id]

glad u made it back safe an sound. tough drive under those conditions

[FloridaRT]

Sorry for your loss, at least you had a great car for the trip.

Bob

[MikeEast]

Echoing the above sentiments, never easy losing a loved one...

..and I totally agree on the driving after dark concept, I left Atlanta at dusk, and 16 hours later parked in my folks driveway in Vermont - never thought I could make it that amount of time and I wasn't even pushing the envelope. These cars are real nice highway cruisers..

Mike

[monty1269]

Sux. Driving under ALL of those conditions definitely makes for a long trip. As always; let us know if you need anything...

[KGBPro]

Sorry for your loss Gil, let us know if we can help

[AJ_Gil]

Sorry for your loss Gil, let us know if we can help

Thanks everyone, Jim was fading for a while so we were (kinda) prepared for it. The stress over the last 2 months wondering not if but when really was a bear so once he passed it was almost a blessing (stage 3 cancer).