s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

So, my trip to Florida did not go as expected. But I made it out. Barely.

I got to participate in what may be the largest evacuation in US history. Me and 2.5 million of my best friends decided to go out for an afternoon drive. What could go wrong?

I departed Thursday, shortly before noon. I knew I-95 (the N-S highway following the east coast) would be a total mess, so I decided to jump on the Turnpike, which headed NW. For the first 90 minutes all was well, and speeds were in the 60-70mph range. Then, just short of Orlando we ground to a halt. Over the next 3 hours I made 15 miles of progress. When I heard that the jam extended all the way to the I-75 merge (80 miles ahead), and now was 70 miles behind me, I knew it was time to act. Exits are few and far between on the turnpike, I was near one, and the next was 10 miles (and 2+ hours) away. I also knew that a few more hours in the traffic would empty my fuel tank. I had to go.

That was the extra-fun bit. There was no gasoline in southern Florida. Not a drop. Every gas station was closed. For the month of August there had been a 8-cent reduction in gas prices (government leaving off the tax as an economic boost), so of course on August 31st there was a run to fill up tanks. Then September 1st the hurricane panic started to set in, when it was clear it was going to hit. Thankfully I topped off on the 1st, as by Thursday the 2nd all was gone. I was passing people on the side of the highway who were out and stuck. And no more gasoline was coming in, as they had closed all the ports to fuel-tankers due to the coming storm.

Anyway, so there I am on the highway. I need to escape. This is where you cut to the scenes of you favorite disaster movie, where the hero grabs the map, holds it against the steering-wheel, and veers off the highway. All I had was the free map provided with the rental, which was little more than some lines drawn on a napkin, but it would have to do. The first thing I did was drive east, into the evacuation area. No traffic heading that way, huge lines heading west. When I got within 20 miles of the coast I turned north. I ran into slowdowns a few times, where my north-bound road crossed west-bound evacuation routes. But I managed to get 100+ miles north. At this point I figured the evacuees east of me would be heading north, not west (later confirmed on the news about the I-95 parking lot in the region), so I had no traffic when I headed west into Gainesville. A 10-hour drive in total. I was rather manic when I arrived (and it does not help that Gainesville was obviously designed by a blind insane monk in some distant cave, to insure nobody can ever find a street address). I had a few hours of decompression time, chatting with Eleanor and watching the news (and waiting for the panic-driven cannibalism to set in).

It was time to call the airline and car-rental place. The airport I was supposed to fly out of (Orlando) was closing before my flight. Air Tran offered to fly me out of Jacksonville, but based on the flight time I was not willing to bet that airport would still be open by then. So I arranged to drive to Atlanta. Joy.

Four hours of sleep later, it was time to go. I declared a “class 3 caffine emergency”, and had Eleanor make a pot of coffee. Double-strength. Big mug.

Thus fortified, I hit the road. Cruising up I-75 all went well until I crossed the Geogia border. Gridlock, all Florida plates. It was 9AM, and I was stuck in the evacution again. None of the radio stations were providing sufficient traffic news. I had no idea how long the traffic jam extended, but I could not risk it, unless I maintained an average speed of 42 mph I would not make it to my flight. Off the highway I went. Stopped in a gas station. They had just sold their last map of Georgia to the woman in front of me. She gave me a quick look, I memorized some road numbers, and started driving west.

Cut to an insane 6-hour drive through the back-roads of Geogia. Some were big motorway-sized ones, other little ones through quaint rural towns. Where possible I kept the speed as high as practical. Passed one sherrif, but thankfully he just waved (must not have had the radar on!). All was going well until I hit the outer-Atlanta area. Friday afternoon traffic, right before a 3-day weekend. Not pretty. Thankfully the airport is south of the city, and I had picked a road that came in quite close. I made it to the rental-return by 3:45 (car due at 3:21, but they cut me some slack), and hopped the shuttle to the airport (of course it would be off-site!). Made it to my gate 30 minutes before the flight. Driving time 8.5 hours. With only two 6-minute breaks for fuel and toilet. Plus coke and candy bars, all the sustenance you need (and can eat one-handed) while making a crazed driving trip.

It was one heck of a trip. Ten hours of sleep last night helped. A nice relaxing walk around Longwood Gardens today helped. And now to return to our regularly scheduled “vacation”.