443 miles, almost entirely on I-10, except for I-12 north of New Orleans. Cumulative miles: 821.
This was a simple hop in terms of navigation: get on I-10 west, go until I-12 split off, go to the end of I-12 and rejoin I-10 then take the exit for the hotel in Port Allen. But the weather was miserable: driving rain for about two-thirds of the trip. Fortunately the rain let up before we arrived at the destination so we had dry weather to unload the car. We did take a couple of breaks to stretch our legs and relieve our bladders, plus lunch and refueling at Buc-ee’s in Robertsdale AL. Last year, on my first encounter with Buc-ee’s, I arrived late at night and the place was virtually deserted. This time we arrived shortly after noon on a day when I-10 had a major backup and hundreds of people decided to wait it out at Buc-ee’s. It was a madhouse. But we got a sandwich to share and ate it in the car while we waited for the I-10 jam to clear and space at the 64 gas pumps to open up.
We crossed over both Alabama and Mississippi on this hop and ended up it Louisiana and it was the first time Ooma had been to any of those states. So of course we had to take at least one photo to commemorate the occasion.
Our lodging for the first night of the trip was the Clarion Point hotel in Tallahassee FL. This is a new Clarion brand so it was our first experience. Our rating: AWESOME! A lovely room, a huge TV, very clean bathroom, refrigerator and microwave, all for under $70, tax included. They don’t take pets so they won’t be an option for the trip north, but otherwise it is a brand that I will look for in the future. A fine room for a very low price. Hard to beat that.
We dined at a Chinese buffet adjacent to the hotel. Forgettable.
