Shanti and I got off to a very good start. After getting the townhouse in Satellite cleaned up and having an encounter with the landlady and her "friends"(a.k.a. potential new tenants) and being generously treated to brunch by Bonnie and waiting for the appliance rental company to pick up the washer and dryer, we were able to get going. I drove all the way to Gainsville and then Shanti took over until it got dark. I took over again and we enter an absolute downpour with lightning dancing across the sky somewhere between Tallahassee and Pensacola. We decided to stop overnight in Pensacola but once we were within the city limits, we saw that Mobile was just a short hour away so onward we went for the Florida border. Shanti made some calls and landed us a great room in a brand spanking new La Quinta with free WiFi, flatscreen TV, very mod, and ultra comfortable. Relaxation and rejuvenation was nearly insight.
We set out on this journey, we conquered everything, and we had arrived in Mobile Alabama.
We pulled into the lot and parked in front of registration. Shanti went in to settle up on the room while I hung with the girls in the truck. Shanti returned shortly thereafter, snacks and room keys in hand, and we were on our way to park. Here's where things went kinda south to sucksville. As we went around to the back of the hotel to park, we also encountered a deadend with no room to turn around. The one dreaded thing we were warned by multiple parties not to do was back up when your pulling a vehicle on a tow dolly. We tried and the car went the oppposite of whatever we needed it to do. We both became very frustrated. I wanted to disconnect the car from the dolly but Shanti said "No way." When we were at our wits end and the girls were getting used to the idea of spending the night in the car, Shanti decided to call Penske for help. They sent some outsourced tow dude out to save us. He came, he fiddled, he saved. I can't really say what he did but it had something to do with the chains wrapped around the axle. Whatever. He got the truck and dolly out of a very tight situation and turned around so we could continue our cross country journey in the morning. Check back next time for more of
The Great Shanti-Michael Cross Country Express.