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10:15 A.M. Checked out of Comfort Inn - $40.62 (Chase). Then drove south on
I-75 toward Everglades National Park.
12:00 P.M. Took the exit for a "Walt Disney World Ticket & Information Center" at Ocala. Picked up brochures and guide maps for all of the theme parks. Also bought a five-day passport for $179.60 (Chase). Price included one visit each to Disney/MGM Studios, Magic Kingdom, and EPCOT Center, PLUS two more days at a theme park of my choice (repeat 2 of the 3), PLUS seven days of unlimited admissions to all of the smaller parks - "Discovery Island", "Pleasure Island", "Typhoon Lagoon", and "River Country". So it was a good deal overall. (Regular ticket prices were about $35/day for each of the three major parks and up to $15 for each of the four smaller parks). "Typhoon Lagoon" and "River Country" are both water parks, and I did not have a swimsuit, so I would not go to those two. But going to all the others meant a minimum of 7 days at Walt Disney World ONLY, plus 2 more days for Universal Studios and Sea World. So, ONE MORE TIME, I had to re-plan the rest of my trip after Orlando! Left Information Center at 1:45 P.M.
3:45 P.M. Withdrew $50 from checking account at an ATM machine in a gas station at Tampa; then paid $10 of that for gas.
6:00 P.M. - 6:45 P.M. $5 for dinner at Burger King in Naples.
8:00 P.M. There is no rest area near Everglades National Park where overnight parking is allowed. So I slept in a (free) campsite just outside the park.
8:30 P.M. - 11:30 P.M. So far, I had fallen behind by 2 weeks during this trip (extra places I did not originally think I'd go to). So now I re-planned my entire trip, adding in "extra days" (nothing planned for those days) to catch up or see other places along the way. I had originally intended to return home on March 16, but with this new plan, the end-date became April 22nd.
12:00 A.M. Went to sleep (in car).
6:00 A.M. It rained heavily during the night, and the sound of the water hitting the car roof woke me up. Every night that I sleep in the car, I leave the sunroof up to let some air in. The bad part about this is that it also lets the water in when it is raining. So that also had a part in waking me up. But I really did not mind the water. The major problem was mosquitoes. I think this was the first time that I TRULY realized I was in Florida - which meant a lot of rain and a lot of mosquitoes. Anyway, it wasn't starting out to be a very good day (now where have I written that before???.....)2.
6:30 A.M. Left the campsite. Fortunately, the car did not get stuck in the mud as I was leaving.
7:00 A.M. - 9:00 A.M. Outside a 7-11 store, waiting for the rain to stop, which it never did. Mailed "New Orleans Generic Postcard" home.
10:00 A.M. Entered Everglades National Park main gates.
10:30 A.M. Called home from park visitor center, then saw the park. The rain did stop every once in a while, so I used that time to take a few pictures. But I really wasn't too impressed with the park. There were some good points, but mostly it was not very scenic (especially in the rain).
2:00 P.M. $13 (Cash) for gas and bread. $3 (Cash) for lunch at Burger King.
4:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M. Drove along Florida's HWY 1 towards Key West. The rain had completely stopped by now, so I had terrific drive along the Florida Keys. Most of the bridges connecting the islands were draw bridges, but they were still quite far above the water, so I had great views of the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean on my left, and the Florida Straits and the U.S. mainland to the right. California's HWY 1 between San Francisco and Los Angeles is very scenic because it has mountains on one side and a colorful Pacific Ocean on the other side. Florida's HWY 1 at the Florida Keys has oceans on BOTH sides!!! There are also a lot of colorful coral reefs in both seas, so I thought this road was much more scenic than Pacific Coast Highway.
7:00 P.M. Checked into Holiday Inn at Marathon.
10:30 A.M. Checked out - $94.03 (Chase) - the second-costliest motel room during this trip. (But then again, I was in the Florida Keys, where EVERYTHING is costlier than normal)
11:30 A.M. Continued the scenic drive along HWY 1 and arrived at the island of Key West. Drove around the island on "Roosevelt Blvd.", which makes a full circle outside the main city. Heard on the car radio that the space shuttle took from Cape Canaveral the previous day -- AND I MISSED IT!!!
12:00 P.M. Bought "Conch Tour Train" tour ticket - $14 (Chase). Actually, it was just a regular jeep disguised as a train engine and towing several "cars".
1:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M. "Train" tour of Key West. Saw the whole city.
4:00 P.M. At the "Southernmost point in Continental United States". It is advertised by the city as "the most-photographed spot in the entire country". But I would like to know how anybody can find out something like that???
5:00 P.M. Left city of Key West (without getting lost) (yippeee!!!!). $6.41 (Chase) for dinner at Denny's in Marathon.
5:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M. Drove back north on scenic HWY 1 up to Miami.
7:00 P.M. - 10:00 P.M. I reached Miami just as it got dark. Immediately after I exited I-95, I got lost. But I soon found my way to HWY 1. Continued north on Alternate HWY 1, and saw all the night lights of the high-rise hotels along the beach. Filled $10 (ATM) gas at Fort Lauderdale.
10:00 P.M. Stopped at a beach just north of Fort Lauderdale. Before this, I had passed many beaches, but since it was too dark, I didn't stop at any of them and kept driving. On this particular beach though, there were actually families having barbecues (on a THURSDAY (weekday) night at 10:00 P.M.!!!). So it looked like a safe enough place for a walk along the beach. I also collected some seashells.
10:30 P.M. - 11:30 P.M. When I came back to the car, I had a lot of sand in my shoes, so I took my shoes off and started driving (barefoot) north on the not-so-scenic-at-night-HWY 1 up to West Palm Beach. There were very few other cars on the road, so I was driving with my high beams on. On one curve, a car (which I did not recognize at that time) came from the other side of the road, so I turned my high beams off. When the car passed me, I turned the high beams on again (normal procedure, but I never even noticed what the other car was, because I was too busy looking where the road was going). FIVE MINUTES LATER, I saw a police car's lights flashing in my rear view mirror, so I pulled over. I took out my wallet from the glove compartment to take out my license. Before I had my license out, the officer came up to my car, shined his light in my face, and told me step out of the car. He never asked me for my license. I thought he was going to arrest me (why else would he tell me to get out?). I got out of the car, and he saw I didn't have any shoes on. So he asked me why I wasn't wearing any shoes! I told him that I had walked on the beach, got sand in my shoes and socks, and because my feet were also wet from walking in the ocean, I took off my shoes. All the time I was explaining this to him, I was thinking to myself why a police officer would pull me over, tell me to get out of the car without even asking for my license, and THEN ask me why I wasn't wearing any shoes!!! And if driving barefoot was against the law in the state of Florida, how would he know about it before he pulled me over?! Finally, he told me to walk to the front of the car. Then I started thinking that I since I was tired, I might not have been driving straight. So the officer might be giving me a drunk driving test. He walked with me to the front of the car, then told me to get back inside, and turn my high beams off (they were on all this time). So I did that. Then he told me to walk to the front of the car again. Now I started thinking that either I was drunk or this officer was drunk! When I got to the front of the car, he showed me that the passenger-side headlight did not work unless the high beams were on. He asked me if I knew about this, and I said no. Then he told me to get back inside the car. He said that he wasn't going to give me a ticket - just as long as I get that light fixed. I said I would, and he let me go. All this time, he never bothered to ask me for my license. He didn't even comment on the fact that I had a California plate and what I was doing in Florida - something the FIRST police officer (on Natchez Trace Parkway) did ask. After I left and was on the road again, I started wondering how an officer in a police car BEHIND me would know that my FRONT headlight wasn't working. Then I remembered the last car that had passed me coming from the other side of the road - that was the same police car!
12:30 A.M. After that whole incident, I decided to get back on the interstate and sleep at the first rest area - which I did.
8:00 A.M. Woke up. Cleaned the car from the inside.
10:00 A.M. Left rest area. $4 (Cash) for lunch at McDonalds.
10:00 A.M. - 4:30 P.M. Drove North on I-95, then I-4 West to Orlando.
4:30 P.M. Checked into Best Western Inn for one full week. I had not done any sightseeing on this day, so I though I'd go some place that evening. I made a reservation for "Medieval Times" (not in original plan) and went there that night - $30.77 (Chase). Bought souvenir photo - $7 (Cash).
7:00 A.M. Woke up
8:00 A.M. Checked out of motel (even though I had planned to stay for 1 week, I found a better motel in the tour book listing, much closer to all the attractions.) - $30.38 (Chase) for motel. $2 (Cash) for breakfast at McDonalds.
9:00 A.M. Arrived at Universal Studios - $5 (Cash) for parking. $34.45 (Chase) admission price. Universal Studios at Orlando is exactly the same as the one in Hollywood. The only difference is that all the individual attractions - like "Jaws", "Earthquake", etc., have separate lines and there is no 2-hour long tram tour which shows everything. On that day, Universal was offering a "second-day free" pass, so I also got one of those, to come back on Sunday.
Expenses at Universal: (All paid by cash)
$13 for "Jurassic Park" sound track cassette
$4.50 for souvenir photo with T-Rex.
$8.50 total for food
$80 (Chase) express withdrawal
8:40 P.M. Left Universal. Got lost again trying to get back to the freeway.
10:00 P.M. $6.67 (Chase) for dinner at Denny's. $9 (Cash) for gas. $10 (Cash) for coke, bread, and a bag of 10 pens.
11:00 P.M. Arrived at rest area on I-4 East between exit #'s 27 & 28.
8:00 A.M. Woke up. Left rest area at 8:45 A.M.
9:15 A.M. Arrived at Universal Studios - $5 (Cash) for parking. $20 (Cash) total for food. Since all of the lines at Universal were very long, especially during the weekend, I could not see everything on the first day. So I went to all the other rides on Sunday, and I had time left over to repeat some rides which I liked more.
Rides/Shows I liked
"Back to the Future"
"Jaws"
"Animal Actors Stage"
Daytime stunt show
Rides/Shows I did NOT like
"King Kong" - 3 hour line, 5 minute ride
Night-time stunt and fireworks show
"Earthquake" - 1 hour line, 1/2 minute ride
8:45 P.M. Left Universal. Did NOT get lost while getting back to the freeway.
9:00 P.M. Called Bhindi's from the same rest area I had slept at the previous night.
11:00 P.M. Checked in to "Knights Inn Maingate" for one week, this time, intending to stay the entire week.
8:30 A.M. Left motel for Sea World. On the day that I arrived in Orlando (February 4), I missed the exit I was supposed to take off I-4. I took the next exit, which went directly INTO Sea World. So I knew where I wanted to go this time. (For the first time on this trip, my getting lost actually helped!)
9:15 A.M. Reached Sea World 1/2 hour late because of rush hour traffic. $5 (Cash) for parking. $32.95 (Chase) for entrance ticket. $10 (Cash) total for food at Sea World. $24.09 (Chase) for 2 boxes of 84-exposure (total/box) of film - "100+" speed.
7:00 P.M. Left Sea World.
7:20 P.M. Just outside the motel, there was a "Denny's", a "McDonalds", and a "Subway" restaurant (very convenient!). Dinner at Denny's - $9.40 (Chase).
8:30 P.M. Arrived back to motel.
12:15 P.M. Ever since I started this trip, I was either driving or sightseeing (or both) every single day. This was to be the first day when I would do neither. I wanted to fix the headlights on my car, so I left the motel at 12:15 P.M. to do that. Lunch at McDonalds - $3 (Cash).
1:30 P.M. I went to three shops, and all had other cars waiting. All said that the minimum wait would be 30 minutes, so I continued to the next one each time. Finally, I agreed to a 1/2 hour wait at the fourth shop. The place where I stopped had a Burger King next to it, so I went and sat inside the restaurant. 45 minutes later, I came out to see my car still had not been moved from where I had parked it. I went inside to complain, and they drove it inside their garage immediately. After checking the headlight, the mechanic said I needed a new one (I already knew that!). He checked their stock and came back and told me that they don't have that particular model with them, so they'll have to order it from their supplier. By now it was 2:30 P.M., and he said it would take about 15 minutes to get the light fixture delivered. So I went back inside the Burger King. At 3:00 P.M. (30 minutes later) I came back out, expecting my car to be done, but the mechanic said that the supplier had delivered the wrong model light, so he had to send it back -- another 15 minutes. This time I waited inside the garage.
4:00 P.M. The supplier came back and said that they don't carry that model headlight anymore. Now, I got REALLY angry. I had come to the shop at about 1:30 and I was told there would be a 1/2 hour wait. The wait was 45 minutes. Then, they had to send out for the part - they said it would take 15 minutes, it took 1/2 hour, and the part was still the wrong one. THEN, they said it would be another 15 minutes to get the right model, and one hour later, I find out they don't carry the part at all! I was expecting to be out of the shop by 2:15 at the LATEST. I asked them (almost about to loose my temper) where I would be able to get that model headlight. They said that if I came back at 9:00 A.M. the next day, then they would have ordered it from a Toyota dealership by that time. This was just too much, and now I really did loose my temper. I told them to forget it and I'd go to the dealership myself. So I went back out and into the Burger King again. Inside, I checked the phone book for the nearest Toyota dealership (I didn't want to ask the mechanic).
4:30 P.M. I arrived at the dealership (very close to the Burger King). I took the broken headlight inside the Parts/Service department and told the man behind the counter that I wanted that model. A few minutes later, he came back and said they did not have it, but they were expecting a shipment in two more days. I thanked him and left, too irritated to stay there any longer.
5:00 P.M. Returned to motel without repairs. $4 (Cash) for dinner at McDonalds.
NOTE: THIS WAS THE WORST DAY OF MY ENTIRE TRIP.
3:00 A.M. Woke up. Couldn't go back to sleep again, so watched T.V. till
7:00 A.M.
8:00 A.M. Left motel, intending to go to EPCOT Center.
8:20 A.M. Arrived at EPCOT Center parking lot. $5 (Cash) for parking. I looked through the brochures of Disney that I had taken at the visitor center in Ocala. I saw that all of the major parks would only be open until 7:00 P.M. on that day (and all Wednesdays). Since I knew I wanted to spend more time at EPCOT, I decided to postpone that until February 12 (Saturday), when it would be open until 11:00 P.M. I definitely needed more time at the Magic Kingdom, so I went to MGM Studios.
8:30 A.M. Arrived at MGM parking lot. They accepted the EPCOT parking permit, since they were both Disney parks. I withdrew $80 (Chase) from an ATM machine outside the main gate, then got in line to purchase a ticket. About halfway through the line, I realized I already had a ticket!!! So I went in. Expenses at MGM:
$6 (Cash) (total) for food at MGM. (I still had some popcorn left over from Sea World, and I was munching on that all day, so I wasn't really that hungry)
$36.04 (Chase) for 2 boxes (3 rolls each) of 400-speed film.
At MGM Studios, I saw (among other things) the production work on the latest Disney movie, "The Lion King". Since everything was top-secret, they would not allow any photographs to be taken on that tour. But I saw some drawings (not painted yet) hung up on the walls, and the artists were working on some more drawings. In another room, an orchestra was recording some of the music in this movie, and I saw and heard that also.
7:00 P.M. Left MGM.
7:15 P.M. Arrived back to motel. $3 (Cash) for dinner at McDonalds.
11:00 A.M. My second "non-day". Left the motel to get the headlight replaced. I bought the headlight model I wanted at an auto parts store for $14 (Cash) -- this time without any hassle from anybody. Then I went to a "Home Depot" and bought a set of screwdrivers - $4 (Cash). I installed the headlight myself right there in the Home Depot parking lot. Then $3 (Cash) for lunch at McDonalds, and $3 (Cash) for a dozen donuts, as my snack while watching T.V. that night (loading up on junk food!).
4:00 P.M. Arrived back to motel.
12:00 A.M. Went to sleep sometime after midnight with the T.V. still on. (I remember watching "Get Smart" at 11:30 P.M.)
7:00 A.M. Woke up. Turned TV off.
9:00 A.M. Left for Magic Kingdom. It was supposed to be open until 11:00 P.M. on Fridays, and knowing how long the lines usually are, I was expecting to spend two days at this park. This would be my luckiest day!
9:15 A.M. Arrived at Magic Kingdom parking lot - $5 (Cash) for parking. The parking lot is actually about 2-3 miles away from Magic Kingdom. The only two ways to access the park from the parking lot are by ferry and by monorail. I took the monorail, expecting to take the ferry the next day. There were three monorail tracks: one to go to Magic Kingdom, one for EPCOT Center, and one more for all the resort hotels within Walt Disney World. EPCOT was actually even farther than Magic Kingdom from that parking lot. Anyway, I took the Magic Kingdom train, which stops directly at the ticket windows. This time, I did remember that I had a ticket, so I walked in.
10:00 A.M. The park officially opens at 10, and I got inside just a few minutes before that. I knew from all the times that I had been to Disneyland that the first ride most people go on is "Space Mountain". So I went toward "Pirates of the Caribbean", expecting to go to Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, .... and so on in the reverse order around the circular park, ENDING at Space Mountain. At the end of the day I found out that it would not have made any difference where I went first and where I went last. I was expecting every line (on the rides that I would go on) to be at least 45 minutes long. Instead, NOT ONE SINGLE LINE was over 20 minutes. The 20-min. line was at "Skyway" (the least likely of all to have the longest line!!!). I was done with EVERYTHING by 4:00 P.M., which I think is probably some kind of a record, even for a weekday. So after that, I started repeating some of the rides. I went on Splash Mountain 3 times BEFORE 4:00 P.M., and probably another 7-8 times AFTER 8:00 P.M., and a few more times between 4 and 8 P.M. That also has to be some kind of a record. The Space Mountain line (when I got to it) was less than five minutes. So I went on that one twice. What I do know to be a DEFINITE record is that this was the first time that I actually went on EVERY SINGLE roller coaster in the park. $20 (Cash) total for food at Magic Kingdom. Left the park at 11:00 P.M.; took monorail back to parking lot.
11:45 P.M. Arrived back to motel.
9:00 A.M. Left motel for EPCOT Center. On the way, stopped at 7-11 store to buy Coke - $7 (Cash) and withdraw $80 (Chase) from their ATM machine.
In Ocala (at the Walt Disney World visitor center), I had bought a 5-day pass. That allowed me (among other things), 1 admission to MGM studios, 1 admission to Magic Kingdom, 1 admission to EPCOT Center, plus 2 more admissions to any park of my choice. When I bought that ticket, I was expecting to use the two extra admissions for Magic Kingdom. I never imagined the lines would be so small, and now I had seen everything at Magic Kingdom and everything at MGM studios. So I had three full days to enjoy EPCOT Center, since it was practically useless to return to either of the two other parks.
10:00 A.M. After parking at the Magic Kingdom parking lot - $5 (Cash), I took the monorail to EPCOT Center. After a much longer ride than the previous day, I got off at the EPCOT main gate. The park was supposed to close at 11:00 P.M. on Saturdays. Before this day, I did not know anything about EPCOT, except "it's the place with the huge, white, what-looks-like-a-golf-ball." I had no idea that EPCOT was much more than just a huge golf ball. The park is divided into two sections called "Future World" and "World Showcase". According to their own guide map, the best way to tour the park was to see World Showcase in the morning, and Future World in the evening, since most people see them in the opposite order. So I walked through Future World and arrived at the entrance to World Showcase. THEN, I found out what everything really was. From where I was standing, I could see Mexico, Norway, Italy, Germany, Japan, United States, France, England, and Canada. World Showcase is a presentation of some of the nations of the world, and this suited me perfectly -- I had left home on January 16, 1994 to see America, and I would now also get to see all these other countries! Each country's showcase consists of museums, movies, shops, restaurants, and buildings/monuments from that country. It took me the whole day just to go through and see all of these places. I did not even have any time left that day to see any of "Future World". But I enjoyed World Showcase very much, especially the delicious pastries from the French restaurants, where I spent over half of my time. $9 (Cash) for camera battery. $15 (Cash) total for food (all junk food, but tasted great).
11:45 P.M. Returned to motel.
9:15 A.M. Checked out of Knights Inn Maingate motel. Bill for staying entire week was $210.20 (Chase).
9:45 A.M. Arrived at Magic Kingdom parking lot - $5 (Cash) for parking at the Magic Kingdom parking lot, then took the monorail to EPCOT.
9:45 A.M. to 10:15 P.M. Day 2 at EPCOT. $15 (Cash) total for food. $7 (Cash) for foreign coin collection. Since all of Day 1 was spent in World Showcase, on Day 2 I was in Future World. I finished seeing everything at Future world by about noon, so the rest of the day I went back to the better portions of World Showcase (more French pastries). It also started to rain (again) during the latter part of the day, but considering what I had gone through a few days before on Natchez Trace Parkway in Alabama, this rain was really nothing. Left EPCOT at 10:15 P.M.
For the first time on my entire trip, I now had no idea what I was going to do next. I had checked out of the motel in the morning and did not want to spend more money for another night in a motel. I wasn't even tired (for the first time). I just sat in the car for a few minutes thinking about what to do next. Finally decided to go to...
11:00 P.M. Arrived at Pleasure Island, one of the smaller parks at Disney World. It had stopped raining completely by the time I got there. Saw "Comedy Warehouse" (stand-up improvisational comedy show with audience participation). Got out of the Comedy Warehouse just before midnight. At midnight every night, there is a New Years Eve celebration. Saw that. Then a Mardi Gras parade immediately following the celebration.
1:00 A.M. Left Pleasure Island. $15 (Chase) for dinner and a full pie "to go" at the usual Denny's outside the motel. (I was by now starting to get to know all the roads, and more importantly, restaurants and gas stations, in the area). $5 (Cash) for gas.
2:00 A.M. For the second time on my entire trip, I now had no idea what I was going to do next. I just knew I wanted to go to sleep, but didn't know where. So I went to the first place I thought of - the same rest area on I-4 where I had spent the night on February 5 and called Bhindi Jewelers on February 6.
8:45 A.M. After cleaning the car interior, I left that rest area, and made the second biggest mistake of this trip. (The first, obviously, was deciding to go North on Natchez Trace Parkway during a severe thunderstorm, when I should have gone South to New Orleans). This second mistake was choosing New Orleans as my next major destination instead of the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. This mistake was more a result of bad planning than of stupidity. February 15 (the next day) was the last day of the Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans. So I had a choice between seeing Mardi Gras ("The Greatest Free Show On Earth") in New Orleans or Kennedy Space Center. I picked the "Free" show. If I had spent one less day in getting my car repaired, I could have seen both. But now I had only one day to drive from Orlando to New Orleans.
On the Florida turnpike, the rest areas are in between the northbound and southbound sides, and they are not really regular "rest areas". They are actually small all-purpose "Driving-Stops". They usually have a gas station, a fast food restaurant and small shops. So they are very convenient.
10:00 - 10:15 A.M. Stopped at one of these "all-purpose-driving-stops" on the turnpike. This one was near the town of "Okahumpka" (probably the strangest named town on this trip). Bought 12 donuts - $4 (Cash). After that, another $2 (Cash) as turnpike toll.
1:00 P.M. (Eastern Time) $10 (Cash) for gas at Live Oak, FL.
8:00 P.M. (Central Time) Checked into Days Inn at Mobile, AL (got lost trying to get there). In the lobby, I overheard two couples talking to each other. They had just come back from New Orleans. I still remember today (May 11) one of the men asking the other, "Did you walk down Bourbon Street? Boy, that's an experience I'll never forget!!!". At that time, I could not make out from the way he said those words whether walking down Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras day was a good experience or a bad experience. Anyway, I'd soon find out.
9:30 P.M. Checked out - $50.50 (Chase). $10 (Chase) for gas at Mobile. As I was about to leave, I saw one of the same couples that I had seen the previous night. The husband asked me if I was going down to New Orleans. I said yes. Back came a "Good luck", which made me a little nervous. Just how good or bad was it, anyway?
11:45 A.M. Arrived at New Orleans. Lunch at McDonalds - paid with leftover change.
1:30 P.M. After getting lost (no surprise), arrived at the "Riverwalk" parking lot. Paid $8 (Cash) for parking, and that was a good price for that day. The last time I was in New Orleans, I had taken a riverboat ride. On that ride, the tour guide had mentioned that the view of the city from the top of the World Trade Center is not be missed by any visitor to New Orleans. So that was the first place I went - to the top of the World Trade Center. The observation area is a revolving restaurant, which looked very nice, and therefore, very expensive. I asked if I could just sit and enjoy the view without ordering anything, and the waitress said "No". So I ordered a "MINI" snack plate for $8 (Cash). It was good, but $8 was still too much for just that much food. The view was fantastic, even though it had started to rain a little.
3:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M. Wandered the streets of the New Orleans French Quarter aimlessly, not knowing where the parade was. I just followed some people one way, then followed other people another way, and so on for two hours. All this time the rain was starting to fall harder and harder, but I had an umbrella, so I didn't mind the rain. Then finally I remembered the Days Inn lobby conversation of the previous night. "Oh, I know where to go. I'll go to Bourbon Street."
5:00 P.M. Just walking down Bourbon Street on Mardi Gras day is an experience I will never forget. First of all, I couldn't even walk. The entire street was packed with people, almost all of whom were so drunk they couldn't stand up straight. One time, I even saw a person just collapse right in front of me (actually, "collapse" is the wrong word. Since there was no room for him to lie flat on the road, he just passed out and "squatted" down, with his knees bent, and in a kneeling position on the road -- simply because there was no room for him to lie down!) Everybody was wearing bead-necklaces, which became one more problem. If the necklaces broke (and even when they did not break), people would just throw them on the road. So I also saw a lot of people slipping on the wet necklaces. Problem #3: There is a special (alcoholic) drink in New Orleans called "Hurricane". They were being sold in foam cups by street vendors to anyone who wanted to buy them - regardless of the buyer's age. Now I understood why the road is really called "Bourbon Street" - that's where people go to get drunk (although I did not notice that the last time).
7:00 P.M. Left Bourbon Street to find a pay-phone in a quieter, safer place. I had been told to call Bhindi Jewelers at 5:00 P.M. California time on this day. I went to a phone in front of a McDonalds restaurant. Although that was a safer place than Bourbon Street (there was an armed security guard standing just next to the phone), it was still just as loud. I called Bhindi's and told Jeevan3 I would call back later; because with all the noise on the road, neither one of us could hear each other. After I hung up the phone, I turned around, and suddenly felt a gust of wind. I didn't think too much about it, considering it was raining, and a gust of wind was normal. A few seconds later, I realized that it was actually a small boy (couldn't have been more than 7-8 years old) running past me and the security guard who was standing next to me. Even the guard did not know what happened. The boy ran up to a street vendor, stole some balloons that she was selling, and disappeared into the crowds. NO ONE (including the cop) realized what was going on until it was too late. After that, the street vendor starting yelling to the police officer to do something; but even she knew nothing could be done, because the kid came and went so fast no one had any time to react. So the boy got away with some free balloons! Everything happened within a matter of seconds - I had just hung up the phone, I turned around, and the next thing I remember was the street vendor shouting profanities at the police officer for refusing to do anything (Can't really blame the police officer though -- in his own words: "the kid came, the kid saw, the kid conquered, and the kid left. It's too late to stop him.") After all that, I went inside the McDonalds for dinner - paid by leftover change.
8:00 P.M. Left the city. I did not see any of the parade - I had already seen enough.
8:45 P.M. - 9:45 P.M. Stopped at another McDonalds outside the city to call Bhindi's. They had finished entering addresses from a North Carolina list, and were having trouble printing labels for an upcoming road show. I was on the phone for one hour giving step-by-step, detailed instructions on how to print labels! After about 10 minutes on the phone, one of the workers at the restaurant came to where I was and gave me a stool to sit on, for which I was very grateful! After some more time, I could also overhear all the employees discussing (and laughing at) me and my LONG (and unusual) telephone conversation. After the phone call was over, I thanked the person who brought me the stool, paid $6 (Cash) for a second dinner there, and left.
10:30 P.M. Arrived at rest area on I-10 & Exit #182 in Louisiana. Went to sleep after a very long, eventful and memorable day.
8:00 A.M. Woke up. Left rest area at 9:00 A.M.
11:30 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. Lost in Baton Rouge. $3 (Cash) for lunch at McDonalds. $8 (Cash) for gas.
2:00 P.M. Called Bhindi's again from rest area near I-10 Exit #121 in Louisiana. This time, I just wanted to check if everything was all right and if they had succeeded in printing the North Carolina file. They had, so I asked when I should call next. Jeevan said they are not going to do anything else until I come back, so there was no need to call them now. "Have a good trip and call after you get back".
4:40 P.M. - 5:00 P.M. At Texas visitor center. Got a free Texas traveling guide book, free maps and camping information.
On February 13th (in Orlando) I had bought a full pie at a Denny's restaurant. But I had no forks, spoons or knives to eat it. So the entire pie was still in the icebox, untouched.
8:45 P.M. $10.20 (Chase) for gas and a box of plastic forks and knives at a Chevron station in Columbus, TX. $4 (Cash) for dinner-to-go at McDonalds in Columbus.
9:00 P.M. - 9:45 P.M. Arrived at rest area outside Columbus, and ate that dinner. Then ate some slices of the pie (finally).
11:15 P.M. Arrived at rest area on I-10 south of Randolph Air Force Base, which is an "Air Training Command" base just outside San Antonio. I had brought several books (novels) from home to read on this trip, and so far I had not read any. Instead I had bought Jay Leno's "Headlines" book and read that from cover to cover. So I finally started on one of the books from home - "The Great Train Robbery".
6:00 A.M. Woke up. Read "Great Train Robbery" till 7:45, then left rest area.
8:30 A.M. - 9:15 A.M. At AAA office in San Antonio.
11:00 A.M. Arrived at Uvalde, TX (on HWY 90). $23.47 (Chase) for supplies at
K-Mart. $3 for lunch at McDonalds. Left Uvalde at 12:10 P.M.
1:45 P.M. $8 (Chase) for gas at Del Rio.
6:00 P.M. Checked in to Holiday Inn at Pecos, TX.
11:00 A.M. Checked out - $39.49 (Chase). $2 (Cash) for lunch at McDonalds.
2:20 P.M. $11 (Chase) for gas at Marfa.
4:00 P.M. Arrived at Big Bend National Park. The last time I was here, I didn't get to see anything because I passed through the park at night. This time, I thought I'll get a few more (few more than zero) hours of daylight, which should be enough. But all the major points of interest in the park are accessible only via long dirt roads, and I didn't want to drive the car on those. So I didn't see anything interesting this time either. I also lost my camera battery somewhere in the park, so I couldn't take any pictures after that. Left the park at 7:00 P.M. I drove back North on HWY 118 (the same scenic highway I used last time).
8:30 P.M. The last time I was on this road, I was driving about 90-100 MPH (the fastest I'd ever driven). This time, I decided to drive at a comfortable speed of 60 MPH. At one point I pulled over and took off my shoes and socks, then continued driving barefoot. A few minutes after I pulled back onto the road, I saw lots of police lights in front of me. I thought as long as they are in FRONT, that shouldn't be a problem. The police were stopping everyone on the road and conducting what they called a "routine drug check". There were K-9 units also and the dogs would circle each car and sniff for drugs. When my turn came, I was asked to step out of the car. I told the policeman I'll put on my shoes and come out. When he saw me bend down to put on my shoes, he immediately asked me if I was carrying any hidden weapons (my bending down out of his direct view was a potentially dangerous situation for him, and because of that, also for me). I told him no and I was just putting on my shoes. He asked me to open the door first so that he could see me. I opened the door, put on my shoes, and stepped out. The policeman led his dog around the car, came back to where I was standing, and said I that I could go on. After I left, I started thinking this was my third encounter with the police on this trip, and wondered how many more there would be. Then I wondered whether this "routine drug check" was illegal - the police didn't have a right to check my car (and everyone else's car) without a warrant.
9:00 P.M. At Alpine. $4 (Cash) for McDonalds dinner. Called home.
10:20 P.M. $9 (Chase) for gas at the same gas station in Marfa where I filled up at 2:20 P.M.
12:30 A.M. - 1:00 A.M. (Central Time) At picnic area (not a rest area - which meant it did not have any restrooms, so I didn't want to sleep there) outside Van Horn, TX on I-10.
1:30 A.M. (Mountain Time) At rest area outside El Paso on I-10.
7:00 A.M. Woke up, then read "Great Train Robbery till 9:00 A.M. Left rest area at 9:15 A.M.
9:45 A.M. Arrived at El Paso. Expenses (all on Chase):
$15.26 for oil change (miles = 99376)
$6.68 for new camera battery at K-Mart
$12.96 for first aid kit at K-Mart
$3 (Cash) for lunch at McDonalds.
When I got the oil change, the mechanic said I needed a new air filter, but they didn't have any on stock with them. He said he'll have to order it from their supplier, which will take about "half an hour". That brought back a terrible memory of what had happened in Orlando, so I told him I'll buy the filter somewhere else.
I wanted to go to the AAA office there to buy the AAA Road Atlas, but it was closed on Saturday. Left El Paso at 12:45 P.M.
3:00 P.M. After a long detour (just to photograph a "Welcome to New Mexico" sign), arrived at Las Cruces, NM, and checked in to La Quinta Inn. $3 (Cash) for dinner at McDonalds.
12:00 P.M. Checked out - $48.09 (Chase). $4 for lunch at McDonalds.
12:45 P.M. - 3:00 P.M. Sightseeing at White Sands National Monument. I liked it very much, especially since I came in the winter-time. In the summer, I probably would have hated it because of the extremely high desert temperatures. Still, there was not very much to see (except a lot of unbelievably WHITE sand dunes).
3:30 P.M. $19.68 (Chase) for gas and Coke at Chevron station in Alamogordo. I did not get lost in Alamogordo this time.
6:45 P.M. - 7:30 P.M. $7 (Cash) for dinner at Denny's in Socorro. My first "non-McDonalds meal" in a long, LONG time.
10:00 P.M. Driving in Albuquerque in nighttime. Not very much different from January 19 morning rush hour traffic. There were FEWER cars on the road, but they were all driving the same as on Jan. 19 (and so was I). The good part was that since it was night, I could not see the air.
12:00 A.M. To relive the coldest night of my life (night of January 18), I decided to sleep at the same rest area that I had slept in on that night. To do this, I crossed over into Arizona, exited on the first exit, re-entered the freeway on the East-bound side, and exited back out to the rest area in New Mexico, knowing I'd have to do the same thing again the next morning. For this night though, I was well prepared. Even at night, I could see the snow on the nearby mountains, so I knew it would get very cold. I followed my by-now-usual procedure of turning the car seat into a WARM bed. I put on the jacket Parixit had given me and on top of that, the wind-breaker jacket, my gloves, 2 pairs of socks, shoes and two caps. Then I went to sleep, expecting to be warm.
4:00 A.M. All of the previous night's preparation for nothing. Woke up from the cold, car had trouble starting, I was freezing, and my toes and fingers were numb. But it was fun (now that it's over)!
5:30 A.M. Took I-40 EAST to Gallup, NM. $14.36 (Chase) for gas and cereal at the only gas station in Gallup which was open at that time. Then went back onto I-40 WEST and back into Arizona.
7:00 A.M. Arrived at the main entrance to Petrified Forest National Park. But the park doesn't open till 8:00 A.M. So I drove around in circles in the neighboring roads just to pass the 100,000 mile mark on my car.
8:00 A.M. Car's odometer crossed 100,000 miles at the EXACT instant that my watch beeped at 8:00 A.M. (is that a coincidence or what?). I stopped and took a picture, but the camera moved, so I took another picture. Later, when I got home and developed all of the film rolls from this trip, I saw that BOTH pictures came out bad. Apparently, the camera moved both times. So I missed the souvenir photo of the car's first 100,000 miles.
8:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. Sightseeing at Petrified Forest. The park is divided into two portions - one to the north of I-40, and another to the south. I started from the north side. I did not like the north side at all, so my first impression of the forest was not a very good one. But once the road crosses I-40 and goes south, the park suddenly becomes very scenic. Petrified Forest (south of I-40) was the most scenic National Park I visited on my trip.
2:00 P.M. $13.50 (Chase) for new air filter at Winslow, AZ, then drove back east to Holbrook.
5:00 P.M. Arrived at Day's Inn in Holbrook.
5:30 P.M. $12 (Cash) for groceries. $5 (Cash) for dinner at McDonalds (again).
7:00 A.M. Woke up and found out it had snowed overnight. The local morning news on television said the overnight low was 16ø Fahrenheit without wind-chill, and 7ø Fahrenheit with wind-chill. (Thank God I slept in a motel and not a rest area!). When I went outside to put everything back in the car, I also had to clear about 2-3 inches of snow which was on the car roof and on top of the hood. BUT, the car looked very clean and white after all that!
9:30 A.M. Checked out - $37.97 (Chase). $80 (Chase) express withdrawal at a local bank. Left Holbrook at 10:30 A.M.
10:50 A.M. - 11:45 A.M. At Winslow: $7 (Chase) for lunch at Denny's, and $8.01 (Chase) for gas.
12:00 P.M. - 2:00 P.M. At Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monuments. Both were just O.K. Then I drove to Grand Canyon to see that again, this time topped with snow. I also had a camera this time.
4:30 P.M. - 8:00 P.M. At Grand Canyon National Park. Because it was getting dark, I rushed through everything to reach the last point at the exact moment of sunset. After that, finding my way out of the park on a snow-covered road at night took a LONG time.
9:00 P.M. Checked into Holiday Inn Express at Winslow, AZ.
11:00 A.M. Checked out - $44.67 (Chase)
12:45 P.M. - 2:00 P.M. (Mountain Time) $11 (Chase) for gas and $4 (Cash) for Burger King lunch at Kingman, AZ.
3:00 P.M. (Pacific Time) After 39 days, reentered the state of California!!! (but only temporarily)
4:15 - 5:15 P.M. At AAA office in Las Vegas, NV. Then $4 (Cash) for early dinner at McDonalds.
6:30 P.M. Left Las Vegas city limits, without seeing any of the nighttime casino lights.
10:30 P.M. Checked in to Best Western Inn at Tonopah.
9:00 A.M. Checked out - $42.80 (Chase). $10 (Cash) for gas
11:20 - 12:20 P.M. Ate lunch ($3 cash at McDonalds) at a scenic rest area overlooking Walker Lake (North of Hawthorne), then took a short nap.
2:00 P.M. $6.90 (ATM) for gas at Arco station near I-80 & HWY 50 junction. $6 (Cash) for a tire pressure gauge.
4:00 P.M. Checked in to Holiday Inn at Reno. Cleaned the car interior. Re-packed not only my clothes but also maps and tour books that I would no longer need. I had wanted to see the casino lights there, but the re-packing took till about 7:00 P.M., and I was just too tired to go out, so I called home and then did some MAJOR catching-up on my journal (practically re-wrote the first few days' entries).
11:30 A.M. Checked out - $44.15 (Chase). $3 for lunch at Carl's Jr.
12:00 P.M. Again, back in California!!!! (again, only temporarily)
12:45 P.M. - 4:00 P.M. Made full circle of Lake Tahoe. There was a lot of snow on the ground and on hilltops around the lake, which made everything even more scenic, but I still did not need snow chains. Came back to California (for good) at 3:15 P.M.
4:45 P.M. - 5:15 P.M. At Truckee, CA. $9.70 (ATM) for groceries at Lucky. $12.54 (Chase) for 300-photo album at Long's Drugs. Left for Sacramento at 5:15. Along the way, I-80 was also VERY scenic, since it was through the mountains, and all the mountains were snow-covered.
7:25 P.M. Arrived at Davis. $8.44 (Chase) for gas over-fill-up at Chevron. $3 (Cash) for dinner at McDonalds. Cleaned windshield and headlights!!! (They had become very dirty from the drive on a wet I-80.)
8:00 P.M. - 9:00 P.M. Catching up on journal in McDonalds parking lot. Left Davis at 9:00 P.M.
9:45 P.M. Arrived at rest area in Vallejo (I-80 and I-780 junction), just outside San Francisco.
7:15 A.M. Woke up because of:
9:15 A.M. Left rest area.
10:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M. Sightseeing at San Francisco. Total of $4 (Cash) for all the toll bridges.
1:00 P.M. - 1:20 P.M. $3 (Cash) for lunch at McDonalds in Santa Cruz. I had originally planned to go back South on HWY 1. But since it was raining (and I wouldn't be able to see anything anyway), I changed my trip plans for the zillionth time and decided to go back on I-5 instead of Pacific Coast Hwy.
3:30 P.M. - 3:45 P.M. At rest area on I-5 south of HWY 152 and HWY 33. I was expecting to be back home by 8:00 P.M. The last time I had called Bhindi's was ten days ago, so I thought I should call them one more time and ask if I should drop in on the way back home, just in case they needed anything. So I called, AND GOT NO REPLY, which was very strange. I thought I had dialed the wrong number, so I tried again. Again, no one picked up the phone. After that, I didn't try again.
4:45 P.M. - 5:00 P.M. $11.71 (ATM) for gas at a roadside station. Also cleaned car interior there. It had stopped raining by now.
6:30 P.M. My first (and fortunately, ONLY) true disaster of this trip occurred just 1 mile before the rest area at Gorman, which would have been my last stop before the final two-hour drive after that. Since 5:00 P.M. (for more than 1 « hours), I had been driving the car above 75 MPH. When I got to the hills just before Gorman, the car started to slow down while climbing. I thought this was normal for an old car, so I downshifted and went into the right lane. The car still would not climb, and I had to keep on downshifting until finally I was in the special "truck lane" going at 10-15 MPH in first gear. But now, when I pushed down on the accelerator, the car would not move forward. I thought this might be due to overheating, but the temperature gauge did not show that. I hoped to make it to Gorman, where I could at least get to a phone, but since I was going uphill, I had no choice but to pull over and stop on the shoulder. (If I had been going downhill at that time, I could have just coasted in neutral till Gorman. But uphill, the car would not move forward.) Still believing it was an overheating problem, I shut off the engine and waited some time for it cool down. After 20 minutes, I tried to go forward again, but every time I released the hand-brake, the car started to move backward, even though I had the accelerator pressed all the way down. After some more time, a police car stopped in front of me to see what was wrong (my FOURTH encounter with a police officer in the last 4 weeks). I told the officer what happened, and she offered to call a tow truck. I told her I was a AAA member, and asked if she would call the nearest AAA dispatch office for a tow truck. Then she offered to drive me to the nearest office. Although I knew I should not leave my car in such an emergency, I could not refuse that offer. How many times would I get a ride in a police car [...and for what reason???...] So she dropped me off at the nearest office and told me that she would go back to where my car was and stay there until I came back with the tow truck. I thanked her and went inside the office.
7:00 P.M. Once inside, I realized how busy the tow truck drivers can get on a typical Saturday night. There were no drivers available for another 30 minutes. All sorts of calls were coming in to the lone operator. Most of them were dead batteries (it had rained in the morning, and many people had forgotten to turn their lights off after they reached their destinations). The operator told me that they are busiest during the weekends, especially during summer weekends, but on rainy days, it's even worse. And this was a rainy Saturday. "Nuff said" (her exact words). We didn't speak after that until the first available tow truck came to pick me up. Called home a few minutes before the tow truck came.
8:00 P.M. Got a ride on the tow truck back to where my car had been. I thanked the police officer again for looking after the car, and she left. Then towed the car back to a 24-hour service station next to the dispatch office. Immediately, the mechanic told me what the problem was - I needed a new clutch. That made sense, since the car was behaving as if it was in neutral (when I had pressed the accelerator down, it would not go forward. Instead the engine made a loud noise and the car moved back downhill - exactly what it would do if the car was in neutral and I had pressed the accelerator). Then I heard those same words again: "We don't have the parts in our stock right now, and I'll have to send for them from our supplier". This time however, I had no choice but to wait. The mechanic said their supplier's store was closed and would not be open until 7:00 A.M. the next morning. So I had to sleep in a motel. He offered to give me a ride to the nearest motel, and I had to accept (this was like hitchhiking). He drove me and my luggage to a motel in Gorman.
8:30 P.M. Arrived at motel. There, I found out the difference between a AAA-approved motel and a non-AAA-approved motel. This one had only one lock on the door. All the rooms were joined together, and in my room, there was a door on each wall, which would access the next room. There was one common bathroom for two adjoining rooms. The fourth wall (facing the street) was not really a wall - it was a glass sliding door. I was afraid to go to sleep that night because there were so many ways for anyone to enter the room to steal something. Still, somehow I did go to sleep, and nothing was stolen.
11:30 A.M. Got a call from the mechanic saying my car is done. He said he'll be there to pick me up in about 10 minutes. Checked out at 11:40 A.M. - $33.54 (Chase). Immediately after that (he was actually on time!!!), he came there in my car, then drove me back to the shop. Car repairs = $519.06 (Chase). I called home and left Gorman at 12:00 P.M.
1:50 P.M. After 43 days, approximately 13,500 miles, and approximately $2800 (not including the $519.06 for clutch replacement), I came back home. End miles = 101950. Three days later, I would get back all the rolls of developed film. That cost another hundred dollars. So, including EVERYTHING, the total cost of this trip was about $3,400.
The Ending... and one more comment.
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