We finally made it out of Florida! Our car was ready at around 3pm. It looks almost the same as the original but my inquisitive eye did catch glimpses of glitches it the paint. There is also a tiny sound when you turn the car slightly. Other than that we’re good as new. We made it all the way up to Adel, Georgia last night where we stopped for the night at a Days Inn for 35bucks. The funny thing was that if we took a room downstairs instead it would have cost us 45bucks. We asked her if the rooms were bigger or safer downstairs and she said that the only difference was the stairs. We got to bed at 10:30 after filling up the tank for $15.62 at 1.69 a gallon, Jake was really sad to see gas for $1.19. We also saw a hotel for 15bucks a night. Both were in Georgia which is officially the cheapest gas and lodging we’ve seen so far.

We spent yesterday reading Catch Me If You Can (I read aloud while Jake drove). While it isn’t a literary accomplishment, it is astonishing how much the guy got away with and a really neat story since it’s true. We also tried to name all the state capitals which wasn’t a very successful attempt (nerds, I know).

We woke up at 6am and got back on the road as our first commitment in Atlanta is today at 10, which we should make if there are no problems on the road.

I can’t tell you how glad I am to be out of Florida!

I know it’s been almost a week since I wrote. We spent Thursday and Friday nights in Coral Gables and here’s what I had written on that:

After two nights at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables we’re finally back on the road again. It turns out jazz festival is going on in New Orleans so we picked a good time to go. Leg two of out trip has officially begun and I can’t say I’m sorry to leave hot HOT Miami.

We did get to see beautiful Daphne and awesome Rony for brunch and we’re on our way to meet with Ryan who’s a good friend of six. We also got to hang out with Jake’s family so it was a well-worth two day stop.

On the way to Ryan’s we got off the highway to get gas and some guy rearended us. Which meant that our brand new car was smashed and we had to wait here till Monday to find out what we were supposed to do with the insurance. On Monday we took the poor car to a shop and the guy said it would take a week to fix it so we’ve been stuck in Lantana, Florida for the last five days. Lantana is in Palm Beach County which isn’t the worst place to get stuck but we’re both so bummed about the car that it wouldn’t matter where we were.

After giving our car to the shop and renting another one, we decided we might as well have some fun. We went to see the Lion Safari and watched both X2 and Bend It Like Beckham which were both really good. Though I would completely have prefered not to have crashed the car and to be in New Orleans now. Major bummer.

More updates will come as soon as we’re back on the road by Friday, if all goes well.

We’re down to the last two days. The first event for the wedding is at 9pm tomorrow night. We appear to be on schedule but I am never too confident about my abilities to calculate travel time using a map.

Last night’s camping was awesome. The ground was on a swamp. We got there in daylight, setup camp and went into Charleston and walked around. Charleston is beautiful. With small colorful houses and cobblestone side-streets it looks like a small European village. I didn’t get to take any pictures because it was late night by the time we got there.

I slept so hard that I didn’t even wake up once in the middle of the night. Which is a huge accomplishment for me. We got up around 6:45 and watched the ducks that were completely unfazed by our existense and approached the tent with confidence. Racing to avoid the mosquitoes we got ready and got right on the road at 8am, the earliest we’ve been on the road in the last four days.

It was my turn to drive so I drove us down to Savannah which I think is the most beautiful American city I’ve ever been in. We took an hour and a half break and walked around the city and its amazing parks. I’d been down here with Jake’s family two years ago but that was the week I’d had an MRI and found out about my herniated discs so Jake and I had had to fly back to New York. The three hours we’d spent in the city had been enough for me to know that I wanted to come back.

Today’s plan was to go to Jekyll Island and camp at Daytona Beach but we ended up zooming right past Jekyll island because I wasn’t paying attention and didn’t tell Jake to get off at the exit. Thanks to that we changed our plans and decided to drive to Naples where my friend Ashlie happens to be and staying in her hotel room. Finally a clean shower!

Gas: $6.10@1.39 & $12.41@1.49 & $6.86@1.52
Miles on the car: 1966
Breaks: 3
Bagel lunch: $1.35
Parking: $0.50
Camping: $15.00
States: SC, GA, FL
Sites: Charleston, Savannah, Naples

After three hours of driving around we finally realized that we had driven past the campsite about 4 times. Around 10:30 we pulled into the campsite and found a little spot. Thanks to the headlights we setup the tent in no time and decided to skip dinner and snore. The night got colder but other than that we had no animals, no bugs, actually no noise at all. It was calm and peaceful. I woke up without any back pain at all. It appears I can get used to this life which is great news.

I picked our route for the day. We’re taking the scenic routes 13 and 17 all the way down to Miami. Today’s my day to drive and it will be my first full day of driving ever. Cross your fingers.

We plan to stop at the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge and possibly visit Kitty Hawk and Wilmington. Drive through Myrtle Beach and end up in Charleston for the night. I might be underestimating the distance so we’ll see how the plan gets revised.

Btw, the emails are typed on my tiny blackberry which may explain the typos. Also I type most of the mail up during the day and update it until we go to bed which is around when I send the mail.

So it is now 8:17pm and I drove from 9:30 till now. No accidents and pretty okay driving. Tons of backache though. We’re on the way to Rodanthe Camp ground which is about 25 minutes south of Kitty Hawk. It looks like it will be another night of setting up tent in the dark.

Gas: $12.34
Miles on the car: 879
Breaks: 1
Toll spent: $12.50
Ferry: $33
Parking: $2.00
Curly Fries: $4.50
Previous night’s camping: $10.00
States: NJ, DE, VA, SC
Sites: Cape May, Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge

We finally bought a car! Joined the AAA and took every book and map they have on every state. We bought camping gear and borrowed some from Jake’s parents. We charged all of our electronics. We bought coolers, ice, crackers, fruit and diet coke.

Tomorrow morning starts the first leg of our trip: DC, Virginia, Carolinas, Florida, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Mississippi Delta, Atlanta and then back to Boston.

If you have ideas of neat places to visit in those states please leave me comments cause I want to see as much as possible!!

More info and pictures to come as we get on the way.