The Parent Swap

Savannah, GA - Atlanta, GA - Memphis, TN

Miles: 653
Stops: 2
States 4

One of our earlier mornings was also Mom and my last together. Day 5 of the drive began from Savannah at 8am with a quick stop to fill a leaking tire. 4.5 hours later we arrived at Nicole and Jim's for lunch, where I got to see her new bling and eat yummy lunch. The drive was relatively uneventful, but rainy and we arrived in great time.

Next on the day's agenda was going to the airport to drop Mom off and pick up Dad. The Dad portion worked out, while Mom had to wait a very very long time for her flight after AirTran blamed "her agent" for not booking her a seat assignment. I call BS on that one and blame them for overbooking the flight. She wasn't happy but she did get a round trip flight out of it, which I quickly pointed out can be used to visit me. Or for me to visit home. Dad and I didn't discover this little hiccup until we were about 20 miles into Alabama having a quick dinner. Other than that delay, the plan worked out beautifully.

We had set off from Atlanta about 4 and were about 10 miles from Birmingham by 5:30 local time (6:30 PM EST). I was a little confused by our on-the-road time change, but it ended up making the drive seem a lot less painful. We were getting gas somewhere in the middle of nowhere Alabama at about 8:30 Central time, on our way to drive through Tupleo, MS the favorite son of which is none other than The King himself, Elvis. I continued to drive, while we listened to the utterly appropriate Forrest Gump Soundtrack along the way. "It Keeps You Running", "Sweet Home Alabama", and "Running on Empty" were particularly fitting. We really had a great time driving, and Dad took over in Tupelo for the last 100 miles. I actually can't believe how enjoyable the physical driving of all of this has been. I haven't been antsy in the car but once, when Mom and I were stuck in traffic north of Richmond. Goodness that feels like forever ago.

So Dad and I drove a total of almost 400 miles and found our way to a hotel in downtown Memphis. We passed a lot of beautiful countryside along the way and while I'm glad I don't live in Sumton, Alabama- I am glad to have been able to drive through it once in my life.