Day 1: Our Travels to Tampa

L.A. and I started our trip down to Tampa yesterday (Jan 5). We got a little later start than we had hoped for. L.A. thought we could have everything loaded and be gone by 11 am. I thought we'd be lucky to get out by 3. It was 5:30 when we actually left...right in the middle of DC rush hour. But the traffic gods were good to us and traffic was relatively light.

We made it down to Richmond before stopping for some food and gas. The great thing is that McDonald's has free WiFi so it made determining our next plan of action a little easier...drive to Fayetteville for the night. Well we didn't actually make it to Fayetteville.

Around 10 pm the exhaustion and the dense fog set in and we decided to go ahead and stop. We passed what appeared to be a new Days Inn. We called and found out they allowed pets and had free WiFi (and obviously was nearby) so we decided to call it a night (we were only about an hour shy of our intended target).

It must have been the fog that made this place appear new...or delusions because it was anything but. We got the "pet friendly" room (which is understandable) but it smells like moldy cat pee. I'm a little afraid to get in the shower even though I'm convinced that I'm covered in bed bugs...I itch from head to foot and have little red bug bites all over my legs. I woke up this morning to a tick on Oreo's ear. (I can't be positive he got it in here but I wouldn't be too surprised either.)

By the time we unloaded the dog, the cats, the three buckets of fish/coral and got situated it was around 2:30 am. Even with the complete and utter lack of energy, I didn't sleep well. Beyond being concerned for my health, there is a little window above the door with a light right outside. It has a curtain but the curtain doesn't cover the window very well so the light hit me in the face all night. And for the trifecta, Oreo kept trying to wake me up to go potty but I wasn't getting out of bed to bring him.

It is now 9 am. Time to get moving. I guess I'm going to brave the shower but I really wish I brought some shower shoes with me. We are planning on stopping in Savannah tonight. Keep your fingers crossed for a better room, a better night's sleep and better weather (I forgot to tell you that it's raining). Stay tuned for Day 2 recap.