In our last blog Scott and I drove from Seattle to Arizona and now we had to drive through seven states to get to our new home in Fort Lauderdale. We left Phoenix, AZ on Sunday morning before dawn and the desert had a beautiful yet eerie feeling as we began our drive on I-10. Today would be our longest day of the entire drive, with fourteen hours of driving before arriving to San Antonio. Unfortunately, we forgot that they were two hours ahead, so it took up sixteen hours of our day.
As the sun rose, it became obvious that this drive would be flat and boring until we reached San Antonio. When something other than tumble weeds passed by, we had to take a photo!
Five states later, we arrive in San Antonio, TX
By the time we arrived to San Antonio, it as 8pm and we were exhausted. Then we had to empty the truck like we did every night. Thank God the hotel let us keep the luggage cart in our room with all of our belongings on it.
Lucky for us, there was a great restaurant just across the parking lot called 54th Street Grill. The food was fantastic as were the drinks!
Our trip was coming to an end and we couldn’t wait to get to Mobile Alabama! This would be one of the shortest legs, taking us ten hours from San Antonio. It would be a direct shot due east from San Antonio.
It was a bit foggy and hazy when we left San Antonio, making the sunrise calm and beautiful. Since we left before the hotel was open for breakfast, we were on the hunt for a place to stop.
Not wanting to waste time at a sit down restaurant, we decided to stop at Buc-ees convenience store. We had heard that all of the Buc-ees stores are huge, so we had to check it out!
As soon as you walk in, you realize this is no ordinary convenience store or gas station.
Outrunning the storm through three states!
Before Scott and I left the hotel, the news was warning viewers about dangerous storms that were headed our way. It was my turn to drive, so my goal was to try and stay ahead of the storms.
Unfortunately, my luck ran out just as I was driving across the Calcasieu River Bridge. Visibility was zero and most cars around me, slowed down to 5mph and limped across the bridge with their flashers on.
Finally, we broke free of the storm and found sunlight again.
Welcome to Alabama
We passed through Mississippi in about forty-five minutes and soon we were on the Gulf of Mexico! I don’t think I have ever been so excited to see water after days of driving thru the desert.
After about 10 hours, we finally arrived in Mobile, Alabama. Once again we had to unload the truck and by this time, Scott had it down to a science.
Fort Lauderdale – here we come!
We were so excited to get “home” and finish the last leg of our long journey across ten states. The weather was warming up, which created lots of fog along the way.
Soon, the terrain started to change and we started to see lush trees and lots of grass. We were not in the desert anymore!
What we didn’t realize was how buggy this leg of the trip would be. We had to pull over about every 45 minutes to clean the windshield. Before we headed home, we had to go to the car wash. Here we ordered a bug remover wash. LOL!!
Five days and ten states later, we finally made it “home”. While we didn’t have any furniture, we were simply happy to be reunited once again and to begin this journey!
As always, thank you for following our blog and our journey. Be sure to following our channel (link below) and follow us on social media @BoatingJourney #BoatingJourney as we begin our search for our next boat. We have a lot to learn about insurance, auctions, hurricane requirements, etc. Next week, we’ll share our first weekend in Fort Lauderdale and we figure out a way to get on the water!
Cheers, Scott and Ally
