Chapter Five: Open up that Golden Gate!
Our weary troupe stumbled into the lobby of the
Comfort Inn. It was somewhere around three or four in the afternoon and I was praying that our room would be ready so we could just unload the van and crash for a bit. A middle-aged woman behind the counter wearing rhinestone-studded eyeglasses on a chain greeted us with a long story about a group of patrons from the bar across the way that got nasty with her the night before. Seems she wouldnt let them rent a room to continue their party after the bar closed and there was a big ruckus.
Yall missed all the excitement! she gushed. I had to call the police! Ed gave me a sidelong look and let out a little sigh.
There mustve been THREE or FOUR police cars here, she continued excitedly. They took all those drunks away, and let me tell you, they didnt go easy! Gee, thats really what we want to hear.
Were checking into a hotel with our two children on a Saturday night and theres a rowdy bar nearby??
. and then, not a half-hour later, there was a HUGE accident on the highway and fire-trucks and ambulances came screamin from everywhere and
, she continued to recount the horrible tale of fiery death on the highway we had just been traveling, and would continue to travel the next day.
What could we do?
Until she finished checking us in, we were her captive audience! Eventually, we were given our room key card and we were able to extricate ourselves from her thoughtless jabber. I wondered how many times that day she had told the same story, hoping that the extent of the nighttime excitement had been gradually inflated with each telling.
Back out to the van we went. It was a short drive around the building to our assigned room and we pulled up right outside the door. Knowing that we would have this one night here, I had packed a separate bag with one set of clothing for each of us, plus some toiletries, so we wouldnt have to unpack all of our luggage. We opened the door and were greeted by the lovely air conditioning! Ahh! Everyone took their shoes off and flopped down on one of the two Queen beds.
The room was pretty standard and completely forgettable
I dont recall any problems with it. Ed turned on the television and we all just relaxed for the next couple of hours. (Well, three of us relaxed. Billy kept pacing up and down across the floor and wouldnt lie down, no matter how hard we tried to coax him.) Sitting still for so many hours strapped into his seat mustve been very difficult for him
and he just needed to burn off some steam.
I did my best to keep him quiet
Ed had dozed off while watching TV
but I was feeling pretty sleepy myself. I tried to read a magazine, but my eyes kept crossing and I'm sure I must've dozed a bit myself. As it neared dinnertime, however, Tricia and Billy both began asking when we were going to eat, so we all got washed up a bit and headed out in search of food.
We found a little place that looked pretty decent
sorry, cant remember the name, but good reporter that I am, I remembered to snap a picture!
We came. We saw (the menu). We ate. We left. More than that, I cannot recall. I believe we may have stopped at a Rite Aid along the way back for some Doans Pills
Eds back was bothering him. We went back to the Comfort Inn, got into our jammies, and turned in early.
Woo-hoo, wasnt that an exciting evening??
Seriously, we were so glad there were no lights and sirens around the hotel that night!
The next morning, we were up early. We washed and dressed and partook of the Continental Breakfast served in the lobby. Coffee, tea, juice, cereals, and.... waffles?? There was a waffle iron set up with a pitcher of batter next to it so guests could pour and press their own! Well, they weren't shaped like Mickey, but hey, who are we to complain?! We ate our fill and enjoyed watching the large television set up in the "dining" area. All-in-all, we were pleased with our stay here.
Settled up at the front desk and went back to the room and packed up. Hit the bathroom one last time and then it was back on the road again, with Ed driving (of course!)
The day before had been exciting because we were finally on our way. This day was
doubley exciting because in just a few hours, we would be in Walt Disney World at last!
Eds goal was to get to
Florida by lunchtime. I thought that was a bit optimistic since Map Quest had estimated that it would take us 3.5 hours just to cross the rest of
South Carolina. Nevertheless, we kept moving along, listening to a new audio book and talking about this and that to pass the time. Eds back was holding out pretty well, but he grumbled a bit every time we ran into a bit of traffic. I, on the other hand, was much more comfortable now that we were traveling during the day and I did not have to worry about trying to get some sleep while slumped over in an awkward position in the front seat.
Cant remember if we ever made it to Florida for our lunch break
we may have had to stop in
Georgia, but it sure was a welcome relief to finally catch sight of the Florida State line!! (Yes, we mustve taken a break in Georgia for lunch because I remember wanting to stop for the little glasses of orange juice, but Ed was anxious to keep moving.)
We still had over two hours of driving left! But psychologically, it helped us to know that we were already in the same state as the Mouse! Dont know exactly where, but this mustve been
Florida:
Eventually, we began seeing signs that our long journey was nearing its end:
And finally (FINALLY), the most welcome sign of all!!
Yippie!! Were here! Were here!! 
Kathy
), and like our bacon thick. 
Tricia is too funny!
I must say that I was just the teeniest bit jealous... after all, I had not had the easiest time sleeping in the passenger seat and now I needed to stay alert for the next leg of our journey. Billy was watching his DVDs, happily singing his Duck-a-Duck-a song, and Tricia read her book. It was all rather boring until we began to notice the billboards for South of the Border.
dreaded whining, “Are we almost there?” and “How much longer do we have to go?” from Tricia, and Billy was stimming so loudly now that he woke up his father. Ed pulled his seat up and reached for the directions. We decided to pull off at the next rest stop, which we did.
LOVE the picture of Ed and the kids after getting out of the car! They look like they're half asleep and have been in the car for 2 days 
Perhaps that's why I enjoy Hoop-Dee-Doo so much!
Then she decided she'd rather devote her time to soccer. Only problem was, her dad/coach had to keep telling her not to point her toes when she kicked! 
