The planning stages began months in advance. Location soon to be determined. Eight were invited, five made the journey east. We came from 4 different states (from as far away as Texas and New York), 5 different places in all. Some came by plane while others arrived in cars. The friendships started as far back as 2005 and were developed over time. Some graduated from college while others had chosen different paths to walk in life. All had one thing in common, we were all members of a college cross country team. It was only 4 months in which we all graced the campus of Lees-McRae at the same instance, but something about those 4 months allowed us to meet once again in the low country of South Carolina. In a town that we had all been to before, Charleston. It had been 3 years since we had all last been together. 3 years too long. While we missed the 3 that could not attend. We made the most of out of who had came. We created new memories, shared old stories, and had many laughs and intoxicating liquids for that matter.
The story for me began at 6:50 AM CST as I anxiously beat my alarm by a solid 10 minutes, eagerly awaiting the adventure that was soon upon me. I had been restless for days in anticipation. Things in South Alabama had become quite slow as the temperatures had hovered around the triple digits for a solid 2 months and many residents had left to go "home" for the summer. So I was ready to get out and have some fun even though I knew 500 miles of road lay ahead of me. After a quick shower to alert my senses and a bowl of cherrios I was 88 and out the gate. Approximate departure can be confirmed. 7:20 was the time. A time I had not seen in quite awhile. All but the first 45 minutes or so is interstate driving so that was a big positive heading out so early with less than ideal sleep the night before. I had created a massive playlist of music off of iPod. Over 300 songs to be more precise. Maybe the best collection of road trip songs that I have put together for any trip. I was locked in and ready to go. The music energized me. As nearly every song was belted out and sung along to. The big question heading into this trip was whether to make this a one or two stop trip. A couple of things are factored into this. How hungry I am and how long can I hold "it"? As I got a couple hours into the journey, the decision became 1 stop. This one stop had to be past the halfway mark (250 miles) and had to include both food and fuel. This brought me to a small community just off the shores of Lake Oconee in East Georgia in between Atlanta and Augusta (which is one of the dullest areas in which to drive in).
Traffic had been smooth sailing on I-20. However I-26 was a slightly different story. When I picked it up just east of Columbia we were crawling along for several miles at a pace that snails would find comfortable. Turns out it wasn't a wreck that slowed us down, but 4-5 cars pulled over in a fairly decent sized median looking like items had been lost or something. Eastbound traffic had slowed down to look. A classic maneuver that annoyed the "fill in the blank" out of me. The longer the drive goes the more irritable I become. You have to remember that this was the longest solo drive of my life. A solid 200 more miles than any I had done before. By the time I had reach Columbia, I was sitting close to 6 hours with a good 90 minutes to go. Once that cleared, the road was full with cars traveling well in excess of 80 mph. Eager to get where they were going on this 4th of July weekend, as was I. Our exit was at 209. Traffic came to a halt and 204. A measly 5 miles away. 5 miles that felt like 5 hours probably took over 30 minutes to complete, Excruciating does not even big to describe those last few miles. I pulled off the exit and arrived at our North Charleston hotel. I had been in the car for well over 7 hours and the 500 miles had been draining, but there I was ready to go and settled in.
It was now 4:00 pm EST...
P.S.- After putting a lot of detail into this first part. I have made the executive decision to break this into two parts. With the other one coming shortly to follow.
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