Every trip to Mississippi is different. It’s not just that we go at different times and see some different people, but that no matter what, there’s something not ‘right’ about the hotel the car or what have you.
This time we took off on Thursday, after work, when it had been snowing in Chicago. And the Hertz people, whom I generally love, gave us a convertible. Yeah, track that for a moment. Snow. Convertible. Even if we’re staying in state (which we’re not), what the fuck? But it was a nice car, so we thought we’d stick by it. Per usual, it took us a year and a day to get out of Chi proper. The Dan Ryan is tore up to Helena and her hand-basket, thanks to a grand idea to re-do it, and sadly the best way to get to Mississippi from Chicago is … Dan Ryan to the 57, 57 to 55, and 55 to Grenada.
It was about an hour and a half getting out of Chi, snow and all, and finally we made it to the open road. And the car sucked any time you went between 50 and 60. After talking to Hertz, the only replacement on our path, with NeverLost (which we needed), was going to be Memphis. Which was 600 miles away. Bucking up, like the campers we are, we got our asses to Memphis just in time for the rental place to be closed.
Road Trip Rule: When one of us says “we stop driving at midnight”, we do.
Hertz let us sleep a couple hours in their secured parking lot before 5 AM rolled up and they took care of us like we were queens. By 6, we were back on the road, but decided to skip my pilgrimage to Graceland (for now) and just get to the hotel. I sort of wish we hadn’t, because we pulled in at 9am, after a 20 hour drive and just wanted to sleep. The room was smelly, had no windows, and the place made me feel like I was filthy. Old BO and pool stench permeated everything. The ONLY thing it has going for it, is that the WiFi was easy to hook up to. We slept 4 hours and checked out, unable to stand the smell.
Down the road was a Holiday Inn Express. For an extra $25 a night, we got clean sheets, nice smelling soaps and lotions, enough towels, a soft bed, and so the WiFi doesn’t like my Mac. I can plug in and live for a week!
Road Trip Rule: When one of us says “I don’t like the look of this hotel”, we leave.
All in all, the trip was worth it. But we left a day early for a sanity check, and I’m glad we did!