1600 Miles in a Day

The adventure started off in whirlwind fashion. A 4th of July Celebration (on July 7th) at the Esser home in Pennsylvania bled into the return trip to DC. We spent most of Sunday making final contact with the people offering us lodging and advice during our travels. At 7am, we rose in DC with an ambitious plan to get to San Antonio in the 26 hours estimated on googlemaps.

We compartmentalized the trunk using cardboard boxes obtained at Safeway. We made egg and pasta salad to avoid any stops that weren't mandated by refueling. We photocopied important documents that would be needed during bordering crossing. We hopped into Randal and pulled up to the intersection of New York and New Jersey Avenues. As we toed the white line at the light, our spirits plummeted as the our gauges blinked off, all emergency lights on the dash blinked on, and Randal slowed to a stop. Before the 26 hour odyssey began, the gold dodge was showing signs of disrepair. A stall like this had happened to me before, but given a sterling report from the auto mechanic but 6 days earlier, it was hardly expected on this day. We decided to get on the trail to San Antonio none-the-less. At least the first leg would be conducted on US soil.

Randal's stalling problem persisted throughout the journey, but only when idling in stop and go traffic. Once on the highway, no problems were encountered. It is a bit precarious, but the problem seems to be able to be worked around.

Other than the stalls, the journey had one other notable event. In Tennessee, we were following a Nissan SUV when a young doe hopped the median and dashed across the interstate. We both slammed on our brakes, but the Nissan was a bit too late and clipped the deer. The animal went careening into the air with a hail storm of glass, plastic, and fur raining down around it. We pulled over and confirmed that the passengers of the other vehicle were all right. They were. The damage to their car was shocking though, considering the small stature of the animal. It was doubly crazy to have witnessed the entire sequence of events from only 40 feet away.

In the end we made the trip in 27 hours adding only one hour to the time estimate on googlemaps due to gas stops and one missed turn outside of Birmingham, AL. Andrew tried mostly unsuccessfully to nap in the back seat, while I downed a 5 hour energy and a a 16 oz can of NOS energy drink to curb my fatigue. Shockingly, as I write, I've been up the better part of the last 35 hours and still feel pretty good.

In any case, after some stalls, deer in the road, and several doses of caffeine, we are safely to San Antonio. Tomorrow, Andrew will try to catch a flight to Mexico City while I lag a day behind attempting to cross the Rio Grande by bridge.

More updates are on the way!