Jan 3/4 - now in Florida

Saturday the 3rd was a long day.  We had roughly 100 miles of freezing rain or post freezing rain.  Luckilly we were on the northern edge of it so traction wasn't ever really a problem for us, especially with my tires which lean towards ice traction, vs deep snow.  Good thinking eh ?  By the time the light rain turned heavy, it was warmer.

As we went south, we drove through the aftermath.  I periodically checked traction by hitting the brakes, but it was never a problem.  There were literally 100's of cars off the road though, who'd come through much earlier when the roadway was still cold enough to freeze the rain.  There were no significant accidents, save one, where an 18 wheeler had blocked the road.  The northbound side was backed up for a few miles.  People were out of their cars, that sort of thing.  The cars off the road were just that, stuck in the median for the most part. 

The nerve wracking part of all this was just seeing all the cars off the road.  Traffic was light and the one time that it seemed to bunch up around us, we pulled into a Rest Area to take a few minutes break, letting them go ahead.  I wanted enough space to keep doing the traction check, you see, and didn't want some idiot running into me.  

South of Pittsburgh the traffic started to build and it was very heavy all the way to Orangeburg SC, where we'd booked a Country Inn & Suites.  I had hoped to go further but with the slow start, this was the end of our driving day.  We got there about 7pm, just short of 12 hours driving.  We probably lost an hour from Erie through Pittsburgh driving at 40-45 mph.  We had dinner at the Ruby Tuesday, loading up on the salad bar, of course.  We've stopped here before.

The weather was yucky all day, from the rain at the beginning to the rain at the end, light fog most of the day -- no need for sunglasses though !  Between the weather and the traffic, it was a tiring day.

This morning we left around 8am, not really in a hurry.  The predicted arrival time was 1pm but we lost a half-hour just 10 miles north of Florida sitting behind an accident.  A boat was on the road.  Yup.  Someone must have made a wrong move and the boat came off the trailer.  I'd guess that it was about a 22-24 footer.  When we went by, a flatbed was winching the boat onto its bed.  I imagine that there was a little bit of damage to the boat, but it didn't look like it had flipped.  

The boat accident was a good weather accident, no reason besides traffic, presumably, and someone making a wrong move. 

When we left Erie PA it was about 28F; 35F around Pittsburgh; 59F in Orangeburg last night / 69F when we left this morning; 83F in New Smyrna Beach ... yes !  Tomorrow it's supposed to be a little cooler, but I don't care.

Unpacking here is a breeze since everything is basically all on one level, including the car.  We also weren't very piled up -- we never are, arriving here. 

I'll get to Mass at Epiphany this evening in Port Orange and we'll likely eat at the SYC.  The only critical shopping before tomorrow a.m. is milk for breakfast.

This is the earliest that we've gotten back to Florida after Christmas.  Perhaps a new trend is underway, never can tell.

Onward !