Our trip to Texas began last Saturday, July 26th.  We’d spent the couple of days prior packing and cleaning and staying at the local Hampton Inn.  My back was killing me from the hard work and my nerves were frazzled by unprofessional movers.  For some reason, the bed at the Hampton Inn in Sanford, North Carolina had tits.  There was also a strange post it note assuring us our duvet and sheets were “clean”.  I should hope so!

We didn’t keep the dogs with us at the Hampton Inn because they didn’t allow pets and we wanted them totally out of our hair while the movers were packing and loading up.  Our house in Sanford didn’t even have a fenced yard for us to put them in.

Our bed at the Sanford Hampton Inn had tits…

I tried out the whirlpool.  It was surprisingly nice and easily accommodated my fat ass.

Though I was ready to light out of Sanford, I will miss it there.  It was very peaceful and quiet.

Sanford Hampton Inn has the feel of a nursing home, but the room had a fridge and a microwave and was reasonably comfortable.  They had a guest laundry, which was very helpful and offered breakfast, both hot and “on the go”.  The on the go breakfast was handy for us, because I ended up using it as lunch.

Nevertheless, it was finally time to hit the road.  Bill and I dumped our spare change for the last time at the grocery store, then bought some gas for my 2009 Mini Cooper convertible.  I hardly ever drive it and on this trip to Texas, finally passed the 16,000 mile point.

As I was about to follow Bill to a fast food joint for breakfast, the car stalled out completely.  I rolled backwards into the gas station parking lot while Bill continued on without me.  I don’t know why the car stalled, but it was totally dead for several minutes, then mysteriously resurrected.  I managed to drive to a strip mall, where I called Bill.  He met me there; we ate nasty breakfast sandwiches at Subway; and then when I went to start the car again, it did the same thing.

We were both pretty leery because we didn’t have time to take the car to Raleigh for repairs.  I resolved to let it run in the parking lot of the pet resort, where our dogs Zane and Arran had been spending the last few days in North Carolina.  Once we picked them up, we were on our way…  Our first stop was Peachtree City, Georgia.  Bill and I once lived in neighboring Fayetteville, so we are familiar with the area.  We decided to stop there because we wanted to pick up some beer made by JailHouse Brewing Company.

The first day was the longest one.  We arrived in Peachtree City at about 5:30pm.  We both had pounding headaches from fighting the local traffic.  Still, Peachtree City is a pleasant area and I was glad to be back there for a night.  We stayed at the Wyndham, which is a big conference center.  The Wyndham in Peachtree City is pet friendly, but we had to pay an extra $100 for the boys to stay with us.  The room did not have a microwave or fridge and they gave us two double beds instead of the king Bill asked for.  On the other hand, the toiletries were awesome and the room was very spacious.

The boys each chose a bed.  Arran slept with me, while Zane slept with Bill.  Usually it’s the other way around.  Arran is the dog on the first bed, while Zane is on the other.

 

The dogs were like kids who had been trapped in a car all day.  Once they were turned loose in the hotel room, playtime commenced.  I took them out for a pee break at about 8:00am the next morning and they ran into a little dog in the stairwell.  They all started barking like crazy.  When I brought them back, some lady peered out the door at me and gave me a filthy look.  Sorry, lady.  It’s not like we wanted them to bark.  Sometimes shit just happens.  That’s why we were booked on the pet floor.

We did get out of there as soon as we could so the lady could get more beauty rest.  She appeared to need it.

The view from our hotel room in Georgia.

Another view of the room.  

  Nice bathroom, even if the water was tepid.

 

That was our second stay at the Wyndham in Peachtree City.  I’m pleased to report that we had a better room the second time, even if the view wasn’t as nice.  Internet worked great, whereas last time we were there, it wasn’t working well at all.  If we’d had a fridge and a microwave and the water had been hotter, I would have given them an A for effort.  As it stands, I think they get a B.

All in all, the first leg was just exhausting, but not dramatic.  Once we got the car going, we had no other problems with it stalling.  I think it just needs to be serviced.  Indeed, Bill got an email from Flow Mini in Raleigh just this morning reminding us it’s time.  Guess we’ll find a place in Texas for that.