So Ariel and I were in Florida, having visited with Shana down in Jacksonville for the launch of her beautifully redone theater. Then we’d spent a couple of days at Disney and Universal. And now the plan was simple: drive at night up to Atlanta to rendezvous at her parent’s house for the holidays.
Shortly before crossing the border into Georgia, I hit a rest stop at about 1 AM. There were signs all over about 24 hour security. It was reasonably well lit. And there was a Florida highway patrolman on station. If I’d been smart, I would have simply sat there and slept for an hour or two before getting back on the road, but I was wide awake and didn’t see the need.
So I started driving again. We entered Georgia. And it all went to hëll.
I enjoy night driving for long distances. Far less cars. And headlights make it easier to tell if someone is in your blind spot. I’ve also developed a clear awareness of when fatigue is setting in so I don’t fall asleep on the road. When things start to get louder, when lights are getting too bright, that’s my sixty minute warning to find a rest stop.
I felt the first signs about an hour and a half short of my destination. And there’s a sign that read, “Next rest stop, two miles.” Below that, in much smaller print: “Next rest stop: 169 miles.”
169 miles? Holy crap. What kind of planning is that?
But hey, no sweat; I would stop at this one.
I pull in. Lights are dim. No cops in sight. No signs about surveillance. But I figure it should be okay. All I needed was an hour or so of sleep and I’d be good to go.
I leaned back, closed my eyes. I was out in a matter of seconds.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
I jerked awake and focused in confusion. Something had banged on my window.
Cletus the slack jawed yokel was on the other side of the window. His skin wasn’t QUITE as yellow as it was on “The Simpsons” and he had ten fingers, but it was him.
“Ah mean you no harm,” he said. “Ah’m trying to get gas money. Can you help me out?”
He didn’t want to do me any harm? I’d been sound freaking asleep and he woke me up to bum money off me? I didn’t see as how he was trying to do anything to benefit me. On the plus side, he didn’t appear to be holding any weapons, nor did he seem to have any pals. Quickly I rolled down the window, handed him a few singles I had left over for tolls in Florida. And then I motored out of there, concerned about who the hëll else might show up. I was fully awake and figured I was good to go the remaining time.
I checked my clock and discovered that I’d slept a grand total of three minutes. Still, I figured I’d be okay because I was SO awake.
Forty five minutes later I learned differently as my usual warning signs started to return. But now I was screwed, stuck in a no-man’s land of nowhere to stop for over two hours. The sides of the road was absolutely pitch black; the next time someone woke me they could be holding a gun on me. It seemed silly to get off the road and check into a motel when I was relatively near my destination, so I fought my way through the fatigue.
Half an hour short of my goal, my fatigue started to go into overdrive. The road sounds were screaming at me. I thought I saw a UFO. There were no hotels around, no rest stop except far down the road, nothing.
Fortunately Ariel woke up at that moment. Seeing that I (and hence her) was in trouble, she threw on a Disney CD and insisted we both start singing along as loudly as we could. That kept me awake enough to get us to where we needed to be. Seconds later I was out.
I’m not sure why Georgia finds it so impossible to have secure rest stops, well lit, monitored and frequently situated the way that Florida has them. If nothing else, I’d be interested to see a survey done on that 168 mile stretch of you’re-on-your-own to see if it has a higher incidence of night time accidents.
PAD
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Sorry, can’t help you here…In the NL, the national government (in The Hague) takes care of these things. Further more, the regulations for truck drivers are very strict here. There’s even a special recording device to keep track off how long a driver has been going. As a result, there HAS to be a proper rest stop grid. Add to that, there’s the simple fact that NL is not that big. Long story short…no idea. But it think it’s probably bureaucratic stupidity.
As least you’re self-aware enough to know when you’re entering dangerous limits of consciousness — and (in this case, if not all)you had a passenger ready, able & willing to help you stay awake. Not everyone is so lucky — and those people often wind up either damaging their car, damaging other property, hurting someone/themselves, or killing someone/themselves.
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Glad you’re okay.
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Happy Holidays.
I just got home from my last day of Christmas duty at the Post Office AND doing my laundry. (really didn’t want to do it on Christmas itself and, if I didn’t do it now, I didn’t know when I’d have the time.)
All I’ll say is that one of the main thing that helped me get through 12-hour days was, when I’d start to feel tired, a dose of the 5-Hour Energy drink. It DOES work for me. If you don’t want ANY caffeine (it says it has the amount of a cup of coffee), there is a decaf version.
it’s also helped me on long trips.
Wow. Scary. Had you ever driven that stretch before? Glad Ariel was there to come to the rescue (as any good Disney princess worthy of the name would!)
Yikes. Sounds frightening — and not just because it was Georgia, which is reason enough most of the time.
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Glad you and Ariel made it through — Happy Chanukah to you both!
Thanks for the tip about Georgia. I would have been terrified! Singing Disney songs is a good way to stay awake. Happy Chanukah to you and your family. You got a great story out of this drive.
Yeah, Florida keeps theirs fairly nice… Georgia I avoid if possible, and the same with South Carolina. Scary.
I’d say Texas and Florida, and of all places California have the nicest rest spots.
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For clarification, I travel during the summer on my motorcycle so I judge states on quality of roads and rest stops. So I do have some experience in that manner.
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TAC
Peter,
A couple of foreign tourists were killed several years back at a rest stop in Florida. That’s why the rest stops here are patrolled.
Alabama started having attendants at their rest stops 24 hours a day after that incident in Florida as well. I’m surprised Georgia didn’t follow suit. Maybe the economy has made them cut back? Who’d have thought Alabama would have something to brag about over Georgia? 🙂
I wonder if they had more and just shut some of them down. I know that was happening in places a couple of years ago: with budgets being slashed, one of the things to go in some areas were the highway rest stops.
Wouldn’t be surprised. The imbeciles running (ruining?) Ontario decided the rest stops along major highway 401 were about fifty years old and needed renovation. So, what did they do? Shut down a couple and renovated them? Then shut down a couple more until they were all done? No. Build replacements while keeping the originals up and running as the work was being done? Nope. They just shut down the lot and then set about building replacements. Meanwhile, people using the highway had no place to stop for such services. Dumb, dumb, dumb.
When I went down to florida from Upstate, NY to spend three months at an internship I remember crossing briefly through Savannah and that may be the reason.
The people of Georgia must think that any snowbirds are just going to pass through Savannah and that anyone else must be a local hence no need for rest stops.
If the rest areas were regularly placed and monitored, where would conservative Southern politicians go for gáÿ šëx?
Waffle House?
Dont you talk trash about Waffle House.
Extremely glad you made it OK. Nothing is worse than getting tired while doing long-distant driving — especially at night. When there’s no nearby rest-stop option, more than once I’ve parked in a well-lit, well-traveled parking lot of a 24-hour restaurant and snoozed there for the 15-30 minutes I needed to clear the cobwebs. After that, I’m usually good for at least 2-3 more hours.
Scary story, but… how funny would it be if Cletus came across this blog?
Ah’m sorry for disturbing you earlier. Ah never reckoned that you were asleep or ah shan’t have dared to bother you. That was mighty Christian of you to spare those three dollars. Thanks to you I was able to afford that cocain- that gas money I desparately needed. May god bless you.
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P.S. Ah can’t read so good ever since middle school but if I could I would read every one of your Sir Appros novellas.
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P.P.S. Ah like staring at the pictures in your Hulk comics. You draw pretty.
Ah’m so sorry to have disturbed you. Ah never woulda knocked on your window if ah’d reckon you were asleep. Mighty Christian of you to spare those three dollars. Thanks to your kindess ah was able to afford the cocain- the gas I so desparately needed.
P.S. Ah can’t read so good ever since middle skool but if I could, I would read every one of those mighty fine Sir Appros novellas of yours.
P.P.S. Sometimes I lay on bed at nights and stare at the pictures in your Hulk comics. You draw pretty.
So, you got the full Dixie experience, with a Deliverance moment. You were bound to be fine, as long as there was no banjo playing in the background.
Glad you are both fine
Decades of movies, books, tv shows and now PAD’s blog taught me that horror is not a monster hiding in the basement but a road in a USA southern state.
I live in south / rural Georgia right now due to my employment. If I had known this was going to happen, I would have let you crash at my house Peter! LOL
In all seriousness, bash south Georgia all you want–in fact, it deserves a good deal of it. But the real reason you have particular problems like this is because Atlanta has abandoned this part of the state.
God help you if you need trauma care between Valdosta and Macon, because you’re not getting it. And the reason why? Because the average person in metro Atlanta says: “Well *I* don’t live there or visit there, so why should I contribute for trauma centers in that part of Georgia?”
(I Hope you don’t get hit by a semi on your way to Disney World!)
Revisit half the comments listed above to get an idea of how we’re all apparently subhuman.
I never thought I’d see the day I’d have to advocate for this hellhole…
Regardless, I’m glad you’re safe Peter.
BTW, Peter, my usage of “you” wasn’t to address/attack you personally. It was more of an address to a general audience…My snark is still fully intended though!
yeah…I was caught in that same stretch before and wondered who in the hëll thought that 169 miles would be a good idea. For the most part Georgia rest stops are pretty good. I’m always a tad uncertain about most rest stops at night. It helps ease the mind when there are several other cars there. I’ve lived in south Georgia for about 16 years, bounced around in the midwest and now live in Knoxville, TN and I find it more frightening there. It doesn’t help that there are giant building sized white crosses along the way and large bible warehouses that share the building space with super-sized Adult shops. Anyhow the South can only be experienced first hand. Glad you made it to your destination safe.