Don's PhotoJaunt 2003
Motel in Jacksonville

I was way behind schedule, so I ended my PhotoJaunt 2003 in Jacksonville, Florida, instead of going clear to Key West as I had originally planned. The drive the previous day, or maybe the day before that, had freaked me out. Somewhere in the Carolinas, the day was warm and foggy, it was raining hard, and the Interstate had a lot of water on it. Did that slow people down? Noooo. Traffic was moving at it's usual speed, and you couldn't see ten feet ahead of you! I was afraid to drive fast, and I was afraid to drive slow. I got in the right-hand lane, but that didn't help much. Suddenly I saw tail lights ahead of me, and slowed down. A huge truck appeared out of nowhere behind me; he slammed on his brakes, and swerved onto the emergency strip to avoid hitting me. He ended up alongside me; if he hadn't swerved I would have been a dead duck.

So I said to myself, "I'm getting off." But there was no exit for miles. I drove on until I did come to an exit, but the only motel there was a rat-hole, and there was no cafe. So I got back on the Interstate and carefully drove to the next exit, where I stopped for the day, even though it was only about noon.

Well, that cost me one day, so I gave up on going beyond J'ville, stopping only at Warm Springs, Georgia, where I'd wanted to go for a long time.

So, I booked a motel at the J'ville airport — the Clarion Hotel. It turned out to be the nicest place I had stayed on the whole trip, and cost less than many places I'd stayed which were not as nice. The restaurant was good, and the car service was the best I've ever had.

I had four flights on this trip: Portland, Oregon, to Salt Lake City, Salt Lake City to Boston, Jacksonville to Dallas, and Dallas to Portland.

The two short ones, Portland to Salt Lake and J'ville to Dallas were fine. But in Salt Lake we had to wait an hour to board because some idiot food service person had got on the plane without supervision, and they had to search the whole plane before we could board. Dallas to Portland was hell. The plane was clear full, not one empty seat. The seats were so close together you could hardly move — for a seven-hour flight. Then the cabin began to get hot. And hotter. It must have been 95 degrees in there; plus, the woman in front of me would not close her shade and the sun was beaming in on me. Terrible flight.

Thus ended PhotoJaunt 2003, which in spite of the flight home had been a very interesting and enjoyable journey indeed.

Comments.

PhotoJaunt 2003 Intro | Beacon Hill Area of Boston | Boston Common | Unitarian Universalist Association | Massachusetts State House | Adams Historic Park | Boston Temple | John F. Kennedy National Historic Site | John F. Kennedy Library and Museum | Acadia National Park | Maine State Capitol | New England in the Fall | Town and Country Inn | Vermont State House | Chester Alan Arthur Birthplace | President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site | Franklin Pierce Homes and Gravesite | New Hampshire State House | Rhode Island State Capitol | New York State Capitol | Hyde Park | William J. Clinton Home | New York City | The Met | Grant's Tomb | George Washington Inauguration Site | Unitarian Church of All Souls | Theodore Roosevelt birthplace | Sagamore Hill | Woodrow Wilson Homes | Grover Cleveland Home | Amish Country | James Buchanan Sites | Eisenhower Home | Gettysburg | Lincoln Highway | Washington DC Temple | Mary Washington Home | Washington Birthplace | Ferry Farm | Mount Vernon | Appomattox Court House | James Madison's Montpelier | Highland, James Monroe's Home | Monticello | Poplar Forest | FDR's Little White House in Georgia | Jacksonville | Back to Don's Web Site Home Page |

©D.L. Mark 1997-2004