False Start
January 18, 2019
Plans were set. As part of the Christmas gift of the Florida State Park passport book, there was a trip to the Amelia Island area of northeast Florida to celebrate our anniversary and hit a few of the parks. Part of what we learned as we sought to make plans, is people plan these kinds of trips down here to Florida in the winter months way in advance. Campsites were full and we would have to start our journey with day trips to the parks and hotel stays at night. In and of itself this is not a bad thing, some of the parks don't even have overnight camping. But we hope to fully experience many of the parks by camping there.
First lesson learned, start planning trips now for next year.
Thanks to the mega travel Laurie does for work, we secured a room in Fernandina Beach, on Amelia Island using free points! For those who may need a reference point, Amelia Island is a small island all the way at the northeast of Florida. It is about 30 miles from Jacksonville, and a bit more than 150 miles from Georgia.
The plan was to hit parks 64-66. Fernandina Plaza Historic Park (64), and Fort Clinch State Park (65), are both historic park sites. We planned to walk trails, experience the historic markers and reenactments, and picnic lunch. At Amelia Island State Park (66), we had reservations for a horseback ride on the beach and a full day of enjoying the other park amenities. It was to be a perfect anniversary weekend to start our State Parking journey.
We kicked off work early, and packed up our truck for the 5+ hour drive from Fort Myers to Fernandina Beach. We figured we would settle into our hotel and take a walk to a nearby restaurant for a quiet dinner. An early start in the morning would ensure a full day to enjoy the parks, so we had no wild and crazy plans for the evening. By 3:00 we were off and feeling good. We knew our trouble spots for traffic would be Sarasota and Tampa. By the time we got over to Jacksonville, rush hour would be long over. Skies were blue, and the sun was shining. So far, so good!
And then...
We were all the way to the left lane on interstate 75, passing some slower traffic, and then a sudden pow! The truck bucked, and immediately we could feel the truck sink down off-kilter, as our front right tire blew out. No need to panic, Paul was still in control of the vehicle and we pulled off the shoulder to change the tire. Yeah, we had a spare. But, we bought the truck used less than a year ago and never thought to check the spare. It was there, but it was flat. We were stranded on the side of the highway, still more than 3 hours from our destination.
Second lesson learned, new to you doesn't mean new. Check the spare after you purchase a used car.
Still incredibly calm about the whole thing, we called roadside assistance through our insurance carrier, and they were very helpful. The problem was, it was fast approaching closing time for all the car repair and tire shops. Most of them were already closed at 5:00 and the remaining closed at 6:00. Short on time and on options, Paul remembered Costco! We confirmed they would still be open and we waited for our tow truck driver. And we laughed. And we talked about how years ago, at the beginning of our marriage, this would have had us in a tail spin. Instead, we just sat and made plans. Should we continue up for the rest of our trip? Would it even be worthwhile by the time we arrived? We considered various options and decided to play it by ear. We didn't know if the truck could be ready to go tonight or if we'd be delayed until the next day. We waited.
And when the tow truck driver called, and Paul confirmed our location, Laurie looked up at the sign and had a realization. "Hey isn't this where Rob and Gina live?" Sure enough, we had friends who lived nearby. They insisted they come out and get us. Gina would make dinner and they would drive us wherever we needed to go, or we could spend the night. We agreed to call them once we had a better idea of what was happening with the truck and the tires. Our tow arrived, and we piled in to the front seat and watched on a dashboard cam as he loaded our truck onto the rig.
The journey continued as we arrived at Costco to find they could get us tires, but they would have to be ordered. Essentially, tires from Costco guaranteed the trip to Amelia Island was over. We cancelled our hotel and decided we would try in the morning to source tires locally at another tire shop. At the very least, our trip up north was not to be this go around. Instead, we called Rob and Gina and they met us for a drink. We spent the evening with them, and they graciously hosted us overnight. Despite the demise of our first State Park trip, we had a lot of fun catching up with old friends!
Third lesson learned, sometimes we shrug in embarrassment when we tell people how many times we've moved around the state of Florida. Having lived all around means friends all around!
In the end, we left our truck at Costco (about 2 hours from our home) and they ordered the tires to be installed upon their arrival. We rented a car and went back home to plan our next (or really, our first) State Park adventure. Stay tuned, as we try this again.
Plans were set. As part of the Christmas gift of the Florida State Park passport book, there was a trip to the Amelia Island area of northeast Florida to celebrate our anniversary and hit a few of the parks. Part of what we learned as we sought to make plans, is people plan these kinds of trips down here to Florida in the winter months way in advance. Campsites were full and we would have to start our journey with day trips to the parks and hotel stays at night. In and of itself this is not a bad thing, some of the parks don't even have overnight camping. But we hope to fully experience many of the parks by camping there.
First lesson learned, start planning trips now for next year.
Thanks to the mega travel Laurie does for work, we secured a room in Fernandina Beach, on Amelia Island using free points! For those who may need a reference point, Amelia Island is a small island all the way at the northeast of Florida. It is about 30 miles from Jacksonville, and a bit more than 150 miles from Georgia.
The plan was to hit parks 64-66. Fernandina Plaza Historic Park (64), and Fort Clinch State Park (65), are both historic park sites. We planned to walk trails, experience the historic markers and reenactments, and picnic lunch. At Amelia Island State Park (66), we had reservations for a horseback ride on the beach and a full day of enjoying the other park amenities. It was to be a perfect anniversary weekend to start our State Parking journey.
We kicked off work early, and packed up our truck for the 5+ hour drive from Fort Myers to Fernandina Beach. We figured we would settle into our hotel and take a walk to a nearby restaurant for a quiet dinner. An early start in the morning would ensure a full day to enjoy the parks, so we had no wild and crazy plans for the evening. By 3:00 we were off and feeling good. We knew our trouble spots for traffic would be Sarasota and Tampa. By the time we got over to Jacksonville, rush hour would be long over. Skies were blue, and the sun was shining. So far, so good!And then...
We were all the way to the left lane on interstate 75, passing some slower traffic, and then a sudden pow! The truck bucked, and immediately we could feel the truck sink down off-kilter, as our front right tire blew out. No need to panic, Paul was still in control of the vehicle and we pulled off the shoulder to change the tire. Yeah, we had a spare. But, we bought the truck used less than a year ago and never thought to check the spare. It was there, but it was flat. We were stranded on the side of the highway, still more than 3 hours from our destination.
Second lesson learned, new to you doesn't mean new. Check the spare after you purchase a used car.
Still incredibly calm about the whole thing, we called roadside assistance through our insurance carrier, and they were very helpful. The problem was, it was fast approaching closing time for all the car repair and tire shops. Most of them were already closed at 5:00 and the remaining closed at 6:00. Short on time and on options, Paul remembered Costco! We confirmed they would still be open and we waited for our tow truck driver. And we laughed. And we talked about how years ago, at the beginning of our marriage, this would have had us in a tail spin. Instead, we just sat and made plans. Should we continue up for the rest of our trip? Would it even be worthwhile by the time we arrived? We considered various options and decided to play it by ear. We didn't know if the truck could be ready to go tonight or if we'd be delayed until the next day. We waited.
And when the tow truck driver called, and Paul confirmed our location, Laurie looked up at the sign and had a realization. "Hey isn't this where Rob and Gina live?" Sure enough, we had friends who lived nearby. They insisted they come out and get us. Gina would make dinner and they would drive us wherever we needed to go, or we could spend the night. We agreed to call them once we had a better idea of what was happening with the truck and the tires. Our tow arrived, and we piled in to the front seat and watched on a dashboard cam as he loaded our truck onto the rig. |
| Yikes! |
 |
| Pretty cool to watch as the sun set over our would-be trip. |
 |
| Florida, roadside. |
 |
| We really tried to keep our spirits high through it all. |
The journey continued as we arrived at Costco to find they could get us tires, but they would have to be ordered. Essentially, tires from Costco guaranteed the trip to Amelia Island was over. We cancelled our hotel and decided we would try in the morning to source tires locally at another tire shop. At the very least, our trip up north was not to be this go around. Instead, we called Rob and Gina and they met us for a drink. We spent the evening with them, and they graciously hosted us overnight. Despite the demise of our first State Park trip, we had a lot of fun catching up with old friends!
Third lesson learned, sometimes we shrug in embarrassment when we tell people how many times we've moved around the state of Florida. Having lived all around means friends all around!
In the end, we left our truck at Costco (about 2 hours from our home) and they ordered the tires to be installed upon their arrival. We rented a car and went back home to plan our next (or really, our first) State Park adventure. Stay tuned, as we try this again.
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