Day 1: Largo, FL to Clarksville, TN

This day is our longest, estimated to be about 12 hours. We leave at 5:30 in the morning; it’s still dark so I can’t see the water as we cross the Howard Franklin bridge that takes you from the peninsula to mainland. The cats seem to be doing well. Maybe it’s because we left so early and it was dark out so there wasn’t that much to scare them. Jack (the 20 pound, white and gray cat) just finds a place to settle down. Malibu is a bit more jumpy. While she’s not meowing a lot or panting (which has been her move in the past) she moves around trying to find a way out. She did make a valiant attempt when she stepped on the switch to open the window. We then ride the rest of the trip with the child-safety locks on. But overall they’re doing well.

We started listening to a Tom Clancy book-on-CD. Tom Clancy may write very good books. But I do NOT recommend listening to them on CD. It is extremely hard to follow. So after a couple-hours attempt, we gave up and started Hemmingway “To Have and To Have Not.” Much better.

This drive is familiar for both my Dad and me. My Granny lives in Tennessee and I went to college in Virginia, so this part of the drive is basically autopilot. My Dad drives the entire way because he doesn’t want to deal with the cats when they decide it’s time to move around again. We stopped in Clarksville, TN and stayed at an Econo Lodge that is fairly gross, but had good pizza at Old Chicago.