Jeremy’s mom (Anik) lives in Clear Lake, Texas, a large community south of Houston that’s perhaps best known as the home of NASA’s Johnson Space Center. She’s been largely isolated for just about a year (thank you, COVID) and it was long past time for a visit. So, once we’d gotten the boat largely ready to move aboard and moved completely out of the house we’ve been staying in, it was time to hit the road.

1386 miles.

We’ve toyed with the idea of converting our Toyota Sienna minivan for a while. (No, it didn’t get done in time for this trip. Have you noticed the sheer number of projects on our plate?) Stashing the old boat cushions and the boat fridge in the back of the van was a bit of a no-brainer; we’re not comfortable staying in hotels with the pandemic still raging on, so if our plan of driving straight through didn’t pan out, we wanted to be able to sleep in relative comfort. Our general MO for road trips is to pack a cooler with nibble-style food, plus water, so there are no real food stops required (unless we want something hot!)

8 states. 3 gas stops. 2 drive thrus. Endless crackers with curried chicken salad. We made it!

Some highlights.

Virginia: I-95/ I-85. rainy weather, grey skies, surprising traffic at 5:45 am.

North Carolina: I-85. Only solo restroom stop (the others were combined with refueling of the car.) About 75% mask compliance. Clear skies.

South Carolina: I-85. The first of 4 states in a row with no open rest areas. Surprisingly not in Georgia, this roadside peach water tower was very detailed.

Georgia. I-85. The electronic message boards over the highway made it clear that Georgia is rocking it on vaccine availability. Clever way of getting the word out! (By the way. Atlanta’s traffic reputation? Solidly earned. Makes Northern Virginia traffic look like a walk in the park.)

Alabama. I-85/I-65/I-10. OMG the longest state. It was in Alabama that the billboards for lawyers cropped up. But we’re finally on 1-10!

Mississippi. I-10 (plus a side road or two). We detoured a bit to go through Ocean Springs, where we’d spent some lovely time back on our first cruise, and Biloxi, just because it was close. Had to pick up a WhataBurger (Texas fast food chain) for dinner and got gas for the final time of the trip. Zero mask wearing at the gas station, not by customers nor by store staff. We were very happy to move on.

Louisiana. I-10. A lot of I-10 in Louisiana is elevated over the bayous, making for some really gorgeous and different scenery. At about 11 pm (now in Central Time), we started looking for a place to crash for a few hours; apparently 18 hours of driving is about our limit. Luckily, the Atchafalaya Welcome Center popped up! What a find. Separate parking areas for 18-wheelers and the rest of us, a security booth, airy open restrooms, and a quiet place just off the freeway. We stretched out in our makeshift bed and slept until sunrise.

Texas. I-10/TX 146/smaller roads. Road quality tanked at the border. Speed limit jumped from 70 to 75. We saw one oil derrick, endless billboards for Adult Stores and personal injury lawyers, and lots and lots of oil refineries. Eagerly anticipating seeing the storage lot under the Kemah Bridge where we’d first laid eyes on Calypso 29 years ago, we were shocked to see only construction debris. They’re building a new bridge and have flattened a lot of Seabrook that was along 146.

We’ll be here for a couple of weeks, helping Anik with some projects and generally spending time with her. Then it’s back to the boat for more crunch time!