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Day 12

Will this trip never end? I woke up this morning, late. Somewhere around 10:00. My grandmother insisted on making me pancakes, which were delicious, and we chatted for a bit. I left San Antonio around 11:00 or 11:30. The Ryder truck gets better gas milage, and has a bigger tank, so I can go almost twice as far on one tank of gas, and in about half the time!

I drove through Houston and Beaumont and entered Lousiana. About 30 miles outside of Lafayette, I hit traffic. The radio said there were a couple of big rigs overturned on I10. 2 hours and 30 miles later, I finally reached the scene of the accident. By this time, they had pretty much cleared it up. As a matter of fact, just as I reached the cop cars parked in the left lane, the police started to move back down the road to escort the last tow truck to carry the mangled big rig off the highway.

By this time, it had gotten dark, so I started to look for a place to stop for the night. I was only 44 miles from Baton Rouge, so I kept driving until I got there. I pulled in just barely within the city limits, on a road with a bunch of hotels and travel information. Just a few miles back down the highway, a trucker had passed me, motioning towards the back of my truck. I stopped on the side of the road, but I couldn't find anything wrong. As I reached the end of the off-ramp, I felt a thump and a tug from the back. I looked back, and my car was still there, so I pulled into the first parking lot.

I walked back to my car and found that the straps around the tires had come off and the car was being held on by the safety chains around the frame! The left front tire strap had worked itself around the axle. I tugged and fiddled and finally got all the straps free, then I went to remove the pin, which held the ramps up. I needed to lower the ramps so I could drive the car down and straighten it out, since it was now crooked on the tow dolly. The pin was stuck. As I was pulling at it, a trucker stopped by to ask if I needed help. After much deliberation, we finally decided that I should straighten the truck out and that might put the car in a better position. I did that, but the pin still would not release the ramps. But at least the car was straight, and the ramps aren't that high off the ground, so I just drove it off anyway.

Even with the car removed, the pin would not release the ramps. Something must be bent, but it was dark and raining, so we couldn't tell. So I drove the car back up the ramps, even though they were still a few inches off the ground. The trucker and I got the straps put back around the tires and cinched them securely. I re-chained the car and got back on the road.

I drove down the road to find the cheapest hotel. The Motel 6, at $34.99 was the cheapest. I got a room and ordered pizza. I know I'll get sick from the pizza dough, but I can't resist! I haven't had pizza in so long! Anyway, today went by much faster. It's much easier to travel when there's air conditioning! And Misty discovered the windshield wipers. She sat on the dash and batted at the wipers for quite a while.

She also discovered how comfortable the steering column was, but that didn't last very long. Most of the day, however, she decided that, now that there is no hot air and loud engine sounds coming from below my feet, my lap is the perfect place to spend the trip. She cuddled with me all day today. She was so adorable, with her paws all tucked up under her chin and her little head resting against my tummy. Just now, she's tearing the hotel room apart, scattering papers and chewing on the phone cord, trying to break into my pizza box. Time to go settle her down and get myself to sleep.

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