5 posts tagged “michael”
First, the money:
First Leg Total: $216
In-Rensselaer Stay: $350
Second Leg Totals: Fuel $85, $59, Food $26, Total: $170
Total Trip Total: $736
Yikes. There were some extras that I had to buy, like medicine and a CF card reader.
The weather was awful on Day 3. It wasn't the morning's snow that was the problem but the low visibility fog that consumed I-65 from Rensselaer to Lafayette. We arrived in Bardstown in the late evening but had a good, relaxing break with friends. I was able to make it to Cave City and, by choosing the Best Western, spent $30 less on a bigger, cleaner room, than previous accommodations on a previous trip.
I had promised the boys a Cracker Barrel breakfast so we had a great breakfast and then got moving. I was determined to get home so, at 2am on Tuesday, December 2nd, we pulled into the driveway. It was 64°F.
We arrived in Rensselaer at 4pm. I've got a room not too unlike the one that I had before, so I'll just repost that picture (Just imagine it smaller):
Things look pretty much the same in the area. I went to the CVS in town and got some medicine so hopefully I'll be able to go around a bit while I'm here. It was quite a task getting here with this cold beating on me. Michael's got a nastier bug that includes a fever... but there's just no way that he can't show up for this visitation. It's a shame. I can't wait to get these kids back home.
Daily Costs: Fuel $26, Hotel $51, Food $9. Total: $86
Total Trip Leg Cost: $216
Rensselaer Days 1 - 5 Hotel Cost: $255
We ran two hours behind schedule since my ex-husband decided to play games to an extent where the police had to help return the boys. It's both fortunate and unfortunate that this happens so often that the boys aren't intimidated by the police. It's just a regular thing for them. I thank God that the police in my ex-husband's town have always been very helpful and concerned.
We left at 5:30pm Eastern time. We stopped in Murfreesboro, Tennessee at 11pm at the Days Inn. I had a heck of a time trying to find a hotel with a double room. A Holiday Inn north of Nashville tried to sell me the same suite we ended up in at the Days Inn for over $100 (before tax). The room we had was still expensive and over-budget but I got it for $80 so hey.
We left the southern Nashville suburbs around 10am and got home at 11:30pm with an eighth of a tank left. It rained from southern Georgia all the way down to North Port. Traffic ran smoothly, for the most part, and we didn't have any of the delays that we had traveling north.
Fuel was more expensive. In northern Florida, it cost me $3.55/gal. That's the most I've ever paid in my life.
Food costs for the return trip total $25; Hotel cost: $92; Fuel: $160; Total Return Trip: $277
Total Travel Expenses: $497
Total Trip cost with expenses during the week, including top-up cards: $902
If I didn't have to top-up my phone twice to deal with the problems my ex-husband caused, I would have been below $850.
Tom's taken Michael and Eddie to the Florida International Air Show again this year. They'll be gone all day as long as the weather cooperates.
We left Cave City, KY at 8am and arrived in Rensselaer at 1pm. The time zone fluctuated between Central and Eastern so my times are all Eastern.
We had time to run back to Sayler Makeever Cemetery to get the micro geocache hidden there, run some audio and take photos. It was cold and the wind made it worse, but the road was solid and the ground was firm enough. The cemetery is amazing.
We got to McDonald's at the same time as my mother and she bought us lunch. She's also giving me $100 when she brings the boys back so I can make it home. I said I was short. I won't worry about getting home now but I look forward to losing some weight this week!
The hotel I'm staying at is a small, family-run operation that's clean and reasonably priced. I'm across from the big cemetery and a mile down the road from Rensselaer's historic district. I didn't feel like doing anything today after I'd done the Sayler Makeever Cemetery. I want to rest and I'll get to waymarking and photography tomorrow after Mass. I have until Friday.
My mother is taking Michael and Eddie to see Horton Hears a Who and she's spoiling them as usual. I told them not to take advantage of my parents since my kids tend to ask for the moon and, being proper grandparents, my parents will give it to them. Their father should pick them up tomorrow at noon and drop them back to my parents' house on Friday at noon. Here's hoping it's all uneventful.
My father-in-law is a piece of work. That's all I'll really say about that since his huffing and puffing doesn't change anything, but it's just irritating. I'm thankful that Tom is handling all that now.
The totals for this leg of the trip:
Yesterday's total of hotel, food and fuel: $187
Today's expenses: food - $8, fuel - $25; Total travel expenses for today: $33
Total northbound trip: $220
My six-day hotel stay cost $285 and food will average $25. I've already eaten today at 0 cost, thanks to my mother.
We left two hours behind schedule at 8:30am. This means we crossed the Florida border into Georgia at 12:30pm and finally crossed into Tennessee at 5:30pm. Tommy napped in the morning, in the afternoon and for an hour in the evening. When he woke up at 7:30pm, we stopped here at the Days Inn in Whitehouse, TN. I love the free wi-fi. Fuel has been more expensive, ranging from the low $3/gal area to the high $2/gal area. The hotel was a savings but not enough to compensate for the fuel increase. Food has also been a little more but not considerably so.
After so much napping, Tommy is wired and refuses to settle down in the room. It's much more exciting to open the same night-table drawer repeatedly, play in the curtains, try to open the door (!!!), and turn the a/c on and off. It's freezing outside and I know he'll have us freezing by morning.
Recently, I tried to list the various police departments who have stopped me for traffic violations. Not only did I completely forget a few but I also misplaced one department as being in northern Florida when it was in southern Georgia. Add this to realising that Martin Springs Baptist Church, a little church with a little cemetery that I photographed last week, was in unincorporated Marion County, Tennessee and not in Georgia. I conclude that I don't know where I am half the time!
No stops last trip and so far no stops this trip. The Georgia state patrol was heavily watching the Macon area again, but weren't biting at anyone going 80-90mph, which was my average speed through these three states.
Michael and Eddie should be returned to my mother at my parents' house tomorrow at noon Central time. Even though I'm two hours off schedule today, I have been meeting all my timeline goals and should be able to set things right on tomorrow to meet as the appropriate time.
My Groups
-
Freelance Photography Updated: 12 hours ago
-
Photography Updated: 12 hours ago
-
What's Cooking? Updated: 13 hours ago
Neighborhood
Explore friends, family, friends & family, or entire neighborhood.
