On Michigan license plates and Atlanta traffic

Today could be summed up in three words: Traffic, traffic, traffic.

It's hard to believe anyone is left in Michigan after all the southbound Michigan license plates we saw today driving through Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. Tonight we are landed in Perry, Georgia at the Fair Harbor Recreational Vehicle Park.

Folks here are very friendly and our neighbor and his wife are full time RVers who travel and live out of their very nice fifth wheel. I took some pictures late of the campground, which are included here.

Mostly today we battled traffic. Fortunately, for the first five hours of the trip we moved along pretty well with the flow of traffic. By far, our unscientific survey indicated that there were more Michigan plates on I-75 headed south than even the license plates of the home states where we were traveling.

Then came Atlanta. Our laziness this morning, sleeping in and all, didn't get us on the road until 9:30 a.m. which dropped us into the heart of Atlanta at 3:30 p.m. It appeared that along with all the southbound spring breakers, everyone working in Atlanta left work a little early to start that Good Friday/Easter holiday just a little early.

It took us more than 90 minutes to go 20 miles. All morning I was drafting a truck and was conserving fuel (which in our case means getting 11-12 miles per gallon, instead of 9-10). So I was feeling pretty good about stretching our final gas stop to a station at mile marker 201, instead of the original Flying J stop at exit 276 in Georgia.

By the time we got through traffic we arrived at exit 201 on fumes. The clanging of the low fuel alarm and the computer message that my estimated travel range was not in miles but a bright flashing "Low Fuel" light left me sweating bullets those last couple miles.

The Tahoe has a 26 gallon tank, we took on 24.3 gallons. So the stop was not a moment too soon, and thanks to that trucker early in the day for cutting through the wind and helping me to conserve some valuable fuel.

I got a little rise out of Joan when I suggested we stop at a large warehouse like store in Georgia that was called "Adult Superstore." I tried to convince Joan it was a Walmart like store that didn't allow children, but she wasn't buying it.

We're planning on getting up and out a little earlier tomorrow so we don't fall into the same trap tomorrow. Tonight we're thinking about the Easter weekend and what it all means.

Starting mileage and time: 30796 - 9:35 a.m.

Ending mileage and time: 31224 - 6:25 p.m.

Tomorrow: Vero Beach, Florida. Talk to you then.