The TS9 is in the books. It was my first road trip with Marlene and it went well. It was an auto trip rather than an RV trip, without pets, so it was simpler than most of my trips. It was 8 nights (down from the planned 9 nights due to cutting a day out of Charlotte) and 4 of those nights were guests of family, so only 4 nights were spent in hotels.
By the numbers:
- 9 days, 8 nights, 5 hops, 1,790 route miles (358 miles per hop).
- 75 extra miles, mostly in the New York City area.
- 53.5 gallons of fuel consumed in 1,865 miles (35.0 miles per gallon).
- Total fuel cost: $187.33 ($3.50 per gallon).
- Total hotel cost: $666.42 ($166.61 per night).
Highlights:
- Seeing New York City through the eyes of a woman who has never been there.
- Meeting Marlene’s son and his family in GA.
- Seeing Jett’s sons and their families in VA.
- Winning $96 at the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa.
Lowlights:
- Going to the wrong hotel in Charlotte. I still don’t know how I could have made that mistake.
Planned and actual routes:
The only significant changes were on Hop 1 (going over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge instead of a mor direct, inexpensive route) and Hop 3 (doing Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park instead of a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway further south).