Originally published: 1/23/2018 | 12:00pm
This is a story that I have been wanting to share for some time now. I have been wanting to tell you about a unique road trip to Alabama that I took with one of my older sisters and my nephew. My sister needed to bring my nephew to stay with his grandparents for Christmas, but did not want to drive back alone. She explained this to our dad and volunteered me to go along with her. I was just finishing up my third semester of college and he thought it would be a great sibling bonding opportunity for us. We all agreed that this would be a good idea, so I began preparing for the trip.
To give some more background to the story, we took this trip as an Arctic front was making its way into the southern United States one week before Christmas in 2016. My sister and I thought this would be a good opportunity to visit other places, such as Atlanta, that would normally be too hot to visit during the summer. My dad said that we should take my Ford F-150 because it was larger than my sister's car and got superb gas mileage. I thought this would be great because it did not have very many miles on it, so taking an extended drive into Atlanta would be just fine. So, after a 12-hour delay due to my sister's work schedule, we hit the road.
Since we took my truck, I drove the first half of the trip because I was familiar with the vehicle and driving through Louisiana. As I pulled out of the driveway, my dad's face was a mask of nervous regret. He realized that the weather would be getting worse as the Arctic front came through and 2 of his children would be driving in unfavorable conditions. I was excited about the road trip and did my best to assure him that we would be alright.
As we made our way into Louisiana a couple of hours later, my nephew announced that he was hungry. I told my sister we could stop at Wendy's in Lafayette, but she shouldn't get a large meal. We were about 15 minutes or so away from a small town called Breaux Bridge. I explained to her that there is a restaurant/convenience store/RV park spot call Poche's that had delicious food and they were about to start serving dinner. It is located 2 miles off of Interstate 10 and its the perfect spot for enjoying some of Louisiana's best dishes. I stop here almost every single time I am in Louisiana and have been going for my entire life. I highly recommend it if you ever have a chance to go!
Once I finished driving through Louisiana, my sister took over driving the rest of the way to Birmingham. We arrived late and immediately went to bed. I woke up to my sister telling me that our dad wanted us to come back home right away because the weather was going to be too bad to drive in. We chose to eat breakfast and lunch first before packing our bags and leaving. My stressed out father was upset when he called and learned that we had just gotten in the car a few hours after he wanted us on the road. My sister drove through the worst part of the Arctic front before we stopped for dinner at a Waffle House in Louisiana. It was my first time going to one, and it was delicious! I took over driving from that point and we made it back home just before midnight.
My father called us a few times as we drove through Louisiana to tell us what town we should be driving through at that moment. He was very accurate because he has driven this type of road trip numerous times. Once we got home, he was fully dressed as he sat on the couch intensely watching The Weather Channel. The road trip that was partially his idea had stressed him out so much. However, he was happy to hear that we stopped at the places he had taken me to for years and enjoyed good food along the way. So, what message am I trying to send with telling this story? I just want you to know that if you are on a road trip: 1) do not go during an Arctic front; 2) stop at the little places in Louisiana if you ever have to pass through on a road trip because they always have tasty food! Story time is over, but I'll have more to share about my other travel adventures in my next post. Until then, Happy Travels!
Feel free to leave comments below, tweet (@KimiThoughts), or leave a post/message on Facebook (@KimisTravelThoughts) and share your road trip memories or to ask me any questions about the road trips that I have taken.
