Alabama

After my panic attack over the empty gas tank debacle; I checked the gas gauge every few minutes on Tuesday. I would be listening to CODE by Kathy Reichs and Brendan Reichs and then I would feel the panic creep back in.
Birmingham to Savannah is about a six hour drive but it took longer because there was a huge traffic jam in Atlanta. A stretcher was being pulled to a person in a pickup truck and the other car, which was facing against traffic, looked liked an accordion. The accident had been moved to the left side of the road but rubberneckers were drastically slowing traffic.

I also stopped to get Krystal Burgers for lunch. If you have never heard of Krystal Burgers they are kind of like White Castle Burgers but with more grease.

Other than that it was a pretty boring drive. Interstate driving is really great for listening to books. I set my cruise control and pressed play. The only thing to look at along this drive are trees and other cars.
However, my body felt completely different. By the time I got to my room in Savannah I could barely move; my body was sore and I was extremely sleepy. I crashed on the bed and slept for five hours! It was FRACKING AWESOME. I really needed that nap.

By the time I woke up it was too late to do anything so I just went back to bed. Yep, I spent my first night in beautiful Savannah, Georgia asleep in bed.

I was on the road by 9 Monday morning and made it to Birmingham, AL by 6:30PM. All I did was sit in a car and set the cruise control; so, I can’t figure out why I am so exhausted. It’s not like I was doing manual labor or anything.

My trip was uneventful. I made a quick stop in Northeast Louisiana to visit my grandmother and grabbed a late lunch of chicken-n-dumplings at Cracker Barrel in Meridian, MS.

I was listening to the audiobook CODE by Kathy Reichs and Brendan Reichs about 20 miles outside of Birmingham when I realized my gas tank was on empty and I had no idea how long it was like that. The Distance to Empty (DTE) feature said eight miles. I wasn’t sure what to do. I have never run out of gas before and I had no clue how far it was to the next gas station. The DTE blinked seven miles then it just started blinking dashes.

This was pretty much my train of thought at that moment: “Dashes?! What the hell does that mean? Am I running on fumes? Will the truck start to sputter and slowly roll to a stop like in movies? Will my power steering and brakes still work? I’ll turn off the air conditioning to save gas. What if someone hits me from behind? Does running out of gas mess up the engine? I need to get in the slow lane so I can pull over just in case. Could you go any slower 18-wheeler? Get the hell out of my way. I can’t see the signs! Who do I call to bring me gas? Should I try walking to a gas station to get the gas myself? I can’t do that someone might take my stuff. How long will I have to wait in my car before someone can bring me gas? Is running out of gas a 911 call or more of an information call? I wonder what other people do when they run out of gas? What if someone pulls over and offers to help? Should I say no because they could secretly be a serial killer or rapist? Or should I say yes and keep my distance so they can’t reach me? Oh look there’s a sign with a help number on it for stranded drivers. Why does it start with an asterisk? YES! AN EXIT WITH A GAS STATION! Come on truck. Just a little further. WAIT, WHAT THE HELL? WHY ARE THERE BAGS ON ALL THE GAS NOZZLES? NOOOO!! YOU CAN’T BE BROKEN! OHHH, WAIT THERE’S ONE WITHOUT A BAG! GET OUT OF MY WAY OLD LADY THIS ONE IS MINE! I MADE IT!!!! Fill her up!