#triptoflorida

We arrived at the Hampton Inn Daytona/Ormand Beach having traveled 127 miles since our charge in Kingsland. I believe we used 149 miles of charge (accurate documentation of mileage was a low priority at this point as we were keeling over from exhaustion) resulting in about 1.17 charge miles used per road miles.

We plugged in to the destination charger. There was only 1 and even though we were there late it was open (winning!). I walked the Black Dread while the Child and Wife brought stuff up to the room. There was very little grass and while it was tempting to walk her near the culvert, I refrained. Gator wrestling was not at the top of my list of things to do right then, plus I was trying to keep the Black Dread quiet. As we headed to our room I mentioned how it would have been nice to walk the Black Dread there. Wife quickly commented that the employee at the desk warned her not to walk the dog near water. Glad I had my wits about me.

Now this is only the second time the Black Dread has been in a hotel and this time we are on the second floor. This is also a much nicer hotel than the Hyatt Place we stayed at in VA. The Black Dread was very good. She navigated the elevator (couldn’t find the stairs, sigh). She didn’t panic when a guy popped out of his room. In fact, she didn’t even bark. In retrospect, I think she was sandwiched between the Wife and I so tightly she didn’t have a chance to bark. We ended up getting her in the room with only minor, under-her-breath woofs and chuffs. Good dog! Now if we back up a few moments, the Child had gone ahead up to the room ahead of us and when we tried to open the door we couldn’t because she put the deadbolt on. While I appreciate her view on safety, we were not keen on standing in the hallway with a reactive dog. Needless to say, some muttered curses were uttered as we waited for her to open the door.

Black Dread update – once she figured out we had not reached our final destination and just a pitstop, she decided she wanted to get back into the car. I forced her to walk around. She barked at all the dogs and one sketchy guy (good dog).

Child update – Moved from the car and removed the tissue first. Now engrossed in social media and who is dying their hair what color. Ah, to be a kid again. Major worries of life.

Wife update – She is still driving and since the traffic is waning she is now trying out Ruby’s autopilot. She really likes that it keeps her a specific distance from the car in front of her, in the middle of the lane and if she is not going her desired speed it will identify the lane which will allow her to travel at that speed. She can then select to move over by using her turn signal. Once she does that, the car changes lanes. The one thing you need to be aware of is that when the lanes are wide due to on ramps, off ramps, toll booths or merging, the car will try to put you in the middle. It does this even if the lane will be ending. It can’t see that far. You still need to pay attention and adjust the steering. I personally wouldn’t use it unless I was going to be in the middle lane for a while.

The weather is improving. No rain, but windy 10 mph from the South. Got to love headwinds, NOT.