Florida Bound

 Day 11 Thursday 12/14/2017  The usual. Feed the dogs walk the dogs and feed Spike 20 gallons of diesel. Got up at 6:40 but didn't get on the road until 8:00. 

  Got through Memphis no problem except I missed my turn. That wasn't the worst of it as there was a slightly longer route. The problem was fuel. I tried to get into three different places but the truck/trailer combo was too long. Finished up my self imposed detour and got on I-22 to Birmingham. After having wasted almost an hour on the detour and fueling fiasco, I found a real truck stop. A good thing too. I had only about 80 miles of fuel left and B'ham was over 90 miles away.

  Had Summer try to contact my cousin to no avail.  When I got to Birmingham, I called my high school buddy, Melvin. He lived between B'ham and Montgomery. I told him that I'd be along at about 6:00 for our first meeting since 1963. When I got to his house he and his wife were very gracious. They offered me dinner and shelter for the evening but I declined. I declined because she would have been cooking only for me and because I traveling with two dogs. They have a very nice pet free home that in which I didn't want any accidents occurring. Also, I was anxious to get on the road tomorrow as early as possible. I'm about 6-7 hours from my destination and I want to sleep in a bed that isn't on the floor tomorrow night.

  Returned to I-65 and drove down to the Jemison exit and got off the highway. There were several trucks parked in a vacant lot next to the Burger King. They have gravy and biscuits for $1.99. I know what I'm having for breakfast.

  Dinner consisted of a sandwich topped with several slices of chicken breast topped with Vidalia onion and pepper jack cheese. Dessert was several ginger snaps.