I’m making the drive up to the State Hospital in Chatahoochee to see my mother this weekend. I’m not worried that the 12 hours in a car will do me much harm, but the exposure to germs gives me pause. Still, it’s been five months since I’ve seen my mother. I simply can’t stay away any longer.
I haven’t checked the weather yet, but it could be interesting. Chatahoochee is practically on the “mainland” (considering Florida is like a giant sandbar). There’s a lot of cold air that doesn’t make this far south (with the warming effect of the Gulf of Mexico), so it can be as much as twenty degrees colder in the panhandle (north Florida). A twenty degree swing to a Floridian is enough to declare a state of emergency, so I’m planning to pack my parka.
I feel like I’m planning a trip to Europe. I haven’t done much more than sit at home and go to work for so long that even a little road trip feels like an epic adventure.
Note: Tally is state employee speak for our capital, Talahassee, which is the nearest city to Chatahoochee with a hotel (situated as it is in the middle of nowhere – I believe the technical term is “boondocks”).