As we rolled our eyes and claimed it was ‘just one of those days’ for the fifth or sixth time on our journey, you would think despair would be the leading emotion of the day. But no, the enthusiasm of our troops and team did not falter! After taking off late, being deemed ‘suspicious’ by security, flying in a lightning storm (pretty yes, but pretty scary too) and having our luggage left in sunny Detroit, we still had the tingle of anticipation surging through us as we finally left Florida airport in the wee small humid hours of this morning.
(It should be noted now that for some of us this tingle was artificially enhanced by the first American “wonder” we came across, sickly sweet Strawberry Fanta.)
This tingle developed into exhausted hysterics quickly as we found ourselves down the ‘Deaf Child’ dirt track and realised google maps were not our friends on our quest for a Wallmart. But following a quick U-ee and a sneaky peak at the GPS we found our way, and our other two cars, and reached the glowing beacon of hope (and more importantly, sustenance) that is the Wallmart store. Say what you will about its ethics, comment and snear at the ridiculous ‘in store MacDonalds’, but I defy you not to smile at such a wonder as miles of 24 hour food aisles after an 18 hour journey of mishaps and ‘bumpy weather’ (a lovely american euphemism for turbulence almost as sugary as the soda).
So stocked up and slightly sleepy we embarked on our final stretch to the hotel. The massive cars proved less terrifying than originally thought and the fine selection of excitable cheesy music got us through. The savoured american culinary delights such as beef jerky, pretzels and woodland mix, and learnt probably the most important lesson of the day, nay, the entire journey, that Hershee’s chocolate really is *that* bad.
And now the new day begins, the donuts and waffles lie waiting for us to munch on and the dusty road to Sebastian River High School beckons.
Let’s hope America is ready for us!