Our trip to Texas was fun, especially the Astros games we saw, but the ride there and back were pretty stressful. We had seven people in our car: me, my two brothers, my parents, our friend Asher from South Carolina, and my grandmother. We also brought our German Shepherd, Jade. Atop our 15-year-old car was a heavy luggage carrier with 100 pounds of stuff on the inside. We left North Carolina around 11 A.M. and we picked up Asher in Greenville at around 2:30 P.M.

Rolling along smoothly, we stopped at a gas station to get some snacks near the Georgia state line, but after we made our way further into the state, we saw something weird: a car that was completely on fire in the middle of a street we could see from the interstate. It was an extremely hot and humid day, about 100 degrees, but when we got into Atlanta, it rose to 108. With bumper-to-bumper traffic, we were stuck for about 30 minutes. 

For the whole trip so far, there had been bumps in the road. Because our car was so weighed down, every time we hit a rough spot, it was extremely loud. Our clunky van sounded as if it was falling apart. Scared to death, with each and every wallop Jade would try to get in my parents’ lap. Surprisingly, when we got to Alabama, the roads were nice and smooth, and there were only a couple bumps throughout the whole state. We thought we might have to drive through the night, but instead we decided to stop in Mobile, Alabama. 

Stopping around 11 P.M., we got the “best” hotel in the city. The hotel was quite trashy and smelled like marijuana, although the rooms were comfortable. In the morning we got up at 6:30 and packed our things back into the car and hit the road around 8.

After traveling for only about 45 minutes through Mississippi, we crossed over the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge at which we were about 7 or 8 hours away from Houston. We passed over a massive swamp called the Atchafalaya Swamp in Louisiana and whizzed by many flat plains before arriving in Texas. We stopped at the state welcome center for bathroom break and then kept driving since we still had a few hours to go. The roads in Texas were particularly shoddy, with potholes and uneven pavement every five minutes. Jade was not happy. Texas was the flattest place I have ever been to and there were barely any trees. Exhausted and a bit on edge, we finally made it to our Airbnb at around 3 P.M. and slept like rocks.

Six days later, we were ready to leave Texas, departing around noon. We stopped in Louisiana for lunch so dad could get boudin and had dinner in Mandeville with my cousin Casey and her husband Garret who live in New Orleans. We ate fried seafood and then got back on the road. In Greenville, Alabama, we spent the night at a motel, which was a little better than the hotel in Mobile.

Waking early the next morning, we made good time and dropped Asher off in South Carolina around 6 P.M. We arrived home at 11 P.M. and had a late dinner, then went to bed. We made great memories in Texas, especially at the baseball games, but the drive there and back was definitely not the best part, but it was worth it.