Expedition 2 blog A.C. Berry 2-7-12

We left the 23^rd of January to make our initial decent into the Florida Keys. We had to split up the driving because it would have been about a 21 hour drive. If we did it in one we would have all be really tired and would have had short fuses towards each other. Also we had the boat to take down too so that took up some more time. The first day of driving went very well. All of us behaved very well in the van. That night we set up camp in 20 minutes. For us that’s really good especially after a long day in the car.   So that was the first day. The second day was the best and the funniest and everything you wouldn’t expect to happened.

The second day we had a very late start. We were supposed to leave at 7:30 and we left at 9:45. So things were not looking too good already. We were probably on the road for about two hours when the next bad thing happened. One of our tires on the boat trailer blew out. A trucker passing us noticed it which we were lucky because that tire was demolished. So we had to all get out on the side of the road and wait while the staff figured out what to do. The staff decided to let Richard take the van and go and get a new tire. They called AAA but they never showed up, so Richard had to drive 20 miles to the nearest city to get a spare tire while we were on the side of the road reading about scuba and playing some games. Now it is about 1:30 and Richard shows up with the van and the other tire. Keep in mind we had to drive ten hours. We had lunch about ten miles up the road. We got back to driving about 3:30. Two hours later we stopped at this little county called Yee Haw Junction. Dan and I stayed with the boat while the rest of the group went to go and get a spare tire. Those people are so funny. Like if you guys have ever seen Hee Haw they were like that but 20 times better. They were some of the southern boys and girls that you hear about. Their Moto is to help everyone that comes in. They were ready to go home when we pulled in. so instead of going home they stayed and extra hour and a half to make sure we were safe and secure to go. So far we had driven about three hours. We finally got back on the road around eight. That was already a long day but not to mention we had to drive another six hours. So we finally got to camp about two in the morning. We had to set up camp. This was kind of difficult with a bunch of kids that were cranky and on their meds that make them tired and sleepy.

Wow what a crazy two days, right? I mean that right there is an expedition in itself. Instead of ending on the negative tire situation I am going to talk about a funny thing that happened to me when we were tubing. So I and Josh K were the first ones on the tube. Let me just say we are the two biggest guys. We were doing ok behind the boat until we hit a wave and I held on but Josh K ate it. Of course my reaction was to laugh but I had mine coming. So Josh K got back on the tube and we started to go really fast and Richard hit this epic wake and I was hanging on the side never to give up. But I wish I should have because my pants just got ripped really badly. I mean it was embarrassing but totally funny. J