Outrunning a Snowstorm to Get to the Sunshine State

We could not have timed our vacation to visit Steve and Megan in Florida any better. For some time weather forecasts were predicting "plowable" snow for central Minnesota around the time we were to leave, and when we heard that Thursday the 11th would be the worst travel day, we decided to leave Wednesday afternoon and get ahead of it. When we left, temps were in the 30s but there was no snow yet, and as we drove through Wisconsin we were still in the clear. We had gotten very brave and decided to power through all the way to Florida, and Matt's overnight drive was almost entirely through rain, but at least we were getting closer to summer!

Our first stop was for dinner at a Subway/gas station in Eau Claire.


Karl was really excited to drive through the night, but I don't think it was as fun as he expected it to be.

Our rule for counting how many states you've been in is that you have to actually get out of the car and walk around. The last time we took a road trip down south, we inadvertently drove through Kentucky without stopping and Karl didn't get to count it. This time we made sure to stop in Kentucky so Karl could get out and add a state to his list, even though it was just at a gas station in the middle of the night.

Breakfast in Tennessee!

We stopped for lunch in Montgomery, where we had to change into shorts because of the sunny, 84° weather. Just a few hours later we made it to Niceville, where we started our week of summer fun! However, after 23 hours in the car, I neglected to take any pictures of Steve and Megan's gorgeous house. I did make a new Florida friend, though. This is their cute little dog, Mack.