I don’t know if the first time I drove down this stretch of highway about 11 years ago I knew just how intimately I would come to know this “interstate” that’s really an intrastate highway. It’s the tether to Adriene’s parents and a life-line to free weekends on the beach and free babysitting these days. I’m starting to learn the ins and outs of the highway. I know that Dublin is the first place to stop for gas and food and Metter is the last place to stop. I know where the speed traps are. I know it feels like one of the last places on earth with no billboards or lights at night.
That’s usually when I’m on that stretch of road. Night, that is. We usually head down to Savannah on a Friday afternoon and by the time we get out of Atlanta and through Macon, the sun has set. By then, the girls have nodded off to sleep and the car is quiet. (We learned this weekend that Viva La Vida soothes the girls to sleep. We’re bringing Coldplay’s whole discography on our next car trip.) It’s a welcome change from the chaos of I-75 out of Atlanta which is always crowded and invariably has some wreck that backs up traffic for miles at some point. I-16 on the other hand is two lanes of open highway.
I used to hate I-16 because it was so boring, flat, and void of cars, gas stations, houses, or really anything, but during the last couple of trips I started to grow an affection for it. I don’t get a lot of opportunities to let my mind wander and just drive anymore. Before we had children we used to go on lots of trips in the car, talk about life, listen to music and watch the scenery slide by, but those chances don’t happen as much anymore. With the torrid pace of life lately, I’ve learned to enjoy the late night drives through the night where all I have to worry about is keeping the car between the lines.