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Ellie
Only a hundred more miles to Atlanta, Georgia—my destination—and that’s when the rain begins. And by rain, I mean a deluge.
Great.
Flipping the wipers on in my silver Jaguar XF, a generous gift from my professional hockey player brother, Arden, I mutter, “This sucks.”
I’m not a fan of driving in the rain on the interstate, especially when it’s dark out. I had a bad experience once when I was driving in a storm and started to spin out. I regained control before anything really bad happened, but it’s still something I don’t like to think about.
This rain, though, brings it to the forefront of my thoughts, and, swallowing hard as I try to calm my racing heart, I slow down to below the speed limit.
Yeah, that’s better.
But really, I think it’s time to pull over.
Focusing solely now on getting off the road to wait out what is turning into a wicked thunderstorm, I flip on the blinker, ease my car over into the far-right lane, and take the next exit.
I’m lucky I’m just outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee, as I’ve been passing exit after exit. That’s why it was easy to just take this one. If this storm had blown up in northern Georgia, exits would have been few and far between. I probably would have been forced to stay on the highway for a while.
Ugh!
Shuddering at that ominous thought, I drive down the exit lane and slow to a stop.
The traffic light swinging in the wind is red, so I have a minute to consider my options.
Okay, so there’s a big gas station/convenience store located directly across the street. And there’s a hotel on my left.
Let’s see…
Well, I’m good on gas and snacks, and, since this appears to be only a passing storm, I won’t be checking in anywhere for the night.
The hotel is out, but there’s always food. I can easily grab a bite to eat at one of the many restaurants I see listed on the sign to my right. And—bonus!—I may be able to catch some of Arden’s first game of the season.
My brother plays for the Atlanta Thunder, and their matchup tonight is against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It’s the first game of the season for both teams and is being broadcast nationally. I tried to tune it in earlier on the car stereo, but all of the local stations were only playing music. And unfortunately, I let my Sirius XM subscription lapse, so the NHL channel was not an option.
I’m still disappointed about that, as it should be a good game. The Lightning are the team that knocked the Thunder out of the first round of the playoffs this past spring.
Speaking of thunder and lightning, I hear an ominous rumble gathering steam. That sound becomes more like a damn freight train closing in as the sky around me lights up.
I better find a place to stop…and fast.
The restaurants listed on the sign appear to be mainly fast-food joints. But as I squint to see through the rain that’s really pounding down now on my windshield, despite the wipers being on high, I spy a small sports bar tucked away behind the far side of the gas station, the one just across the street.
Perfect.
The light finally turns green, and I drive straight ahead to my destination. Of course, I hit a giant puddle along the way that sprays the sides of the car.
Yeah, didn’t see that one.
Slowing down, I head into the sports bar parking lot.
I’m pumped when I notice there’s a space right in front of the building, as the wooden overhang on the roof will shelter me from the rain. The parking lot is not exactly busy and bustling with people clamoring for places to park, but you bet your ass I pull into that open space so fast it’s not even funny.
The rain is still pouring down furiously as I turn off the car. I have an umbrella in the trunk, but my suitcases are piled high on top of it. In the time it would take me to dig it out, I’m sure I’d get soaked.
May as well just hop out and sprint the few feet to get under the overhang.
That’s what I do, but I still get a little wet. Good thing I have on a short trench coat over my jeans and navy blue boatneck top, as all in all I’m not too bad off.
