The Day I Gave Up Sugar

Narrowing. Harrowing. Spraying. Praying. Trees. Trucks. More Trucks. Mountains.  Fancy Gap. 


Oh my. It's the day after, and I'm still worn out. Not exactly sleepy, but tired. Bone tired. Weary. On Tues. morning, I left here at 4 am to drive to the Charlotte airport to leave my car and fly to Boston, via Detroit, all "stand-by". Did that. Met my sister and got in her car and we started driving back to Charlotte. She is moving here, and I offered to do the trip with her. (husband comes later) I had my triptik and GPS, a few clothes and was excited to do a road trip with this sister. 
By 7 pm, we needed to call it a day. I used my GPS (more than my tour book) and tried to find a place to lay our weary heads...and the rest of our bodies! GPS (I'll call Milli) gave me names of non-regular places...Bob and Betty's Bed and Breakfast and Salvation Army Camp and other camps and camping areas. Where was Day's Inn? Hampton Inn? I finally called the main Hampton Inn number after being told several times by local Inns that they were full. Why couldn't they tell me BEFORE they asked me how many people/nights, that sort of stuff? There was no room. Period. Me alone. Me with my sister. It shouldn't matter. Either you have a room or not. But the worst, was when the Hampton Man asked me if I wanted to stay in "Downtown Pennsylvania". I told him Pennsylvania was a state and there was NO downtown in a state. When you are tired, hungry, and in a strange area, you are not in the mood for this kind of talk.
Got a room in Easton, PA at the Quality Inn. Not quite Allentown, and not quite the Hampton Inn,  but we were out of NJ and that had been our goal. No energy for supper, so ate peanuts, Nabs, and drank water. Sleepy time. Beds felt good.
Wed. we were on the road by 7. Rarin' to get on our way. After the first hour or two, it began to rain. No storming, but the kind that made trucks kick up a blinding spray every time they passed. There were many trucks. There was much passing. I didn't feel 70 mph was appropriate for winding, unfamiliar roads covered with many, many trucks, so I did get passed.
I'm usually a fast driver, but this was not the scene for that. No eating a sandwich while driving. No answering the cell phone. Hands on the wheel. Serious driving and holding my own with the steady hard-driving traffic. 
We were on I-81 headed for I-77, not  routes I'd driven before. I'll tell you straight up, I'd been concerned about the mountainous driving and had been told the alternative, I-95, was way worse. Too much traffic.
I honestly, don't remember just where (WV or VA) but the terrain and the construction area made me very nervous, almost terrified, but I didn't tell my sister. I didn't want to spook her out. I had sweaty hands and feet, and I just held on to the steering wheel for dear life. After a bit, I thought, "whew, maybe I'd passed the worst" and began to relax a bit. Then when I felt sort of relieved, I asked my sister to read the description on the Triptik page and it sounded smoothed-out and I had made it through the bad part. Then she mentioned "Fancy Gap" and I just about screamed "NOT Fancy Gap!!??" and she replied, "Yeah, it's right here on the map." I then asked if the green marker went through Fancy Gap. "No, it's a little to the right." I think I then told her I'd read online where people said "Don't go through Fancy Gap." Then I saw a sign that said something about trucks needing to go to a lower gear for the next seven (7) miles and I knew. This must be Fancy Gap, and I was stuck.
We started the descent and she said, "Go as slowly as you want," and I thought it was because of the trucks, rain, and steep road. Next thing I knew her hands were grabbing the sides of her seat, and she told me to Slow Down. We never mentioned the truck run offs. Scary in itself! I kept seeing the signs.."For the next 6 miles"...For the next 5 miles" ...and I'd think I made it through one more, all the time holding on with all I had. By the time we'd passed 3 grassy sloped run-offs up huge banks, and reached the bottom, and saw a rest stop, I pulled in. I wanted to stand on solid ground and cry! I was a mess. She said she didn't know whether to throw up or cry or do both. I got out of the car. I didn't know what to do. I looked around at the other people at the stop, and they seemed "normal." My sister and I just sat there practically screaming, "What was THAT???"
As our adrenaline settled and we got back on the road, I thought, "Boy, I want some coffee ice cream!" and then began to realize that from now on, I'm going to have to come up with something besides food at stressful times. Drat!I (Earlier in the day I'd used my sister's decision to give up sugar several weeks ago as the incentive for me to do the same.) Well, on this final section of driving home, we did a lot of laughing and I probably acted like a spoiled kid as I realized carrots and even fruit  do not have the same appeal at times like this. What a revelation.


Well, I accomplished this harrowing drive/ride, and I didn't eat as much as a piece of candy on the whole trip. 
And that's the story of the day I gave up sugar.