Mental Health Charity Lyft Drive Day 7: 930 miles Ohio to Mississippi
- Today (June 29):
- Miles Driven: 930
- Cities: 4
- Time Taken: 17 hours
- Total:
- Miles Driven: 4555
- Cities 28
- Time Taken: 100.5 hours
- Read more about my trip across 65 Lyft cities here:
- How you can support or donate:
I had a rough morning today. It was about 55F overnight and I was just sleeping in my car with shorts on. I woke up around 4:30am was just absolutely freezing. Part of the problem was that I haven’t been eating a lot during this whole trip. I usually grab something small to eat at each stop but no full meals and I try to avoid junk food as well. I estimate I may be eating only about 1000 calories a day.
Luckily, my wife had me pack a blanket so I grabbed that and covered myself with it. I also turned on the heat in the car to try to warm myself up. After about 30 minutes, I was still cold and unable to sleep so I started driving. I did feel better with the heat on maximum. I ran low on gas about an hour later so I stopped for gas and then a meal at iHOP. Even when I went into the restaurant, I was still freezing so I knew something was wrong. I finally felt better after having some coffee and food, so I think I was just hungry. After my meal, I got really sleepy so I got another few hours of sleep in my car before heading down to Indianapolis.
I got down to Indianapolis for the morning rush hour. I got a ping on my way into the city so I had to drive a few miles to pick up the passenger. It turned out to be a really short trip. Normally, I would hate these kind of trips as it is very inefficient, but these types of trips was very efficient for my road trip. It reduced my wait time for a ping and made my overall trip shorter since I don’t have to drive into the city center.
Before I knew it, I was on my way to Louisville. I got there by midday and got another ping some distance from the middle of the city. It was another longer pickup but she was only about 10 minutes away. I pulled up to a chiropractor office and she had a nursing scrubs on. She later told me that she was a nursing assistant (that didn’t work there) and that she goes to the chiropractor three times a week now because of her recent car accident. She was in the process of getting a new car, hence needed to use Lyft to get around.
After Louisville, I headed down to Nashville. It was a long drive down to Nashville and I made it there around 5pm. I got a ping from north of the city, before I even got close to Nashville. I dropped off the passenger at a mall but then I realized I should get something to eat here so I wouldn’t need to stop twice. I got some brisket at a bbq stand and it was quite good. My next stop was to look for moonshine. I eventually went to a large liquor store south of Nashville and picked up a bottle of peach moonshine (with peaches in it) and a smaller jar of apple pie moonshine.
I was then on my way to Memphis, which would be my last city for the day. I got there around 9pm and found Beale street to be really busy for a Wednesday night. I parked nearby to get a ping, and surprisingly got a ping from a few blocks away and it wasn’t on Beale street. I picked up a soon to be medicine intern. She just graduated from medical school a few weeks ago and was starting her residency Friday. She already had a few drinks and was just going to her friends place a mile away. She was very excited to hear about my charity drive and that she was my one passenger in Memphis. She gave me a few extra dollars as a donation.
After the last dropoff, I would be heading down to New Orleans. If you check the distance, it is about 400 miles. There would be no way I would be getting to New Orleans on this drive so I had planned to stop somewhere in the middle. I made it as far as Jackson, Mississippi before I called it a night. The road between Memphis and Jackson was completely dark with deer on the side of the road. Naturally, I kept to the speed limit most of the time, fearing hitting any deer along the way.
My goal was to drive 1000 miles that day, but I was about an hour short of that goal. Maybe on my way through Nebraska I can hit that number.
How Can You Help?
I have set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise additional money for charity. It will be running for the next few months. Below is the link to the campaign:
GoFundMe Rideshare Dashboard Mental Health Drive
Even a dollar will go a long way so give what you can and it will be deeply appreciated!
You can also help by emailing ridesharedashboard at gmail.com with travel advice, what to see in each of the below cities and your best food recommendations. I have travelled extensively abroad, but I will be visiting many of these states for the first time.
Want to Know Where I am now?
I will continue to post regular updates of my trip on my Facebook Page and my Twitter feed so look there to keep track of where I am! I usually move through 4-6 cities a day so I’m definitely a moving target.
Have more questions about Uber or Lyft? Head on over to our Rideshare Driver Training Course! Driver Promotions- New Uber Drivers will get up to a $800 bonus after signing up: Sign up for Uber.
- New Lyft Drivers will get up to $800 if you sign up here using this link.
