Mental Health Charity Lyft Drive Day 8: 830 miles Jackson to Austin
- Today (June 30):
- Miles Driven: 830
- Cities: 2
- Time Taken: 15 hours
- Total:
- Miles Driven: 5385
- Cities 30
- Time Taken: 115.5 hours
- Read more about my trip across 65 Lyft cities here:
- How you can support or donate:
This morning was the first morning I woke up on a bed in 5 days. I slept in my car for the past four nights and thought it was fine. I tried to get a cheaper motel room but I regretted it once I got inside. It was definitely the worst room I have been in ever. Everything looked dirty. I managed to get some sleep on the bed and when I woke up, I wrote a few posts and took care of a few other things on my computer. I left a bit late, around 10am. Normally, I would start driving around 8am.
I skipped breakfast altogether since I was looking to try some beignet from Cafe Du Monde and a shrimp Po-boy in New Orleans. I didn’t get into New Orleans until around 2pm. I took a while for me to get a ping, even driving all the way downtown with the Lyft app on. Since I couldn’t get a ping, I drove to the French Quarter to get some doughnuts (beignet). I was really lucky to find a parking space and walked to Cafe du Monde. I had some donuts to go and then got a ping when I was half way through a beignet. My phone and all my clothes was covered in powdered sugar at this point, so I had to dust myself off before getting into my car. She was only a few blocks away so i was there within 2 minutes. She needed a ride home across the Mississippi river to go to her second job as a receptionist. We had a long chat about New Orleans and also my charity drive. After I dropped her off, I pulled over to the side of the road to finish my donuts. They are very similar to the zeppoles I had as a kid.
My next stop was a Po-Boy. I stopped in to get a shrimp and catfish po-boy. The shrimp was really good and I liked the catfish. Normally, catfish isn’t served with bread. It is more of a entree, like fish and chips but with catfish, especially thin sliced. Once I finished my sandwich, I headed out of New Orleans to try to beat the rush hour traffic. I got out of the city around 5pm and made my way to San Antonio.
There were many more trucks on this road than I have seen on other roads. I spent most of the 8 hour drive dodging and going around trucks. The speed limit was lower than I would like and there were so many state troopers with speed guns in Louisiana along I10. I wasn’t going that fast, but still surprising to see. I haven’t seen many state troopers on the road this entire trip. I was expecting to hit a few speed traps on my way down to Florida but haven’t encountered one until I was driving west out of Louisiana.
It was along this leg of the trip that I finished the first book (Game of Thrones). I believe the book was 33 hours long and finished it about 30 minutes outside of San Antonio. The ending of the book was as expected and couldn’t wait to find out what happens in the second book. I haven’t seen any of the HBO show and have read little about what happens, besides the fact that everyone dies. I have another 30 hours for the next book so I think I can complete it before getting into Las Vegas since I have a few very long driving segments coming up.
I got a ping fairly far from downtown San Antonio and drove her home after babysitting her cousins. It was the quickest 15 mile trip on Lyft I have ever given. The speed limit on all the highways was 70 and I was going about 75mph just to keep up with traffic. I was constantly getting passed when I slowed down to 65mph. The entire trip took about 17 minutes. It was a quiet ride since I was exhausted and she was on her phone most of the time. The trip finished right near the airport, which put me in a good position to head to Austin since I was east of downtown. It was a short hour drive up to Austin. I had to get gas again before getting into Austin.
I got to my hotel around 2am and got to sleep shortly after 3am. I would definitely be waking up later the next day, even though I need to check out at 11.
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 traveled 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.
