Odyssey Pandemic Florida Odyssey - July 10-11, 2020

The search for the right Honda Odyssey to replace the aging XC 90 led us to Ocean Honda in Port Richey, Florida. When we realized we could save a couple thousand dollars compared to vans available locally and that we could get some incredibly cheap pandemic flights, we decided to go for it.

The Odyssey began on Friday morning as we were dropped off at the Albany airport for our first-ever flight on Allegiant. The one-way flight for two, all taxes and fees included, came to $132. The airport was unsuprisingly empty given how little people were traveling during the pandemic, and the flight was not too busy. Allegiant planes definitely don't waste any space, and other than there not being enough space on my tray table to comfortably use my Mac Book Pro [Picture][Person Picture], it was good enough. We landed at St. Pete-Clearwater (PIE) around 1:30. We got a ride [2 Pictures] from some friends up to Port Richey.

With the actual sale already finalized by mail a couple weeks earlier, the delivery of the van [2 Pictures] didn't take long. We still hadn't had lunch, so decided to drive [Picture] just across the street to a Culver's [2 Pictures].

Starting the ride back home, we drove up via US 19/FL 50/US 41/FL 44 [12 Pictures] to the Villages for a quick visit [2 Pictures]. Then it was just a push to get home, which took a little over 21 more hours. We stopped for dinner from Zaxby's in Ocala, which at the time was a Covid hotspot though you wouldn't know it from the employees or customers, then pushed on through the night. Saturday morning, we took US 50/US 301 to avoid Baltimore [8 Pictures], up through NJ first on I-295 to lunch from a Firehouse, then NJTP/GSP/NYT [4 Pictures]. We arrived back in Amsterdam [Picture] around 4:00. In the 24 hours after leaving Culver's, we drove over 1250 miles, on pace for about 450,000 in the first year, but did not keep up the pace.