Above:
Bandon Yellen enjoys the
Florida sand.

Far right
Iris, Brandon and Jordan
Yellen pack for the trip.

PHOTO BY BILL GEMMELL

Right:
Jordan Yellen catches
some rays.

nter Robin Orechkin, who drove to Flori-
da for the first — and last — time this win-
ter.
"It's not happening again," she says. "Dri-
ving didn't enhance my vacation whatsoever."
Inclement weather had everything to do with
her thumbs-down review. The family left Dec.
20th. In Ohio, which had been hit with a snow-
storm, they encountered the worst interstate
roads and the most monster truck traffic Ms.
Orechkin had ever seen.
"It was literally bumper to bumper moving at
a maximum speed of 10 miles per hour," she says.
"Every 15th car was slipping right off the side
of the road."
Meals on wheels didn't help matters.
"You get sick of fast food. Those salad bars, es-
pecially ones along the highway, are disgusting.
The main dishes were another issue. I'rci not say-
ing we couldn't stop for finer food — like Bob
Evans or something — it's just that we didn't
want to take the time."
Ms. Orechkin laughs, but she's dead serious.

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34

"We bought a new luxury truck in August. I
thought, because we had this comfortable truck,
the ride would be great. I thought wrong."
Florida was cold. Ms. Orechkin caught the flu.
En route back to Michigan "it rained and it
rained and it rained. It rained from Florida
straight up through Georgia."
Tennessee greeted them with fog. They missed
Kentucky's ice storm, but drove headfirst into a
blizzard near Ohio.

0

ther metro Detroiters acknowledge the
hazards of driving.

There's the time when Helen and Milton
Zimmerman of West Bloomfield got stuck on
the side of 1-75 with a flat tire. Stranded, the two
senior citizens were lucky enough to encounter a
car filled with goodhearted young people driving in
the opposite direction.
The 20-somethings pulled over and helped out, un-
loading pounds and pounds of luggage in the trunk
before reaching the spare and changing the Zim-
mermans' tire.

Despite potential set-backs , people like the Zim-
mermans, Cherniaks, Mosses and Aliens still prefer
to hit the high road. It's not a matter of money, they
say. Sure, air travel is more expensive, driving's
cheaper, but that's not it.
Their hankering for the long haul seems fueled by
other considerations. In addition to giving them fam-
ily time, driving enables them to steer clear of the
hassle of renting cars.
Yet a third perk is the ability to sightsee. The Cher-
niaks have made detours to Opryland. The Aliens
have stopped at Mammoth Caves and the Fountain
of Youth.
It goes without saying that Disney World, the Ep-
cot Center, MGM Studios and the like are favorites.
So are Monkey Jungle and the Everglades (see side-
bar).
But, for some travelers, spectacles and excitement
are beside the point. Sheldon Yellen says the trip
down to Florida lets him relax and unwind after many
stressful months of work.
"I don't even take a map," he says. "I just go,
straight down 1-75."

❑

