On the road again....just can't wait .....

Finally, after all the paperwork, faxing, last minute run around, I am on the road to Texas! Getting out of Florida was the LONGEST part of the trip!! It felt like Highway 19 would never run out of traffic lights or even end. Actually, it didn't end, I just ended up on I-10 west and 19 just keeps going northward somewhere! The photo below is a shot taken at 75 mph on Highway 19 somewhere around Perry, Florida. Ashley's sweetie is in Perry on his annual deer camp/hunting trip. I texted him from the road and he said he would wave!! I did stop at the local McDonalds for a potty stop and to toss my trash from my previous McDonalds stop for coffee and a Happy Meal!! Figured they owed me a pit stop since the reason I stopped was because of that huge cup of iced hazelnut coffee they sold me!!! I was quite happy to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, meaning the signs for Interstate 10 which I will follow ALL the way to El Paso, Texas. I am sure by Thursday or Friday I will be heartily sick of the I-10 signs!!

Interstate travel was certainly a mindless drive, despite there only being TWO lanes!! I think you shouldn't be allowed to call a highway an interstate unless there are at LEAST three lanes. Half of the time, the truckers pull over in front of you to pass another truck that is too slow for them. Meanwhile, as you slam on your brakes to avoid driving underneath them in your economical Corolla, they suddenly decide to pull back over in the slow lane. You speed up in time to catch up with the person in the car ahead of you who has obviously never heard of the purpose of a passing or fast lane! ARRRRRGH! Despite the occassional irritating drivers who slow me down, I did enjoy the rest of the trip with another highlight being the Welcome to Alabama sign. After driving just shy of 500 miles, I opted to stop 10 miles east of Mobile, Alabama. Since I have never been in the state of Alabama before, I thought spending the night in the state was more credible towards my claim of being here than just driving through! I will get gas in Mississippi tomorrow morning, since I have never set foot in that state, either. As it is only 87 miles wide at the point I am traveling through it, I won't be spending the night there, so to officially step foot in the state, filling up the gas tank will have to suffice. Speaking of gas, I have seen prices as low as $1.99 at one of the truck stops to as high as $2.49 in the boonies of Florida. Driving through Pensacola Florida was unique. They really adore their Navy Blue Angel squadron as evidenced by all the model planes stuck in formation on every concrete post where I-110 crossed over I-10!

Alabama was flatter terrain than the surprising rolling hills of upper Florida and the Panhandle. The leaves on the trees are changing colors now, so it feels like fall here. Most are an orange-brown color, but here and there are bright reds and yellows. I saw one patch where a bulldozer was working and I was surprised at how orange the dirt was! At first I thought it was fake! There isn't a whole lot to see from the interstate, but I did catch the tail end of an interesting conversation at the front desk of my Holiday Inn Express hotel here in Spanish Fork, Alabama! The manager told me he was working on his southern accent. I asked him what there was to work on if he lived in Alabama!! The other two people were chuckling. He explained that he had a southern accent for sure, but the people in Mobile, Alabama, now, that was a whole different kind of southern accent! Had to laugh, as living 12 years in North Carolina was living proof of that! It amazes me how accents and lingos can change over the space of a few miles! I remember people from Currituck and Coinjock, NC almost spoke their own language!!

Well, that is all the news for now. I get an extra hour of sleep since I am now on Central time, and therefore an hour behind Florida time!!! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!