The Long Haul

The day after Christmas I steeled myself for the long drive across the flat flat flat land of what is Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and most of Texas. My plan was to camp at a welcome center in LA overnight and try to make it in two or three days. 

23 h 39 min (1,651.6 mi) via I-10 

First of all, never believe what Google maps tells you about how long something is going to take. I left at 6 am on the 26th and ended it at 10 pm on the 27th. So that's 40 hours. With the bathroom breaks and two hours of sleep. This trek is an memory of endless public toilets.

Me in my little blue car on the long purple highway.

Landscape in Northern FL, seemed pretty nice. Apparently someone else thought so.

I listen to music constantly and and singing constantly. Sometimes I don't pay attention. Then I did. Uh oh.

Saved by the Shell

The sleeping at the rest stop in LA thing didn't work, it was dark and weird and nobody around. So I kept driving and tried to camp out at a Walmart and it was HOT and weird also. So two fitful hours of no sleep, got back in the car and drove to another Walmart in Louisiana where at 7 am I got about two hours of sleep. But felt pretty good.

But boy what a sad little town. Even Walmart hasn't upgraded it's exterior to it's perky blue color yet. But I'm grateful for the undisturbed rest.

So kept going.......

The lovely sunsets are the reward at the end of a long drive. 

I-10 is a very strange road. Once you get into Louisiana, all bets are off. I drove it in the dark too. Which was frightening at times. There are posted speed limits but nobody enforces them. The trucks are nuts. TX and LA don't believe in rest stops either. Or if there is one, you have to get off the highway to find it. 

You have to wonder when you find a rest stop and that is the most interesting thing around...........but here is where the land got prettier.

A little more specificity please.

The mountains appear!

Ending the long haul across Dixie, a beautiful sunset again. 

Treated myself to a motel room, a bed and a hot bath. Wow, what a joy.

Off to Tuscon today!!


Choochi slept through most of the ride. Lucky Choochi!