Day 1: Oh, is it Spring Break?

We are now in lovely (ahem) Walker, LA after 700 miles and 12 hours of driving. A caravan of returning Spring Break party animals caused us some delay this morning. It took 3 ½ hours to reach Gainesville! The rest of the drive was smooth sailing though.

Florida bade me farewell with glowing fuchsia flowers twinkling along the highway and cotton ball clouds bouncing against a turquoise sky.

Alabama was much like Florida with large stretches of swampland. Traveling west on a bridge through Mobile, the city turned smoky with a fog of rain. Commercial fishing vessels and massive battle ships loomed in the murky bog. It was almost unreal. Like driving through a dream. Suddenly, a bright yellow light broke the gloom as we passed through the George Wallace Tunnel. (see video below – skip to 1:30).

The bridge connecting Mississippi to Louisiana is steep enough to allow an amazing view of the Pearl River; a flooded jungle thick with trees for miles and miles and miles in every direction. Louisiana is soggy and lush. The grass is blanketed with tiny white blossoms, like frosty, glistening snow. Purple flowers drip from the fences and trees.

Okay. Time for sleep now. We drive to Oklahoma City in the morning!

Strangest thing we saw on the road:
One man holding a rope leash tied around the neck of another man, thumbs out, trying to hitch a ride. No joke. He was flailing his arms around (maybe dancing?) and the other dude was playing along. Very bizarre strategy. Aren’t people already leery of picking up hitchhikers? Should that make other people question their sanity less? Yikes!