Friday, September 20, 2013

Friday Mishmash

Hello from Florida!  We're having a great time - heading back tomorrow, and I hope to have a recap of our visit to Hogwarts on Monday, but in the meantime, please enjoy some random shots and impressions taken along Interstate 10 as we drove from Texas to Florida.

We stopped for gas just before we crossed the state line from Texas into Louisiana in the town of Orange.  Jeff and I had just pulled up to the pump and gotten out of the car when two vehicles crashed in front of us!  We saw it happen, but didn't see it happen, if that makes sense...I guess the noise of the crash caught our attention and we saw the middle and end of the crash.  Thankfully no one was hurt.

We went on our way, and crossed the border.  After a while, we were hungry for lunch and randomly picked the town of Crowley to stop in - what a pleasant little side trip it turned out to be.  Charming town, with really pretty houses - and apparently at one time was the rice capital of America.  Random, yes.  We followed the signs to Frosto Drive In:
 
We were still on our long run hunger, so a burger and fries hit the spot.  We stayed to watch the beginning of the A&M/Alabama game, and had a dipped cone while we waited - yum!
It's no frozen yogurt, but a chocolate-dipped cone was pretty tasty!

After we got back on the road, we ended up driving a causeway, which I've learned, is an elevated road that crosses a large body of water.  I'm going to own my dumbness with this statement, but I had no idea that this part of Louisiana was on so much water.  I guess my geography learning back in the olden days stopped around the California border. Anyway, it was very pretty.

We crossed the Mississippi river near Baton Rouge - this was the first time I've seen it in person.  Then we were through New Orleans and into the state of Mississippi...we knew for sure we were in Mississippi because the inside of the restroom of the rest area said so:
Yep.  Mississippi, all right.
Picnic area of the rest stop - really pleasant with the forest of trees there.

After Mississippi we crossed the border into Alabama.  It was getting dark so I didn't get as good of an impression of that state, but here's the pretty blue lit-up buildings in downtown Mobile:
Then we went through a tunnel, which goes under the Mobile river...creepy and cool!

Soon we left Alabama and were in Florida - luckily, Pensacola was just over the border, and that's where we stopped for the night.  Over 600 miles and five states...considering that we'd started our day with a 4:00 am alarm so we could run 6 miles with our running club before hitting the road, it was a long day and we were ready to sleep!

The next morning we started our drive again, but took a little detour in Tallahassee - I'd found a yarn shop that was open on a Sunday, so we decided to have our lunch break there.  Tallahassee was another really cool town - we ended up driving right by Florida State University, and their football stadium...I swear, we cannot escape college football!  The shop we went to was located in an old railroad yard that has been converted to an art park - I wish we had more time to poke around the shops and galleries there, but alas, Orlando awaited.  I did get to shop at the yarn store, called Really Knit Stuff.  The owner, as well as the shop regulars, were very friendly and I had a great time touching all the yarn. 
The columns were covered with knitting...
Here's what I bought - the blue and purple are for hats - Anzula's For Better or Worsted (love that name) - it's very soft and squishy and gorgeous.  I've already started a hat with the blue.  The multi-color and the green will make two hats, using both colors.  Can you tell that I'm in a hat phase at the moment?

After we left the yarn store, we ate lunch and got back on the road.  We finally arrived in Orlando!  They must have had some crazy weather there, because a building was upside down:
OK, not really.  I saw this on my walk Monday midday...I think they have a magic show/dinner thing going on.  Yes, it was upside down, but to paraphrase PeeWee Herman, they meant to do that.  Screams tourist to me - hello Orlando, haha!

Have a great weekend - we'll be driving, and driving, and driving some more.

12 comments:

  1. Sounds like a fun trip! Look forward to the HP recap.

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  2. Wow you guys are hardcore: getting up so early, run and then drive 600 miles. I'm already tired just reading it.

    But besides that it looks like a real nice road trip getting to Orlando.

    I'm not sure if my weekend will go well because I have to wait two long days till Monday before you post about the HP trip. Boohoohoo :)

    Have a safe trip home my friend.

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  3. By the way: what do you do with Paco and Henry when you are both away from home?

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  4. The causeway on I10...when I was a teenager, my mom and I were stuck on that causeway for 3 hours due to an accident! Every time afterwards, we would pray to cross without another incident.

    Looks like you guys had an enjoyable road trip thus far. Orlando has so many neat spots to visit besides Disney World. And their downtown buildings are huge and beautiful, but I do not like their traffic or roadways. Every time I go to visit my sister, I never get to her house the same way twice.

    Have a safe trip home. Cheers, Winnie

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    1. There were two accidents on the I10 causeway in New Orleans going the other direction when we were driving out...people were standing outside of their cars, completely stuck. I totally understand your fears on that!

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  5. I can't believe you drove all that way after a long run! What do you think you are--teenagers?! LOL.

    Loved going along on the trip with you. I don't think I've ever taken that drive. The one time I was in Florida for a dog show, we flew in, and I just remember the humidity. For some reason it seemed worse than Texas.

    I LOVE chocolate dipped cones. There is an old fashioned drive in accross the street from my dentist. I get a dipped cone for my treat after the torture of having my teeth cleaned!

    Love the yarn. I'm sure you can find one more shop to visit on your drive home!

    P.S. Jeff gets bonus points for stopping at a yarn store on a road trip.

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  6. I cannot stand tunnels or long bridges over water - I literally have to keep my eyes closed all the time.

    And I agree with Debby - Jeff gets kudos for stopping for yarn - love it!

    Safe travels home!

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  7. This was fun to read! Enjoy your trip.

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  8. The pine forests of southern MS really are pretty. What's not wonderful is trying to drive south out of Jackson, MS and encountering one logging truck after another.

    You didn't miss a whole lot between MS and Mobile. There are some pretty marshlands there with lots of waterfowl. Oh, and if you look to the south around Pascagoula you can see the shipyards. It's all too exciting for me. :)

    Wishing you a safe trip home!

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  9. That was interesting--thanks for giving us a glimpse. SO weird that Paco's snout wasn't in the ice cream pic or anything.

    I'm sure Jeff was delighted you came along & the trade off of a few girlie stops (yarn & possibly more) was worth it. But I agree-well done, Jeff. :)

    Looking forward to the HP review. Have you read all the books?
    Chrissy

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  10. Looks like a pretty awesome trip, weird thing is I've been through that tunnel under the river too - cool but VERY scary :)

    Amy Davis

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