Post by D-Vader on Jan 5, 2006 10:53:29 GMT -5
That's how many miles we put on the truck this last week. We left Thursday afternoon (2:45ish) and got to Mobile around 3am. We didn't get all of our stops down - meaning we didn't get the bathroom, gas, and food stops coordinated properly, so we stopped too many times.
Then we left Mobile the next morning and got to Callahan (just outside Jacksonville) before sunset. Then we got annoyed by Christy's Dad and grandparents for a few days and we headed back to Mobile on Tuesday. Then we left yesterday morning and got back around 10 last night. Lots of driving and lots of fun.
You could still see a lot of the damage left behind from Katrina and Rita. From about 35 miles to the Louisiana border in Mississippi all the way into Texas you could see broken trees, debris still along the roads, damaged bridges (on the way back we had to go to one lane twice in LA), billboards that had been bent over, and several billboards that snapped off and broke. I was tempted to head down to NO, but that always adds an extra 2 hrs to the drive, and that's when everything's working.
The bridge over the Atchafalaya swamp was in good shape, but for some reason the helicopter landing pads were missing. The bridge across the bay in Pensacola had been damaged and was being repaired. Instead of being on a paved bridge, parts of it were just steel grating.
All in all we had a good trip. Got to drive by the Alltel Stadium (where Jax beat Tennessee, and the Gator Bowl was played), spent time in the Atlantic Ocean, visited many Starbucks along the way (my favorite was the Gulf Breeze one, but the friendliest one was in Tallahassee). We also got to hear snide comments and flat out complaints about our parenting style. I didn't care for it, but Christy was talking about heading out on New Year's Day.
It's good to be back, and I enjoyed sleeping in my own bed last night.
Then we left Mobile the next morning and got to Callahan (just outside Jacksonville) before sunset. Then we got annoyed by Christy's Dad and grandparents for a few days and we headed back to Mobile on Tuesday. Then we left yesterday morning and got back around 10 last night. Lots of driving and lots of fun.
You could still see a lot of the damage left behind from Katrina and Rita. From about 35 miles to the Louisiana border in Mississippi all the way into Texas you could see broken trees, debris still along the roads, damaged bridges (on the way back we had to go to one lane twice in LA), billboards that had been bent over, and several billboards that snapped off and broke. I was tempted to head down to NO, but that always adds an extra 2 hrs to the drive, and that's when everything's working.
The bridge over the Atchafalaya swamp was in good shape, but for some reason the helicopter landing pads were missing. The bridge across the bay in Pensacola had been damaged and was being repaired. Instead of being on a paved bridge, parts of it were just steel grating.
All in all we had a good trip. Got to drive by the Alltel Stadium (where Jax beat Tennessee, and the Gator Bowl was played), spent time in the Atlantic Ocean, visited many Starbucks along the way (my favorite was the Gulf Breeze one, but the friendliest one was in Tallahassee). We also got to hear snide comments and flat out complaints about our parenting style. I didn't care for it, but Christy was talking about heading out on New Year's Day.
It's good to be back, and I enjoyed sleeping in my own bed last night.
