Friday, October 10th, 2008
That was quick.
Well, the vacation is over. A good time was had by all, but now it's time to get back to the real world. We were planning on leaving the beach house early tomorrow morning, but that would essentially waste a Saturday - a Cardinal Sin in my book. SO...we're recreating our trek from 7 days ago....starting right now. It's 7:20 and we are leaving Gulf Shores city limits. Springfield, we'll see you tomorrow morning! (knock on wood)
Also, since Tammy is driving the first three hours, I'll have a chance to post some more pics from the trip. I didn't take as many as I had planned because it hit me at some point to put the camera down and live it.
So if you're up tonight, feel free too follow us North. We'll be changing routes a bit though, going through Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois.
7:47 - Loxley, AL....
Regular gas on the right side of the street: $3.08
Regular gas on the left side of the street: $3.19
Not real busy on the left.
8:50 - Just short of Semmes, AL
Bubba's Discount Tobacco. Good times. Also, gas is $2.95 here.
Oh, and I haven't mentioned this to the driver yet, but the GPS does not agree at all with our decision to change up the route. Now I see why. This highway is more of a country road with stoplights....for the next 80 miles.
9:21 - Pace seems to be picking up. Fewer stoplights anyway. We will be driving through Jackson during the Mississippi State Fair - but it looks like it will be around 11:30, so we'll probably miss the grandstand show.
9:38 - Mississippi highways = deathtraps. At least this one (98) is. There are zero lights. It's like driving through a black hole. C'mon, Mississippi. Lights are cheap! Also, "exits" are just pretty much cross streets, so there's no getting off for the car in front of you, only slowing down to a complete stop and turning right. Pray we make it to a real highway. 55 is coming up at Jackson!
11:14 - Coming up on Jackson, MS pretty soon where I'll be taking over the driving duties. And we'll be getting on the double nickel!!! Sure, there's 588 miles of I-55 between Jackson and Springfield but at least it's a familiar highway sign.
11:30 - Just drove by the Mississippi State Fair, which looks like it's pretty much downtown Jackson. It looks awesome, from the highway (55!) anyway - tons of neon and moving parts. Like somebody dropped Las Vegas into the middle of Mississippi.
4:00 - Missouri border (I totally missed Arkansas)
4:15 - Portageville! (Mom's hometown)
4:53 - Cape Girardeau...birthplace of yours truly (and Rush Limbaugh)
6:33 - Illinois!!!
7:23 - My effort to make it home before 8am was thwarted by my co-pilot who insisted on getting breakfast in Litchfield. Ugh.
8:14 - The Eagle Has Landed. Nap time.
That was quick.
Well, the vacation is over. A good time was had by all, but now it's time to get back to the real world. We were planning on leaving the beach house early tomorrow morning, but that would essentially waste a Saturday - a Cardinal Sin in my book. SO...we're recreating our trek from 7 days ago....starting right now. It's 7:20 and we are leaving Gulf Shores city limits. Springfield, we'll see you tomorrow morning! (knock on wood)
Also, since Tammy is driving the first three hours, I'll have a chance to post some more pics from the trip. I didn't take as many as I had planned because it hit me at some point to put the camera down and live it.
So if you're up tonight, feel free too follow us North. We'll be changing routes a bit though, going through Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois.
7:47 - Loxley, AL....
Regular gas on the right side of the street: $3.08
Regular gas on the left side of the street: $3.19
Not real busy on the left.
8:50 - Just short of Semmes, AL
Bubba's Discount Tobacco. Good times. Also, gas is $2.95 here.
Oh, and I haven't mentioned this to the driver yet, but the GPS does not agree at all with our decision to change up the route. Now I see why. This highway is more of a country road with stoplights....for the next 80 miles.
9:21 - Pace seems to be picking up. Fewer stoplights anyway. We will be driving through Jackson during the Mississippi State Fair - but it looks like it will be around 11:30, so we'll probably miss the grandstand show.
9:38 - Mississippi highways = deathtraps. At least this one (98) is. There are zero lights. It's like driving through a black hole. C'mon, Mississippi. Lights are cheap! Also, "exits" are just pretty much cross streets, so there's no getting off for the car in front of you, only slowing down to a complete stop and turning right. Pray we make it to a real highway. 55 is coming up at Jackson!
11:14 - Coming up on Jackson, MS pretty soon where I'll be taking over the driving duties. And we'll be getting on the double nickel!!! Sure, there's 588 miles of I-55 between Jackson and Springfield but at least it's a familiar highway sign.
11:30 - Just drove by the Mississippi State Fair, which looks like it's pretty much downtown Jackson. It looks awesome, from the highway (55!) anyway - tons of neon and moving parts. Like somebody dropped Las Vegas into the middle of Mississippi.
4:00 - Missouri border (I totally missed Arkansas)
4:15 - Portageville! (Mom's hometown)
4:53 - Cape Girardeau...birthplace of yours truly (and Rush Limbaugh)
6:33 - Illinois!!!
7:23 - My effort to make it home before 8am was thwarted by my co-pilot who insisted on getting breakfast in Litchfield. Ugh.
8:14 - The Eagle Has Landed. Nap time.
Russ, Dave & I talked about Downstate. We need to get started on it soon.