Roadtrip: Day One - AL, MS, LA, and Texas

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Whew! I can't believe that day one of my trip is already over. It was a pretty long day as I didn't take off from Alabama until around 8:30am. And it was a very hot day, around 105 if you include the heat index and one of my arms got really sunburnt.

Not much to report today, just the exciting life of solo roadtrips. I've come to decide a good roadtrip starts with finding a good country radio station, a couple bottles of water, and a full tank of gas before hitting a busy interstate. I started out in Tuscaloosa and continued to weave my way down to Mississippi (even to Jackson where I thought of Mandi and sang out to some Johnny Cash) and saw the mighty Mississippi River. Then you can tell when you hit Louisiana as the trees seemed to get shorter and the strong smell of cow manure struck the air as fields opened up.

Louisiana was nice: I flirted with this gas station guy after crossing the state line and I got a small glimpse of Monroe (it looked like a quaint little place next to the river) and when I hit Shreveport, I started snapping pictures. Shreveport is apparently home of the CMT Crossroads building which was big and gold. There were some gorgeous looking churches in the area too, but the big highlight was the Independence stadium that is home to the annual Independence Bowl (the NCAA post-season bowl game). Last year, Alabama beat Colorado there 30 to 24.

After Shreveport, I passed over into Texas -- the land where everything is supposed to be bigger and better. Well I haven't seen much of Texas yet except the straightest back-country road I've ever seen that I got to go 70 on (legally, I promise). And there were a few big farms along the way, but nothing much to report on yet. I got out here to the KOA and brought all of my stuff into my little Kamping Kabin. I checked some of my directions for tomorrow and am watching Fried Green Tomatoes (hehe, and reminiscing about my stop in Juliette, GA). And now, even though it's only 9pm, I think I'm going to go crash as tomorrow is going to be another long day in the sun, but exciting as I hit Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Goodnight, all!!

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Photos

on the road again
(leaving Grif's driveway)

Shreveport water tower
One of the several water towers I saw today!!