certainly not as simple as AU=gold K9=dog?

I've been through Wichita Falls a few times, but never went to the falls. Grats on that!

imo Whataburger is a decent burger that is consistent from outlet to outlet, but nothing really notable.

Tom wins! In fact, that used to be my license plate back in the Midwest. Couldn't have it in Colorado because something something something rules.

Yahoo!!! I'm a winner!

And LOL because my wife and I have an on-going competition to see which of us can decipher personalized plates more quickly. It's maddening when neither of us can figure one out; we eventually declare that it must be something so personal that it has no meaning to anybody else.

Y, it never was complicated, just meaningful to me. Anyone that knew me back then, and had some high school chemistry, had a light-bulb moment after a few seconds.

OK, stayed overnight in a really shitty Red Roof Inn in Wichita Falls. I'm ok with cheap lodging, I just need clean & a shower. It wasn't. Don't go there.

Anyway, after getting up and getting Whataburger breakfast (again, decent for FF, nothing special), hit the road.

Ft Worth had enough traffic and construction to make things a little busy, but nothing terrible. Did have to make one relatively quick 5-lane change when I was on the wrong side as 287 diverged, but it wasn't that bad.

Here's Ft Worth.



Somewhere after the metroplex, the scenery started to get more forested and hilly. Bigger trees too, big pines and others I don't know. Far enough south the grass is starting to turn green.

The wind backed off a little. Fortunately, it was replaced by mid 30s, snow/rain/sleet.

Not heavy, but being as I've crashed a couple cars on slick roads, I'm overly cautious now. Texas makes a lot of their roads with these huge shoulders, so I could pull over and make it easier on the people who were comfortable going faster to get by.

Drove through to Port Arthur, the end of 287. Reminds me of my hometown; a once-somewhat-important port city that's lost its traffic, and is in the process of dying. Lots of shuttered buildings downtown, didn't seem to be much going on.

Over the big bridge to the islands. After a while, across a smaller bridge to Louisiana. For the first time all day, the sun came out a little near Holly Beach.





Went along a little and discovered there's a ferry crossing. Just a small stretch.



I don't believe I've ever taken a car on a ferry, so that was different.

Over to Cameron, LA. Got a room in the local motel. At least this one's clean, has decent internet and TV. Really windy and cold. Supposed to get near freezing tonight. WTF, there are palm trees right outside.

Sounds like there's not much in town for a breakfast restaurant. I've got stuff in the car to get me through, not the worst problem in the world.

Not sure if I'll get settled in time to watch the game tomorrow. If anyone has a team they're rooting for, good luck!

Meh, always have trouble shooting into the sun. Sunrise over the bayou.

Went along, nobody out. Probably drove 70 miles til I got to any real town. I'd put the over-under on other vehicles encountered at 10, and pound the under. Lots of hurricane damage.



But many places looked to be repaired already, or maybe escaped damage. Damage ran from seeming like 'just some siding missing' to 'I bet there used to be a house on top of those stilts'.

Scenery kinda like this. Lots of low, watery land with channels around, tall grasses. Saw some pelicans and some kind of large aquatic rodent.





After a while, the road bent back north, and it was more populated. Wound around towards NOLA. Happened to see a quick oil change place, but they didn't have 'parts' (I assume he meant a filte)r' for my car. Darn, will find somewhere later.

Started heading toward Grand Isle, saw this along the way.



I assume that's hurricane-related too. Tons of billboards for lawyers looking for hurricane clients.

Stopped in Cut Off, made a sandwich for lunch. There was a brisk northerly wind and it was about 50, just enough to make me think I wouldn't enjoy Grand Isle. Decided to come up to NOLA instead.

An acquaintance of mine's sister owns a bar here. Stopped in, introduced myself. She suggested a Hampton Inn not far away, so got a room. Seems to be walking distance to 45 Tchoup (bar), so I think I'm going to wander down there for the game. Hopefully can find my way back here after.

Another thing I've noticed is people here have an annoying tendency to have to come to a near-complete stop when turning right. Turn the corner, roll into it!

some kind of large aquatic rodent.

Something like this?

I bet it was. I thought that it was an awfully large muskrat, if it was that.

Went to the bar last night for the game. Stopped for one on the way back at some place I just happened upon, then had one in the room. Nothing crazy, but probably one too many, and got to sleep later than usual. So, a bit tired today.

Of course, up with the sun regardless of when I go to bed. At least my room had a nice view of NOLA.



It's too bad I didn't think to get one at night.

Today, I decided that, since I've been to the start of the Mississippi, I should go to the end. Drove along. Not very scenic, it's a pretty industrial area. The river is hidden behind a levee. Well, at least most of the time, and today was a good day.

Of course, the road doesn't go to the end end, but here's where you can go.



Drove around that area. Seems to be a lot like this



Then got to the real end of the road, and came upon this, which was a pleasant surprise.



Among my many oddities is liking to go the end of the road--Deadhorse, AK, Key West, Dingle peninsula, etc. Something about the completion, I can't do any more, I think. Also find border/frontier areas endlessly interesting.

Quite a bit of aquatic waterfowl. Mostly they flew away as I got the camera ready.



I looked for an alternate route back. About halfway back (?) there was a ferry to go to the east bank, so I took the Subie on a boat ride for the second time.



Cruised up the highway on that side, about the same. Usually I can find a park to stop and make a sandwich for lunch, but there's not really any towns along the way. There's dots on the map, but they seem to be small collections of houses rather than anything organized.

Eventually came across a church that nobody was around, so took advantage of their canopy to have my sandwich and stretch out a little. Once I got back into the NOLA suburbs, came across a quick-lube place, so got the Subie's first oil change done. The guy was surprised and asked, "First one?" when I gave him the mileage. Failed to garner a discount though.

From there, poked along the gulf, mostly on US 90. Tired from last night, didn't want to go as far as the casinos and tempt myself to play cards in such a state. Stopped in Bay St. Louis. Had a nice BBQ sandwich for dinner, probably go to bed early May check into some OMC poker on my way through tomorrow.

Oh, I forgot to mention. Of course, since I grew up in Wisconsin and find myself in Southern MS, made a side trip to Kiln, home town of Brett Favre.

Surprised there wasn't a sign or something on the edge of town. At least I didn't see it.

Nothing there, no reason to go. Doesn't seem like much of a community--no noticeable downtown, just a few strip-mall type buildings and houses scattered about.

Well, that was a pretty good day.

Had an unusually good sleep. Went to the Hollywood casino in Bay St. Louis because the poker room opened at nine. Figured it would be one of those deals where it nominally opened at 9, but nobody was around.

Nope, started with a full table. Odd spread limit structure of $1-$4 pre & post, $1-$8 turn and river. Ran good, played well, +$101 in one hour. More importantly, it was fun. A bunch of older people, all of them out to have fun. Some good natured teasing (of course they all knew one another).

They had a weird promo. Up to once per half hour, if the flop was suited, the next hand would be a $50 splash pot. The last hand I played was the splash, but alas,, couldn't come through.

Anyway, down the road, followed US 90 which mostly goes along the beach.

It's a nice, wide beach with good, fine sand. Runs for many miles through several towns.





It was a nice day to be at the beach, but not a beach day, if you know what I mean. Sunny, but too cool for swimming.

Trundled along, through Mobile.



Went down and looked at Fairhope, AL. My brother said he wants to retire there (never been, he read about it somewhere). IDK, seemed like a pleasant town, but the main area seemed like a congested tourist trap like Estes Park or Taos. Not my style.

Went through Orange Beach, and hit this place for a beer. Don't know why I thought it was some place to go to, but did.



It's an...experience. The building seems to have been cobbled together through several sections of plywood, 2x4s and scraps. Kind of labyrinthine inside, several levels, several bar areas. Arrived not too long before sunset, so went to the beach out back to see that. Was a cool wind, and there was some surf.



As the sun was setting in the West, the moon was rising in the East.





Seemed to be just beachfront high rise condos down there, so headed back inland to find a hotel. Took quite a while, but am staying the night just north of Ft Walton Beach. Tomorrow I'm going to check out that area, then start back north.

Floribama is a scene for sure. Glad you stopped in. For poker, check out Ebro east of fort Walton beach (near Panama City). If you end up exploring Pensacola and are looking for places to go, hit me up.

Yesterday checked out the Florida beach towns from Fort Walton Beach to Panama City Beach. Meh. Too overdeveloped. too crowded for me. Nice beaches though.

Caught this interesting early-morning affect.



With the exception of a national seashore near FWB, the beaches were all pretty similar.



PCB probably my favorite, because of this



Took a side trip to the highest point in all of Florida because I'm a sucker for those weird geographical oddities





Had the good fortune to meet Garick last night. Mrs. G plays Irish trad music at a place in Opelika, AL, and he was nice enough to invite me along.

Good music, good conversation getting to know them a little. A good time, and Garick was gracious enough to buy the beer. Really nice guy, smart, enjoyable to talk with. Thanks again G!

Had a cheap motel just up around the corner. Up early today because a) that's my nature; b) got a text from some friends @ 5:30; c) the weather's supposed to be bad west of here, so want to maximize daylight running.

Not much I wanted to check out in Alabama. Did drive through Selma, to see the Edmund Pettis Bridge, site of the Selma-to-Montgomery civil right walk. A bit before my time, but an important milestone in US history.

Walked back over the bridge to get a shot with the city behind.



In that white-and-gray building at the foot of the bridge is a shop and museum, but the museum part was closed. Other than that, seems like Selma (like many rural small towns) has seen better days.

Overcast with occasional rain, so just drove on through. Tom Ames was nice enough to invite me to stop as I passed by, so I did. Mr. & Mrs. Ames were gracious enough to take me for lunch at a nice place in their little town. Super people, true southern gentleman and lady. Really good conversation, although I'm afraid I may have dominated it with various travel stories. Sorry about that, guys.

Also, Mrs. Ames and I were treated to a show. Just as we were coming out (Tom had went to retrieve the car), we saw someone running through the grass median in the street in front of the place. Mrs. Ames wondered aloud why someone's running there. Our answer was given when he slipped on the wet grass, and the sheriff's people who we saw in pursuit a few seconds later were able to detain him.

After leaving Jackson, hit a couple patches of very heavy rain, to the point where I had to slow down to see the road markings. Subie's lane correction turned off because the rain was too heavy for it to sense through. Nothing major, just a couple miles.

Looked more severe south and west, so I audibled from the route Tom and I had discussed earlier and headed north on highway 49, ending up in Yazoo City. Kind of a fun name. Seems like just another sleepy little town.

We thoroughly enjoyed the visit. Glad you were able to stop for lunch and dodge most of the storms. I am afraid that you hooked the missus on the idea of a trip to Africa. If that ever becomes reality, rest assured that I will be submitting an invoice for her half of the trip to you! She actually apologized to me for talking so much and being so interested in your travels. I still haven't had the heart to tell her that I had seen a number of pics from them itt

Great pic of the bridge! What history that piece of steel and concrete hosted!

Tom, just be thankful tales of my trip to Antarctica didn't come up.

Be aware that it's a slog to get there and back. But well worth it. My travel agent at AAA knew the people at African Travels (I think was the name, will try to remember to check & correct when I get back if not). They put together a fantastic package for me. Gina (my TA) and they were willing to work through a couple iterations til we had it right.

LMK if I can provide any further details for you (or anyone else ITT).

Woke up early this morning. Gray, cold, sharp wind. Tom had recommended a great BBQ joint, but by the time I was up that way, it was only 9:00, so passed. Jumped into Arkansas. After a while, the clouds broke. Still cool/cold, but better.

That area looks a lot like this.







Trundled up to Little Rock.



Saw the state capitol.



Colorado's is still better.

Headed West. Found out Springfield is in Arkansas. Don't worry, I'm sure those emissions are completely harmless.



Turned up toward Fayetteville, on what I assume is the old pre-Interstate highway. It was nice. Kind of reminded me of the area around Duluth, with forested hills, only bigger and more of them. These might be as high as the foothills west of Denver.





Staying in Fayetteville for the night. Might make it home tomorrow. Google maps says just under 12 hours. Not much to stop for in Kansas I suspect, but I also have a tendency to wander, so...

Tom, just be thankful tales of my trip to Antarctica didn't come up.

Trust me. I was sweating bullets

I'm not sure that I-49 ran through NW Arkansas the last time I went through there. I do remember passing through Bentonville a few times and the traffic being an absolute nightmare every time.

Guess you didn't hit the Clinton Library in Little Rock. I've never been but have heard that it is pretty nice. Probably not worth turning around for though. LOL!

No on 4he Library. I was poking around, figuring there would be a place for lunch in the downtown of a state capitol. If there was one, I missed it.

Looked up, and there was the capitol building, si I went down there.

Given the current subpoenas about presidential documents, I'm pretty sure there's a joke there, but I'm too tired to figure it out.

Got home tonight, long day across Kansas.

The last morning, got up and turned west out of Arkansas towards Oklahoma. Moon setting over the Ozarks.



Grinded along through the NE corner of Oklahoma. Occasionally somewhat scenic.



It's not the world's second largest ball of twine or anything...



Crossed into Kansas at Coffeyville. Many years ago, my father was in the Air Force, stationed in San Antonio, and got himself transferred up to Duluth. Both my parents grew up across the bay in what was my hometown. I was born there (we lived two doors down from the house I grew up in) during a previous deployment, then moved around a bit when I was little.

Anyway, on that move up north, one of the towns I remember for some reason was Coffeyville. Don't know why; maybe because we just changed states (little idea that would be a common thing where we were going), but it stuck. On this trip, I didn't see why.

Trending toward Denver, I noticed this in my atlas more or less along the way



The Little House on the Prairie. There were a few other buildings there, and signs to explain it.



But it was cold and windy, and I wasn't really that interested...it was just on the way. So I continued on.

Kept heading west and north, past Wichita. They say Kansas is flat...



Confirmed.

Saw a wing place passing through the small town of Hoisington, stopped for dinner. The owner told me it's about 6 hours to Denver. Right on the border...I have about two hours of daylight left. I don't like driving at night, especially during the winter, as I can't see any ice that might be there.

However, it was sunny all day. This would put me home ~9:30, not late, so I pushed through.

Sunset at the farm.



Cruised along I70, mostly just me & lbr's brethren and sistern (?). Got home, unloaded and unpacked a little, but mostly just had a couple beers and went to bed.

Other random things. I"m sure there will be more.

Subie performed very well. 4122.1 miles. Nearly doubled its mileage. The "turn off the engine when stopped" feature saved me .795 gallons of gas. Well, I guess it's something.

That being said, their software is unreliable. Specifically, their Android Auto app. Mostly failed to launch, giving various excuses like system date and time not set. I'll call your bullshit, as I can see the date and time on both the car and the phone. Also, when it was working, it would just crash. I'd unplug the phone from the USB and re-plug, and after a couple tries it mostly held stable.

To their credit, after a crash while I was getting directions, it remembered where I was going upon re-connect. When the re-connect worked, that is.

Liked the Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian areas on the Mississippi Gulf. Nice beaches, but not too developed. Everything east of there, from Gulfport to Panama City Beach was overdeveloped and touristy (yes there's a Margaritaville across the street in PCB), not my kind of place. Though there was a gold dog on the dog beach in PCB, so that helped.

Did stop in the Beau Rivage to check it out. There were lists, and I didn't really have an intention of playing anyway. Reminded me of Bellagio--same font and shape on the signs, lots of plants about (though no real conservatory). Seemed like a real nice place. They're aligned with MGM, so maybe it's Bell East?

Probably should've delayed the trip another week or two. Never hit really nice weather. Seemed like it was always windy, even on the nicer days. And then some days, it was downright cold (33 degrees and strong wind on the Louisiana Gulf Coast. WTF?!?!?).

OTOH, also never hit any truly terrible weather. A couple short spots of heavy rain around Jackson, snowy/sleety/rainy cold in East Texas for a morning, but nothing I couldn't deal with. Wasn't as if I got blizzarded out, which has happened and sucks.

Met some really nice people including Mr & Mrs Garick, Mr & Mrs Tom Ames, several members of Mrs Garick's Irish music group, and other random folks I bumped into along the way. I should probably do a better job documenting these encounters, like in Bule Highways.

All in all, a good trip.

Thanks again to all who are following along. Don't have an idea for a next trip, but hopefully I'll get out some during camping season this summer.

I only had to use the ipod a few stretches, where I could find nothing but country and religious stations. Around Selma, MW MS, Kansas, and E CO.

I'd forgotten or didn't realize how much religious radio there is out there, especially down south. Scanning the FM dial would always find several.

Also surprised that I only noticed ~ 1 pro-Trump sign/day going through Texas and the southern states. Based on the stereotype, I expected a flood. Were a lot more in OK & KS. Maybe I just happened to notice them yesterday.

That being said, they do love themselves some Jesus and Trump down there. I can't really explain that pairing, but it works for those folks I guess.

Yeah, I think you must have just not been looking for the Trump signs because I guarantee they were there, lol. Sorry we missed meeting up this trip.

No worries, Mark. Part of the way I travel is specifically to not force schedules, thereby reducing stress. Sometimes it means things don't mesh.

Next time one of us is in the other's area, hopefully.

I don't think I wrote about why.

Part of it was that I've trying different areas to see of they seem like possible retirement destinations. *Maybe* the Bay St. Louis area, still nice but quieter, not so touristy as further east.

The other part goes back to my geographic nerdiness. Like the US 2 drive last summer, I've now driven every mile of US 287. It goes about 4 blocks from my house here, so another example of "my highway"

Not sure what's next. Maybe a summer camping trip. Planning to show up @ WSOP Seniors if we ever get a date.

I'm thinking about another trip to the San Juan mountains this summer. American Basin, Engineer Pass, etc. My brother and I went in 2020 and we had a pretty incredible time.

Nice! Might consider a day in the Sand Dunes, to the east of there, on your way in. Bring a plastic toboggan or old snowboard!

great trip report! glad to hear you liked Bay St Louis/Pass Christian. If you have the chance to drive SE of Panama City, check out Apalachicola/Eastpoint. Much less congested and touristy than the rest of the FL panhandle.