Texas bound and flying

As you may recall in the last instalment we were out the back of beyond and not entirely sure of our exact location on the map, but now with some light on the situation, life got much easier.  Chris took to the wheel and I guided him back through the series of lefts and rights we had taken the night before. It seemed longer headed back out, but soon we reached our first major road and from there it was all plain sailing. We pointed ourselves south, following signs for New Orleans.

We dropped back onto the I-10 and put some miles behind us, before swapping out drivers at lunch time. We didn’t have to far to go after that before bailing on the day for another night in a motel in yet another satellite town called Slidell. From here we planned to research New Orleans and come up with a few activities for the next day’s entertainment. We had arrived quite early at the motel and only the head house keeper was there manning, or ‘womanning’ the front desk. She gave us the price and told us which rooms were already cleaned, but was unsure on the checking in process. So we waited around for 10 or so minutes till the Manager returned and booked us in. Unfortunately this time we had to pay for the Wi-Fi, which was the first time since Las-Vegas.

We moved our things into the room and started to look for things to do but alas the Internet was not working. So we both took time to clean ourselves up and veg out in front of the tele box for a few hours to see if the Internet would ever come online. It did, for a brief second allowing us to momentarily log in and bring up Google, immediately after it disappeared again. It was getting a bit silly now so Chris headed to the front desk and asked what they could do to help. He returned with a new code and a number for a help-line. We tried the new code but without active internet we couldn’t get to our log-in page, so it was time to try customer service. For the first time we experienced terrible customer service and were told the Wi-Fi was working perfectly, Chris attempted to get his point across but with no luck.

It was now getting dark and both famished we headed outside to see what we could find, but once more no pavement was to be found and with us being right next to a very busy intersection right off the interstate we thought better of it and returned to the Suburban. Suddenly Chris’s phone began to buzz as it connected to Wi-Fi and alerted Chris to all of his various notifications. Without even glancing at the barrage of social nonsense Chris searched for restaurants around our 20. There was a lot, from the golden arches to a small Chinese take away. As always Steak was the meal of choice so just half a mile away on the other side of the freeway was a choice of 2. Spoilt for choice and dumbfounded by the concept of having to drive such a pathetic distance, we drove, to the restaurant, the Texas steakhouse.

Once inside we saw the cheesiest looking attempt at a barn interior, but this is America and we have accustomed to their garish attempts and interior décor. We sat down in our booth and glanced at the menu before realising it was horrendously cold. Another note to all of you back home, you need to take a jumper with you to go into a shop, public building or restaurant, seriously so cold! Chris headed back to grab his jumper while I sucked it up and got on with ordering a couple of steaks. They arrived shortly after and we tucked into more delicious meat. Paid the cheque and headed back over to the Motel where the internet was not working, for a change. With nothing left to do we turned in for an early night.

We woke reasonably early and tested for the glorious and illusive interweb. No luck. So we decided to both turn over and take a lie-in. Suddenly it was 9 and still no internet so we packed up and got ready to leave which took us up to check out time. Checked out and none the wiser as to what to do in New Orleans we hopped up into our trusty bus and turned the key. At that exact moment Chris’s phone buzzed once more and we had the internet. We attempted to look for hostels in Houston and book them up as we wouldn’t stop again in an actual bed until we hit the Texan city. Unfortunately it dropped before we could make the booking or had a chance to research anything, so a quick trip back to the motel reception to grab some pamphlets and we were off.

The drive to New Orleans was fairly uneventful with very little to note other than the impressive bridge we crossed as we entered the final few miles.

 We were slightly surprised that it didn't look damaged at all, for some reason we both envisaged it still to be largely deserted or under construction. After about 10minutes of discussion we realised that we were being stupid as it was 7 years ago when hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf town and so we should expect no less than what we could see. As we turned onto the road that would lead us to our parking spot there was a distinct lack of road, all ripped up ready for fresh tarmac by the seam of it? We bumped our way rather uncomfortably to our parking lot and paid the meter before looking at our fliers. There was nothing really to note, as one of the guys we met in Vegas said, New Orleans is a great place to drink. The reason it’s a great place to drink is because there is nothing else to do there.

Still we wondered down through the French quarter expecting some nice buildings with a little bit of character, or just anything a bit different. Unfortunately it looks like most of it was lost to Katrina and many were clearly modern renderings of the buildings that once stood there. New building attempting to look old somehow don’t quite look right, they’re straight for one. Timber warps and bows as it ages, but each and every building was perfectly straight and it just seemed ugly. Never the less we carried on wandering through the mismatch of buildings and bars till we had seen enough of the “new” French quarter.

 We eventually headed south to the river for a bit of peace and quiet from the construction noise and the hustle and bustle of our fellow tourists. We sat for a while trying to picture how it would have looked as Katrina struck and the aftermath left in her wake, we even looked around for tell-tale signs, again realising it was 7 years ago and everything would have been fixed or recovered. 

We carried on along the river before finally walking back along the edge of the gigantic sky scrapers that filled the business district. We took a brief detour in search of some more license plates but there were none and so we headed back to the car park and headed out.

We took a short detour through some of the rougher neighbourhoods as we expected these to be the areas still bearing the scars of 7 years ago, but again it had been repaired, so we put the hammer down and attempted to head west.

 Unfortunately my planned route took us to a dead end as I was trying to picture the map I had viewed the night before. In the end we had to use my least favourite companion the dreaded Sat-nav. For once she got us pointed the right way and before we knew it we were sailing up the freeway. We pulled in just before sunset to a rest area, just north of Baton Rouge, hoping to cook and bed down for the night. Alas our luck really was out today and it was largely under construction and I felt it was best to push on to the next one about 60miles further north where we didn’t have to worry about being disturbed by noisy builders. The sunset was beautiful once more as we drove into it and before we knew it we were barrelling onwards into the dark.

 Progress had slowed slightly as we passed through the Baton Rouge traffic but we were still on target to make the rest area by 8. But as I was always told by my old friend Mike, bad luck comes in 3’s, and our third hit us right in the plums. Dog tired and drained we were excited as our exit number got nearer and nearer only for us to be heartbroken at the final hurdle as a big ‘Closed’ sign hung over the exit sign. Seriously it just wasn’t our day. I pulled the map from under the seat once more and frantically searched for anywhere that we could rest up in. a further 20 miles north was our best hope, another state park would have to do we just had to get there before the gates closed. Chris put the hammer down and we made our exit and blasted down the twisty back roads in search of Chicot state park. The road seemed to go on forever and the state park just never appeared. We had all but given up hope when finally we saw the sign, but our celebrations were short lived as it was still a 5 mile drive to the entrance into the park and a further 1.5 to the campground. But sure enough we had made it, just. Chris set to cooking our meal while I prepped the sleeping quarters once more. It had been a long tiring day and soon we were both flat out right through until morning.

We were now Texas bound and flying. Well once Chris wrote up his CV and we’d cleaned ourselves and the gear back up. We rolled out just before lunch and accidentally found ourselves out of the park. The road was only one way too so we had no choice but to carry on. I felt bad that we hadn’t paid this time after we had met so many lovely hosts previously it somehow felt like we were cheating them. It was too late to worry now we were almost back on the I-49. Despite the seemingly short distance remaining on the map it took us the rest of the day to hit the border. By now the sunny skies were all but gone and we found ourselves trucking through a few inches of standing water and with the light fading. We were hoping to get well inside Texas before we stopped for the night but with the weather getting even worse we bailed on the driving and shot into the welcome centre quite literally on the border. We were a little weary that there was security constantly patrolling but we had had enough and took a chance. We made some sandwiches ate copious quantities of chocolate chip cookies and bedded down. When we awoke the skies had cleared and the infromation centre was now open, so we headed inside and grabbed as many leaflets as we could carry. Just in case we end up with no Internet again. We got ourselves together and we are now on our way for some big adventures in the big state. 

sorry about the delay, plenty more to come :)

               

Mississippi in... October?

From our motel room we headed out and straight into our favourite store, Wal-Mart. Supplies were low and so a brief shop was required. This Wal-Mart was different in its lay out, which felt wrong as every other store we’d passed through had been laid out exactly the same way as those before it. It made our shop slightly longer as we could no longer make B-lines for the necessary groceries but soon enough we had another couple of day’s food and water sorted.

We checked the oil, power steering fluid and water levels before moving on to discuss what exactly we wanted to do as we had drawn blanks on gun ranges and mud-bogging the night before blogging and Facebook took over the evening. As it was Sunday we had hoped that there would be some kind of local events or activities going on, as so far we have discovered America loves its weekends for getting away and taking part in a wide range of pursuits. Unfortunately nothing was happening in Mobile, AL. We had grabbed a few leaflets from the motel and flicked through and decided as the two forts were well over an hour’s drive away that the USS Alabama memorial, battle cruiser and submarine museum was a good shout and at the very least it was something a bit different.

We arrived just before lunch and decided to fill up on sandwiches before wandering through the rather large looking vessels. Once we’d eaten I made a B-line for an old bomber parked at the edge of the car park to get a few pictures.

After, we carried on through to the war memorials for all the men from Mobile lost in the Vietnamese and Korean wars. There is always something tragic and chilling about war memorials as you walk along and read the names. Although it gave me a brief moment to come back down to earth and think about the career I’m looking to go into when I return home. It didn’t take me long to decide it’s very much a path I want to walk down despite the obvious risks.

Once we’d read all the names front and back and still with chills running down my spine with the motto “All gave some, Some gave all” running through my head we wondered on to more war machines dotted around the car park. A nice array of tanks, field guns and the like lined the roadway. Most were looking a little worse for wear as the sea ate away at what the enemy couldn’t damage. Again we pondered at the engineering of the time; these were crafted without the aid of modern technology, making it even more staggering that they could be produced so quickly when they were required.

Finally we were done with the car park and it was finally time to head into the museum, I say museum it’s actually a battle cruiser sat in the Gulf of Mexico. This particular cruiser, the USS Alabama, was part of the large Armada that took on the Empire of Japan in WWII. While apparently it only ever ran a crew of 65 men and 7 officers it was absolutely huge. In 2 or 3 hours we barely got anywhere through the warrens of corridors and stairs below deck. It was an interesting walk to say the least from guns, canons all the way through to clever stow away stools in the canteen. Along the tour route we stumbled across room after room dedicated to those who didn’t make it home, the Alabama alone lost 3 Commanding officers in 3 years of war, along with hundreds of crewmen. Also there were dedications to the men and vessels lost from the supporting fleet. Again it was sobering and chills ran down my spine as I tried to imagine what it was like for them.

 USS ALABAMA

 Engineers high-tech lap top

We eventually made it above deck and headed through the officer’s quarters to the control room, or whatever the navy call it. There was not a lot to see as much was still cordoned off for restoration. So we headed down and into the aircraft hangar back on dry land. We wondered the few planes that were dotted about but they all seemed a bit samey and the ropes kept you so far away it was hard to really get up close and personal to see the way they were constructed so we headed almost straight through and to the submarine outside. Again a lot was still being renovated but it was amazing to see how confined it all was. We decided that Chris would most definitely never make it as a submariner, as the door ways and bunks were all much, much too small for him. Although in the torpedo bays there was actually quite a lot of headroom although with a full crew it would have been rather snug.

TORPEDO BAY

Once we had wandered enough it was time to get back on the road and make it into another state and another place to crash. We took the I-10 west for a while, the traffic was light and progress was good. We had spotted a few campgrounds on the map which has been a huge help in the past and handed over the co-ordinates to the not so trusty sat-nav once more. We turned off on to the ms-63 which narrowed and became 2 lanes, it wasn’t an issue as the back country is always a more relaxing drive, then we turned again onto what can only be described as rough “roads”.  Unsure of what the navigation was planning for us we trucked on, going against better judgement for a change. 

Soon the road was no longer tarmac or concrete but a blend of red sand and scalping’s. Before long we had lost our bearings and were less sure of our direction of travel than a drunk on a merry-go-round. The map was pulled out but it didn’t show these smaller roads at all. We ploughed on looking for a major highway number on any one of the signs, there were no signs, and so we just kept driving till the light faded behind the tree line. Now with the candle powered lights on our progress slowed to a crawl, we certainly didn’t want another tree incident.

Sometime later we re-emerged on MS-26 and headed for the general location of the campgrounds on the map, the navigation lost the plot and demanded we turned through people’s back yards and up driveways so was quickly shut off and hurled under the seat. We followed the highway in the general direction of the nearest interstate knowing that if we failed to find a campsite we could make a rest stop within an hour or so. Fortunately just over the next hill and round a few corners we stumbled upon a nice big sign with CAMPING ß written upon it. With the goliath squirrelling under breaking and a large thud as everything slid to the right hand side, we were finally headed for a place to stop.

Or so we thought, again the road turned to dust and we ploughed our way looking for any form of sign, again with no luck. To pass the time we joked about the sign and how it had probably been put up by a serial killer. Which was funny until we started passing the odd mobile home with wrecked cars out front, then it was just plain creepy. Finally we met with a sign pointing to Cypress Creek landing. It didn’t state weather or not there would be camping at the end of the trail but we had to find out as it was now well past our bedtime. We were in luck, we had arrived to an eerie uncared for campsite, we checked ourselves in and grabbed a large area with a picnic bench and settled down to cook under… well it was pitch black; so torch light. We hit the hay not long after and while Chris nodded off, I found myself to be uncomfortably warm and so much tossing and turning occurred before I joined him in the land of nod.

I woke up at around 730 shortly followed by Chris, I packed up my things and in a slightly half unconscious state reached for the rear passenger door, which as you may remember has never opened since day one. It didn’t open, but I could feel the mechanical clunk of the latch being released so with a few cautious attempts failing I gave it a bit of abuse, she opened, finally we didn’t have to clamber out over the front seats. After a short celebration we cleaned up had our breaky and I finally thought it was time to get a run in as we were completely alone. Exhausted after a 10 minute sprint I headed back and got into the last of my clean clothes, Chris set up his go-pro and we hit the “road” once more, hoping we’d find our way back out. So stay tuned to find out.

B.

Sweet Home Alabama

So our last post ended abruptly as we reached check out time in the motel we were staying in and Ben had to stop writing. Picking up from where we left off, you find us making the final push out of Florida. We were both now fairly fed up with the threat of being killed by panthers, alligators, snakes, spiders and everything in between not to mention being eaten alive by the blood sucking mosquitoes buzzing around at all times of the day and night. Although that said, the night and morning spent in Myakka State Park offered some relief from the ‘squitoes as well as the horrifically humid weather. So with that, we spent the rest of that day making the final push out of Florida. Very quickly we were on the Interstate 75 and both of us took turns to apply liberal amounts of the gasoline pedal. A small highlight was had when we stopped at a rest area just outside the city of Gainesville, which wouldn't have shown up on our radars if we hadn’t known it was the hometown of one of our favourite bands – Less Than Jake. At this point, I pointed out that actually nearly all of their songs have the theme of leaving town, getting out, running away etc somewhere in them. If you’re a LTJ fan have a flick through some songs and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Coincidentally, that was exactly what Ben and I had dedicated our day to – getting out of there! At that rest stop, we nearly had the chance to repay the favour of jump starting someone but his tow truck showed up and I think we were both a touch disappointed we couldn't even out some karma.

More things to kill us

We trucked on, again on the I-75 and then the I-10 in the direction of Tallahassee and then onto some back roads to cut through the state of Georgia once more before finally entering the goal for the day – Alabama! The city of Dothan showed up in front of us and it was early evening by this point, so we were looking for a place to cook and spend the night. It was time for another cheap or free night so some large car parks were eyed up but Ben was not keen. He had a point too, we couldn’t exactly just break out our gas camping stove and start cooking in one so the sat-nav was employed again and we headed down to a rest stop / information centre serving as the welcome point on the Florida to Alabama border. Once again, we were met with signs telling us overnight parking was prohibited and that watermelon rinds should be placed ‘here’ (yeah, we had no clue why that merited a sign either). It was quiet and we decided to take our chances, moved to a quiet area of the rest stop near the back and I started cooking up some food while Ben adapted the Suburban for sleeping. We ate our soup and rice concoction, experimented with coating some tinned pears with chocolate and then made our way to bed.

The next morning, we poured over our inherited and rather beaten up road map of America and picked ourselves a goal for the day – Roland Cooper State Park. It appeared to have a lake and we thought it’d have some nice scenery, plus it’d involve some back road driving to get there. I started out and trundled along to Troy, where we took the opportunity of visiting another Walmart, stocking up on supplies and making some lunch. It was at that point we met our first Alabamains... (Alabamites?). Now the very Top Gear episode that inspired us all those years ago would have you believe that they are all rednecks. A couple of guys pulled up next to us in the car park and got out of a big pickup. We were a little confused when one of them immediately approached us and I felt a little intimidated at first but happily, and strangely enough, the reason he was coming over to us was to do with the writing on our vehicle  - much like in that very same episode of Top Gear. He had spotted our list of states on the back and we had the usual chat with him about where we were from, where we’d been and where we were going. We were happy enough that he seemed to think what we were doing was a great idea, we said our goodbyes and him and his buddy drove off. Our first encounter went a little better for us than Clarkson, Hammond and May I guess! From there, Ben took the wheel and we tried to make it across the back roads to our destination. Unfortunately, as we have discovered quite a few times now, American signs are USELESS! Either that or they don’t exist, or where they do exist they can just be downright misleading at times. After some wild guesses at roads failed, we found ourselves heading towards the outskirts of Montgomery before opting to just plug the sat-nav in and head down some major roads to get there.

Rollercoaster back roads of Alabama

The park was really nice, our camp spot was right next to the lake in a wooded area. We knew when we set off that we’d be getting there a bit earlier than normal and both of us were quite up for the idea of chilling out by the lake. What actually happened when we parked up was we got the Crayola window pens out and started getting arty on the back doors of the ‘burb. Now Ben had already drawn on a tally of the days and states we’d passed through along with our blog URL, and these had been enough of a conversation starter. I used our road map and freehanded a map of the USA, complete with states, which is going to have all the ones we visit coloured in. Ben added on a Union Jack and an English and Welsh flag as well as some funny quotes and banter from the trip so far. With the creative sides of ourselves satisfied, we got to enjoy another beautiful sunset as we cooked food and set the tent up. Both of us were slightly taken back by having to get jumpers and coats on as the night drew in as we’d not had to wear them in quite some time. We chowed down on our burgers anyway and took photos until the light had completely faded. Then we headed out into the woods, armed with our puny torches and collected some wood to build ourselves a campfire, mostly because we could rather than any other reason. When the fire had consumed most of its fuel, we got into bed and settled down for the night, listening to the howls of the wolf packs in the forest. Slightly unnerving because it meant we found another animal which could kill us.

We survived but it was a cold night meaning neither of us slept that well, eventually we dragged ourselves out of the tent and braved the cold of the morning to pour some cereals and drink coffee. We packed up slowly, enjoying the morning sunshine which was nicely defrosting us and picked a route to take us near the next stop: Mobile, Alabama. Now neither us knows how this is actually pronounced yet, so I guess we’ll have to ask someone. I took on the first stint again, put in some miles southwards before turning into a ‘gas station’ to quench the Chevy’s undying thirst for petrol. There, we met our new ‘friend’ Sonny Valentine, a guy driving a Ford Ranger who was asking for a few dollars to put in his tank to get where he was heading. Ben chatted to him while I bought fuel, used the restroom and ATM then I started talking to him about the trip when he noticed the map on the back window. Myself and Ben both find it a little strange that Americans don’t tend to travel out of their own states too often, and Sonny was no exception but the idea of our trip really struck a chord with him and he thought it was a fantastic way to be spending our time. He was so filled with joy, it moved him to hug us. Twice. In what I can only describe as a double embrace where he took me and Ben in either arm and sort of squeezed us together, interesting! We said our goodbyes and Ben took captaincy of our big white boat once more and steered her towards Mobile with the intention of finding a motel on the outskirts. Where we actually ended up is a satellite town called Saraland, a bit like Dudley is to Birmingham I suppose would be how I describe it to our UK friends. We checked in early and enjoyed some rest and relaxation by watching Scary Movie on TV (I’d never seen it before, obviously) and later ordering in some pizza. The blog also received a bit of loving as well as its mobile version which I know quite a few of you have been using. Both of us are chuffed to pieces with the number of you who have been pointing your browsers over here to read our updates and we’re actually up to 1732 views at the time of writing! I’ve actually received a good few Facebook messages of support from friends new and old who have noticed the blog and had a read – thanks guys! So all that is left to do today is check out the city of Mobile and head off into the sunset, but that’s another state, and another post.

Chris =)

Blimey mate! It's a 'Gator

It was Monday afternoon by the time all of our kit was washed and repacked and we still needed to put up a blog about our weeks activities. It took a while but by about 4 it was written and by 6 it was all uploaded and we were headed out. Krystyne met us in the lobby and a short, slightly emotional, goodbye was had and we hit the road trying to make the Everglades by nightfall. I say try, anyone who knows the distance or Miami traffic at that time of the evening knows it would be impossible. We carved our way through the never ending urban sprawl for about an hour and a half until we were nearly out. We hit up yet another fast food joint, had our fill, and our refill, updated the back doors of the car and carried on. Once we made our final turn onto the 9336 almost instantaneously the city disappeared along with the tungsten glow of the street lights. It felt a little unnerving, more so as we passed a large prison and psychiatric unit.

From there on out it was mostly farmland right up until we hit the swamps. The road was long and straight, with no oncoming traffic or junctions to slow for, the road became hypnotic a never ending flow of yellow dashes and the constant rumble of rubber on tarmac, and with the sun gone, both of us found ourselves slipping off. So the music was cranked up and a quick shake of the head more speed was added to get there a little sooner. It was only about 30 minutes later when we passed through the park gates and were now only 8miles from our campsite, on the way we were able to watch 2 or 3 thunder storms roll around us due to the large open flat terrain. Fortunately they stayed far enough away and we never got caught up in any rain storms. At about mile 6 we finally passed some traffic, well a pickup to be exact. I said to Chris “Looks like a ranger’s pickup”. Once we passed I looked in the rear view to see the pickup turning around. Shortly after and for the next 2 or 3 miles all I could see was lights, I’m not sure if that was his intention or if Americans really don’t know how to use low beam. Still I carried on till we reached the campsite turn and began to indicate. Then as I had now come to expect the red and blue lights flashed, great, here we go now for the pain in the ass questions on how I own a vehicle without being a citizen. The wait was agonizing as he wandered around the vehicle, only adding to my apprehension and churning the butterflies in my stomach. “I don’t want to go home yet” I thought to myself. Finally he reached the window. “Evening fellas, where you headed tonight” was the first thing he said, no introduction, nothing.  We explained we were looking for the campsite to which he immediately responded “well it’s closed”, he then asked the dreaded ‘who’s car is this?’ I explained how it was mine and used the couch surfing tale that Mike had told us to use along with the “we’re British, we’re stupid.” He seemed to be ok with that. He then checked if we had any weapons and finally told us that he’d pulled us over as there is a similar vehicle in the area that has been up to no good. He also pointed out the campsite at the other side of the park 38miles away was open. And with that he was gone. I let out a sigh of relief and put my foot to the floor and within 35 minutes we were at camp flamingo. The heat was unbearable and the humidity was off the charts so it was time to finally pull out the free tent we had picked up from Mike’s. We had no idea if it was complete or what state it was in but we had to sleep somewhere that wasn’t inside the Suburban which was already becoming a sweat box. We quickly assembled the tent thanks to a rather simple design, after that we threw in a few pillows and some sleeping bags to use as mattresses and settled in. It was still sweltering inside the tent but with the vents opened and the temperature slowly dropping both of us nodded off only to awake in the morning absolutely plastered in mosquito bites. After a little tent inspection it turns out Mr Norton had failed to fully zip the main door. I was actually too itchy to be angry so I scrambled out and ran to the showers to get clean. We had no food supplies as yet so once we had sorted out the car and downed the tent we rolled out a few hundred yards to walk around Eco pond trail. It was essentially just a lake with a central island and all manners of birds. We wandered slowly hoping to finally see an alligator or two but with no such luck. 30 minutes passed by the time we returned to the white tank, and as we got there we were greeted by yet another park ranger. This time it was friendlier, if not more worrying, as he went on to tell us that one of his colleagues had been walking in long grass and had been bitten by a pigmy rattlesnake and that 28 vials of anti-venom were required to save his life. With the message still ringing in our ears, we hit the road before we got eaten, bitten or killed to death by the weather. We aimed west hoping to make the west coast of Florida in a few hours and pick up food there.

Unfortunately mile after mile of roadwork’s slowed us to a crawl and progress slowed so much that 4 hours soon passed and we were still 50 miles from civilization. As we cleared the roadwork, my eyes became heavier and with both of us feeling drained I pulled into a picnic area to grab 40 winks. I awoke to find the car had become a sauna and dived out of the door. Chris was sat at a bench not too far away feeling a little sketchy, mostly because he was dehydrated and hungry. I grabbed dew and a bag of crisps then we hit the road again. Now I was determined to get there as fast as possible and with an inherent disregard for the speed limit of 60, I did 65. Soon enough we pulled into Wal-Mart’s car park and did the shopping in record time, as nearly all Wal-Mart’s follow the same layout so we no longer actually need to browse.  We finally got to stuff our faces, reorganized the food box and picked a state park campground to reach before nightfall. It was pretty painless as we hit the I-75 within a few miles and from there it was plain sailing and the 80 or so miles quickly disappeared into the rear view and we arrived just before sunset. We paid the ranger and headed into the campground, set up camp and made our dinner. Not long after it was cooked I finally decided it was time to bring out the Jim beam that Kevin gave us on our way to Denver. So once we had dished up we toasted to Kevin and chowed down. Not long after we’d finished eating the heavens opened and all of the rain happened at once. So we dove into our tent and attempted to wait it out as the lightning flashed around us. While we waited we read up on activities in the park, there was bike rental, dirt trails, hiking trails, boat tours, bird walks, kayaking and canoeing. So we knew weather depending we had a lot of choices to choose from the next day. Eventually the rain let up and we got our sleeping gear into the tent and settled in for the night. We slept soundly now that the temperature was reasonable and the mosquitos were trapped outside. Only problem now was we had a small puddle in the corner of the tent. Turns out it’s only 95% waterproof. I got up and packed away my stuff and hit the showers while Chris slept in. I was onto the washing up by the time he surfaced and began to take down the tent. So it was around 1130 when we were all packed up and ready to leave. We decided to head to the lake first as due to Chris’s lye in he had missed the opportunity to use the loos in the campground. Once Chris was relieved we headed into the store to browse for a license plate and with no luck we headed outside to look at the rental costs. It wasn’t too bad at $20 for an hour and $5 for any additional time, so we went back to the shop to sort it all out. When we enquired we were met with a hesitant and slightly unsettling response of “It’s very windy out there”, to us it was just a gentle breeze and the temperature was perfect so we weren’t sure what they were on about and with a little persuasion they handed me the forms and the canoe was ours. We were directed to skirt the left of the main lake till we reached a weir then climb over the weir and proceed down the river as it would be the calmest place. Still unsure what they meant by “windy” we grabbed our cheaper more waterproof digital cameras and headed onto the water.  Immediately the wind caught the vessel and pushed us sideways in completely the wrong direction and a lot of paddling was required to get us going the right way. But sure enough we were headed the right way and quickly hopped over the weir and onto the river. Almost immediately after crossing the weir we were greeted by our first Alligator and both of us failed to get a picture which was generally the story all the way down as stopping in one location was not exactly possible. So we paddled down for 30 minutes and then back, taking in the beautiful wildlife, scenery and putting on our best Steve Irwin impressions every time we saw a ‘gator. Soon enough we made it back and settled up our bill.

Once we’d returned the equipment we headed for the nature trail towards the park entrance. It was a loop that took us through the jungle and over the swamp before reaching an observation bridge and tower that raises you above the canopy of the park. It was a really nice walk, and one we could enjoy thanks to the temperature returning to reasonable. We spent 2 hours slowly meandering through the trees and crossing over the swamps.

I could have spent another day in the park doing all of the other activities but we need to get out of Florida at some point so we hit the road north once more until we hit a motel again.

Running out of time, must check out.

See you all soon.