Road Trip--Day Seven

We took our time getting up this morning. Walked back to Cafe du Monde for more beignets and hot chocolate, picked up some pralines for Cindy and some other little snacks for the road. Ambled back to our friends apartment, loaded up and headed out, knowing that we would be ending up in Atlanta, but not sure which route we were going to take.

Which way to go and what to do
My idea of working lots of history lessons into the trip kind of went by the wayside, when the actual equation of miles and hours on the road became clear. To make this really work in that manner this trip would have to be months long not weeks. What became clear was how rich and diverse and deep our countries history, culture, landscape etc is. So history is certainly still in the mix, (we just started listening to Red Badge of Courage) but as far as it being the focus and a neat unfolding curriculum, that's been tossed in favor of addressing what is at the moment most applicable. Which in large part has been map reading and a lot of calculations in regards to time and distances. And co-ordinating this with campsites and dining options.

With that in mind we held our course to the coast, thinking we might get some fresh seafood somewhere between Biloxi and Mobile.

Nature Calls

Well after blowing through Biloxi early on and realizing that we were going to be hitting Mobile a little too early to pull over and eat, I decided to slow things down and take some time to appreciate the trip. So we pulled off the highway to check out the Mississipi Sandhill Crane Reserve.




Another lesson in biodiversity. Over the course of the mere 3/4 mile nature trail, we walked through a bog, the edge of a savanna, a pine forest, and checked out some swamp and wetlands.



We didn't see any cranes, or much wildlife at all save for a lizard or two. But what they had in abundance were carnivorous plants.

Carnivourous plants a go go

Now these very interesting creatures have been in my peripheral vision, so to speak, for a while now. I had been doing research on them while in LA and had found a wonderful garden and supplier near San Diego. But they have very specific requirements in regards to humidity,(LA is pretty dry, we are in the desert for all practical purposes) and upkeep. So with everything else going on building and maintaining a mini-green house seemed impractical and untimely, not that that has stopped me in the past but on this I took the wise course and put the fantasies of a plant zoo on the shelf.



They had several different types of flesh eating plants, but the pitcher plants were the real scene stealers.



When we came upon our first sighting of pitcher plants in the wild, Skye went a little crazy spotting one then another and another. We soon realized there were hundreds of them scattered throughout the bog.



A beautiful specimen.



Skye overlooking the swamp, an eerie cypress tree with Spanish moss beautifully cascading down. We learned the difference between the two types of Cypress(the most easy to quickly identify was that one has needles facing up and the other has them facing down) as well the bit of history of how many of the giant cypress had been cut down many years ago to use in any number of building applications. These magnificent trees can reach heights approaching those of Sequoias.



This little toadstool was almost perfectly round. It was gorgeous. Mushrooms are another quirky interest of mine. Skye and I grew some shitakes and oyster mushrooms from a kit. The tastes of these were otherworldly. Eating food you grew or gathered yourself is so much more rewarding, feeding both your soul and your body. Foraging for wild mushrooms is on the to-do list. Although in this rare instance I won't rely simply on books, magazines or the internet. No I will find an expert or group and go out with them the first few or several times. The margin for error and its consequence pretty much demand this.



Saw this "Fish Camp" from the highway as we were heading out from Mobile. Figured it was going to be a bit rustic or touristy, but when the hostess asked if we had a reservation, I realized how deceiving outward appearances can be.

We had amazing seafood and Skye got her one and only alligator sighting of the trip. We saw him from pretty far off, as he swam out into the brackish, more salty than fresh waters of the Mississippi Sound that blended into the Gulf of Mexico.



The cloud formations and sharp contrasts against the clear blue sky were remarkable. Pictures, simply don't do it justice.

Decisions, decisions

We had thought it would be fun to make it to Atlanta by 8 pm so that we could all watch the new Survivor episode together. The show had become a family tradition way back when. But we also looked on the map and realized if we kept on the I-10 for a little bit longer instead of heading north on the I-65 we could slice through the eastern most part of Florida and add that to the number of states we bagged on this madcap road race.

We decided to go for it.

Upon closer inspection of the map, we noticed that the "Highest Point in Florida" was just a little further off and just a little out of the way. The thought of bagging the lowest of the highest points was too much to resist.

Today's "High" Point



We kept following signs down smaller and smaller back roads.



Skye got a real kick out of the fact that Florida's highest point is a mere 345 feet above sea level. Regardless it afforded a beautiful view of the surrounding forests and pastures.

Last year we spent a week camping at high elevations so I could acclimate for a 10k/obstacle course held at the Marine Corps high altitude training facility in the Sierra mountain range. One night we camped at the base of Whitney. We also dropped in at the visitors center at the gateway to Death Valley, the lowest point in the US. It gives you an idea of the altitudeinal (made up word) diversity of California.



My arm wasn't quite long enough to get both of us and the plaque all in the picture.



We eventually grabbed wastebaskets from the Men and Women restrooms, stacked them on each other(they were the short little plastic ones) and used the timer mode on the camera to document our first "Highpoint".

Near the monument was a stack of brochures for the "Highpointers-Summits of the States".

Goody, a new club/interest/diversion for to complicate and invigorate the remainder of our roadtrip.

Racing Towards Atlanta

After fully appreciating Florida's highest summit. We headed northbound, trying to make it to Atlanta before 8pm and Survivor. It was all a bit confusing. The clock on the dash of the Prius is still set to Los Angeles time. I try to keep my watch set on the time we start our day and then my Iphone(when working) is set to the real time. The change from Central to Eastern is somewhere just west of Atlanta.

Our detour took a bit longer than expected, we did add to it after all. And we landed a good further south on the I-65 than I had planned, so in spite of reaching and maintaining speeds in the 70 mph to 85 mph range we didn't arrive till after 10pm.

But we were finally back together as a family. Viva la familia!