Day 9

The Last of LOUISIANA

We left New Orleans in the early morning on our way to Orlando, the final destination (thank god!). There wasn't a whole lot left of the state so we only noticed things falling into the "abundant" category.

Temperature: 88 degrees F (at 9 in the morning)

Abundant: Unidentifiable furry roadkill

MISSISSIPPI

My mom was set on seeing some oil tar globs, which led us down to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi...

Where we set foot for the first time in the Gulf of Mexico. It's too bad that there was a sheen of oil on the water in a lot of places.

The houses along the coast are mansion style homes. A good number of them are set on stilts and probably a third are still being rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the area (Mississippi was hit especially hard). We also drove by countless empty lots. The abandonment paired with the oil spill was sad and I wished more people had the opportunity to stay after the hurricane.

Stilts:

Brand new houses next to empty lots:

Surprise! We found wreckage that had washed up from the oil rig. Shortly after this, we drove back up to the main freeway and continued on to Alabama.

Temperature: 91 degrees F

Abnormal Roadside Items:

White bucket

Black bucket

Stuffed teddy bear

Shoe

Full size mattress

Oil rig wreckage

Abundant: Glass beer bottles

ALABAMA

This sign was really hard to find. It was in between the exits for a rest stop and I trekked through long grass (rattlesnakes!) to get a picture.

We drove through the tail end of Alabama and didn't get to spend much time there, so I only have the welcome sign.

Temperature: 94 degrees F

Abnormal Roadside Items:

Armadillo (There comes a time when you see so many armadillos that you just start to refer to them as "dillos")

Enough clothing that it looked like someone lost a suitcase

Dog carrier

Patio chair

Bed pillows

White bucket

Gas can

Orange bucket

Abundant: Armadillos and garbage

FLORIDA

Funny story about this sign: I wasn't paying attention and I didn't get a photo in time. In order to turn around we attempted to exit, but it was a truck stop. The exit after that was a separate highway. The exit after that was a separate highway but had a clear turn around, so we took that. Forty minutes later I finally got the sign. On to Orlando.

We went through the entire panhandle and hit our first set of toll roads. While waiting in line, there was a large lightning storm. I had time to practice taking pictures.

Temperature: 97 degrees F

Abnormal Roadside Items:

Grey bucket

Blue cooler

Inflated pool air mattress

White bucket

Pink bucket

Yellow bucket

Large lizard like reptile

Turtle

Opossum

Raccoon

Gas can

Armadillo

Bag of charcoal briquets

Construction hat

Welcome mat

Blue blanket

Fox

Rubber boot

Blue rubbermaid bin

Milk crate (a black one and a grey one)

Nutria

Coyote

Hawk

Skunk

Tortoise attempting to cross the freeway

Abundant: Freeway call boxes

Favorite Part of the Day:

Mom: Traveling along the Gulf Coast

Annie: The successful rebuilds after Katrina

Favorite Quote:

Mom: "You know you're really badass when you drive a motorcycle with a side car"

Annie: "Mom, where did we see that gas can?"

mom: "Was that in Kentucky?"

annie: "...we were never in Kentucky..."

mom: "too many states, too many numbers"