6 States in One Day!

Well, we finally got on the road by 6:00 a.m. and made our way to Columbia, then through Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee -- and we're now just outside of Little Rock, Ark. The going was easy for most of the trip -- great weather except for just a few miles of rain here and there -- until we got to Arkansas and ran into traffic. By that time (about 14 hours after we'd started) we figured we'd driven about far enough.

Never thought I'd be able to get from Charleston to Little Rock in one day.

The trip is going well, although it's not exactly sightseeing we're doing. Highways, interstates, 18 wheelers, rest areas -- that's what we're seeing. Oh, and in case anyone was wondering -- so far Alabama has the nicest welcome center.

The only disappointment was the bridge going over the Mississipppi River. I'm not sure what I expected, but after the Cooper River Bridges and the new Ravenel Bridge, this was nothing to write home about.
Tomorrow we officially get into "the west."

Almost Ready

Those of you who know me will recognize this as my natural state -- finishing up an article. This is the last one for this issue, which I am working on at 8:00 at night, and then I can say, "Stick a fork in me; I'm done!" Fortunately my editor will not take me literally.

P.S. Note the caffeine-free Pepsi instead of my usual Dr. Pepper. Yes, indeed, I had declared myself officially "too wired."

Here's Tony squeezing yet one more box into the car. There's a question of whether we will actually fit.

The Right Edge

This, of course, is the Atlantic edge of America: Folly Beach, S.C. Can't wait to see the "left edge" of America. By the way, Connie's stickers on the back window are "Carolina Girl" and "Semper Fi."

Here's one thing I'll miss when I'm away: Charles Towne Landing, where my buddy, Wally the alligator, resides. There he is, swimming behind the "Caution: Alligators" sign. Clever, isn't he?

(For those of you who are new to my blogs, I have a "thing" for alligators. I don't want one as a pet, and I keep a healthy distance from them, but I just view them as the perfect example of being exactly what God made you to be and being happy in it.)

Our Itinerary

Here's the route:

The points on the map are where we're trying to get to each day: Memphis on Friday, Amarillo on Saturday, Kingman on Sunday and Connie and Josh's door on Monday morning. It's what we're shooting for anyway -- roughly 700 miles each day with about 350 on the final leg.

We're taking I-40 based on advice from both Josh and Andy. They've both made the trip, so we trust them. Specific advice: Josh said there's a steakhouse in Amarillo that's the best in the world. We'll need to call him before we get there and see if he can remember the name. Andy said we should time it so we're going through New Mexico during the daytime to catch the beautiful scenery. Excellent advice on both counts.

We leave Friday morning at about 4:30 a.m. -- yes, there is a 4:30 that happens in the morning. Who knew?