EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking near Pompano Beach, Florida
Distance - 864 miles
Time - 14 hours
My longest drive of the trip yet!
Shannon and I ended up talking after everyone left until nearly 2am. I knew I had a long way to go, so I woke up at 6:30am to head out but did take my time getting ready to make sure I was actually awake enough to be on the road. Thus assured, I stopped in Ft. Lauderdale to drop off some cookies with Allie and PJ, then headed back to the highway. Thank you to all of the wonderful people who kept me company on the phone - not only were they delightful conversations, but you also helped me stay awake and alert as I drove. :)
I hadn't realized how big Florida is! It takes about 14 hours to drive across the wide part of Texas, and it took nearly that long (over 12 hours) for me to get from Miami to the Florida/Alabama border. These long drives are always interesting, the change from palm trees back to Spanish moss-covered oaks, the changing light from bright morning to glaring mid-day to buttery evening to lingering twilight. I sampled a red navel orange for the first time at a true "middle of nowhere" gas station, one where the pumps don't have credit card readers but the owner inside will call over the loudspeaker when he sees you standing there with your card in hand, telling you to go ahead and pump your gas and bring your card in after you finish. When I went in he offered me a slice of orange - the peel was orange but the fruit was decidedly pink/red (not the deep burgundy of a blood orange) and tasted...well, just like an orange, but prettier ;)
My family was up in Baton Rouge at a Christmas party, so I stopped in Treme to say hi to Al and Emily! Emily had to go to bed because she was working the next morning, but Al and I went out to get a beer and catch up on the last year since we'd seen each other. Another Peace Corps friend, we were in the same training group and even both lived in the same northern region around Ouahigouya. I was really sad that she was on her way out of town the next morning, but she left me with a list of places to visit around town, and I can't wait to come back through town in a few weeks on my way home so that I can see her and Emily again.
Sprinkles waiting to go back in the cupboard
Pretty clouds while waiting to get on US 1
Did you know that the I-10 in Tucson stretches all the way to Florida? Neither did I!
Mid-afternoon-ish, still in Florida
No comments:
Post a Comment