Road warrior Keebs has been at it again!
I have been frantically trying to finish uploading Disney pics while editing Dallas/Duran pics (or at least mine...don't have Amber's Dallas pics yet) so I could get to the pics that I took Saturday because, yes folks, I once again went on a whirlwind road trip.
As of Friday afternoon, I still hadn't decided where I wanted to go. I even put folded up choices in a cup and passed it around at work to pick a destination. It came out four for Marceline, Missouri (Walt's childhood home), four for Gulfport Stennis, and four for St. George Island in Florida. In my heart, I knew exactly where I was going because I knew that I couldn't do Marceline or Stennis by myself. I made the decision to go through Alabama to make the way there shorter so that I could get home Sunday morning at a "decent" hour (apparently, that's a matter of opinion...more on that later).
I woke up earlier than expected on Saturday and managed to get out of the house at 2:30 am (although I didn't manage to pull out of the drive until 3 am...more in a mo). Most of the morning, this is all I saw:
Here's where I should interject an important lesson...I think I've made it clear I'm not a fan of driving through Alabama. I purposely go an extra four hours each way just to avoid it when I go to Disney World. But I felt I had a handle enough on things because I glanced at a map several times during the week (mistake #1), I have GPS in my car (mistake #2), somewhere in my house I thought I had a road atlas (mistake #3) and, when all else fails, I always have my phone for GPS purposes (saving grace). Four missed turns, three massive traffic stops due to wrecks, and constant fighting with my vehicle's GPS, I finally made it to St. George Island at 2pm (one hour later than I planned and five hours earlier than my vehicle's GPS wanted me to be there).
Let me just say, it was well worth the hassle to get there:
The shells were amazing! I had my pick of as many as I wanted in practically every color of the rainbow:
I didn't do this, but someone must have known I was coming...notice a particular shape here?
Of course I had to do my favorite kind of pic:
I stayed for about an hour and a half...about as long as my broken toes could handle walking in the sand and my back could carry the full bag of shells in my backpack. I took the long way home...down the coast road as far as could go until I ran out of daylight and then I10 it was until I hit Mississippi and back North to home it was. There are dozens of pictures of that route too, but they are all in the album if anyone cares enough to see them. I managed to make it home at 4:30am on Sunday, way better than I expected. I really never manage a clear picture of it, but after a day like that, I do have to admit that there is nothing more I love than to see the Welcome to Arkansas sign (even though it's still another hour and a half until home from here):
When all was said and done, I ended up with a ton of beautiful shells.
The white ones in the back are months of Gulfport trips including about 10 big ones that my Aunt gave me...all the ones in the front are what I picked up on St. George. I wish I didn't have some of the issues I have because I would have loved to have gone into the lighthouse and some of the amazing shops on the island. I was lucky I was able to get out at the beach.
People find it odd that I'm not scared to drive thousands of miles away (1377.8 to be exact) for long periods of time (23.25 hrs of actual driving time to be exact) but that I can't go inside places when I get there. You should see me trying to go inside gas stations to go to the bathroom! I do prefer rest stops when it comes to that sort of thing (I am old and I come from a time when rest stops were safe and I still feel safe at them...a hell of a lot more than gas stations). I never could stop for food and ended up getting snacks at 1:14am at a very scary gas station because I was shaking from lack of food (I bring sodas and protein shakes, but never food...I try to use it as a tool to make myself stop for food, but it NEVER works...you'd think I'd catch on by now and pack a bag of licorice or something).
As of right now, I feel better than I've felt in months! This trip was exactly what I needed. I just hope the euphoria sticks around for at least a little while. At least Dallas/Duran pics and Disney pics are done, so as soon as I have some free time, I should be able to start with the Disney trip reviews!
As of Friday afternoon, I still hadn't decided where I wanted to go. I even put folded up choices in a cup and passed it around at work to pick a destination. It came out four for Marceline, Missouri (Walt's childhood home), four for Gulfport Stennis, and four for St. George Island in Florida. In my heart, I knew exactly where I was going because I knew that I couldn't do Marceline or Stennis by myself. I made the decision to go through Alabama to make the way there shorter so that I could get home Sunday morning at a "decent" hour (apparently, that's a matter of opinion...more on that later).
I woke up earlier than expected on Saturday and managed to get out of the house at 2:30 am (although I didn't manage to pull out of the drive until 3 am...more in a mo). Most of the morning, this is all I saw:
Here's where I should interject an important lesson...I think I've made it clear I'm not a fan of driving through Alabama. I purposely go an extra four hours each way just to avoid it when I go to Disney World. But I felt I had a handle enough on things because I glanced at a map several times during the week (mistake #1), I have GPS in my car (mistake #2), somewhere in my house I thought I had a road atlas (mistake #3) and, when all else fails, I always have my phone for GPS purposes (saving grace). Four missed turns, three massive traffic stops due to wrecks, and constant fighting with my vehicle's GPS, I finally made it to St. George Island at 2pm (one hour later than I planned and five hours earlier than my vehicle's GPS wanted me to be there).
Let me just say, it was well worth the hassle to get there:
The shells were amazing! I had my pick of as many as I wanted in practically every color of the rainbow:
I didn't do this, but someone must have known I was coming...notice a particular shape here?
Of course I had to do my favorite kind of pic:
I stayed for about an hour and a half...about as long as my broken toes could handle walking in the sand and my back could carry the full bag of shells in my backpack. I took the long way home...down the coast road as far as could go until I ran out of daylight and then I10 it was until I hit Mississippi and back North to home it was. There are dozens of pictures of that route too, but they are all in the album if anyone cares enough to see them. I managed to make it home at 4:30am on Sunday, way better than I expected. I really never manage a clear picture of it, but after a day like that, I do have to admit that there is nothing more I love than to see the Welcome to Arkansas sign (even though it's still another hour and a half until home from here):
When all was said and done, I ended up with a ton of beautiful shells.
The white ones in the back are months of Gulfport trips including about 10 big ones that my Aunt gave me...all the ones in the front are what I picked up on St. George. I wish I didn't have some of the issues I have because I would have loved to have gone into the lighthouse and some of the amazing shops on the island. I was lucky I was able to get out at the beach.
People find it odd that I'm not scared to drive thousands of miles away (1377.8 to be exact) for long periods of time (23.25 hrs of actual driving time to be exact) but that I can't go inside places when I get there. You should see me trying to go inside gas stations to go to the bathroom! I do prefer rest stops when it comes to that sort of thing (I am old and I come from a time when rest stops were safe and I still feel safe at them...a hell of a lot more than gas stations). I never could stop for food and ended up getting snacks at 1:14am at a very scary gas station because I was shaking from lack of food (I bring sodas and protein shakes, but never food...I try to use it as a tool to make myself stop for food, but it NEVER works...you'd think I'd catch on by now and pack a bag of licorice or something).
As of right now, I feel better than I've felt in months! This trip was exactly what I needed. I just hope the euphoria sticks around for at least a little while. At least Dallas/Duran pics and Disney pics are done, so as soon as I have some free time, I should be able to start with the Disney trip reviews!
Comments
Love the shell collection and what luck finding Micky on the beach!
I like using Waze on my phone when I drive, it's saved me quite a few traffic jams.
Linda