December 29th, 2012

Up early and on the road by just after 7 a.m..We looked at our vehicle and could not believe the salt and mud on it. It looked like we had been off roading through a mud bog. No car wash could be found close by so it would have to wait until later in the day.

 

Today we traveled through the Ozark's as we twisted and turned through Arkansas. The rock cliffs lined the road showing the layers sediment formation. As the early morning haziness lifted the hills in the distance started to take shape. It was strange to see trees rising from the rock. Even stranger and out of place were the high communication towers perched on an otherwise beautiful mount. A trip through here in the fall would be gorgeous, especially if you took the back roads. As the sun rose and the skies cleared we could see a vast mountainous landscape that was breath taking. The look and feel of the warm bright sun infused me with a renewed sense of calm. Oh, how I do love the sunshine.

 

The long day took us past Fort Smith and little Rock, AK., Tupelo Ms., to Memphis TN. We crossed the wide Mississippi via the iron bridged and rolled on through Memphis to reach Birmingham, Alabama.

As we made our way further south we saw the country side become less rolling and the flatness of the world return. The road stretched out mile after mile luring us farther south to the warm sun.  When we reached Birmingham we stopped for supper at Ruby Tuesdays and met a lovely waitress from Ireland and a young fellow previously from Florida that was curious about our salt and sand covered car that obviously had been through a snow storm. We had been looking all day for a car wash as we stop for gas, but people told us it was too cold and the car washes are not open when there is chance of freezing. We found that kind of strange. Needless to say our car looks dreadful making it a real conversation piece today. We will definitely wash the car tomorrow before getting to the condo.

When we reached Birmingham we felt the pull to push on a little further. We sit tonight in Tallahassee Florida.  Tomorrow will be a short 5 hour drive to the condo in Fort Pierce. It has been a long day winding through 6 states so sleep beckons,

Goodnight all!