Big Bend National Park is located in western Texas, right on the Mexican border. Getting there was a very long drive through a whole lot of nothing, but when I got to my camp, just outside the park gates, I found… a whole lot of nothing. Well, there were cacti, and small lizards, and some rocks and things. And mountains in the distance. When I got up the next morning I discovered that my Afghanistan deployment was good training for…
It was quite a pretty drive from Mobile, Alabama to New Orleans, Louisiana. I went through another bridge-tunnel crossing the Mobile Bay, but unlike the Chesapeake bridge-tunnel, this one was a bit rational in speed and width. The long drive across the Lake Pontchartrain bridge into the city was really lovely on this bright sunny day. I had been craving coffee and a New Orleans specialty, a beignet, ever since I left Mobile, so I drove immediately into the French Quarter…
I only spent one night camping in Historic Blakeley State Park, just outside Mobile, Alabama, but it was quite an interesting place. Briefly, the town of Blakeley was established in 1814, and a fort established there, Fort Blakeley, was the site of a battle in the Civil War. They have a very nice write up of the history of the area on their web site, so I encourage you to go there if you’re interested in more details: http://www.blakeleypark.com/. The…
I’ll have to start off this post by saying that I’m not a follower of NASCAR, and don’t know much about it. I know some of the big name drivers, I could name a few of the famous tracks, and I’ve watched “Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby,” but that’s pretty much the extent of my knowledge. But Talladega was a convenient place to stop for the night on my journey, I grew up playing around and in cars,…
A friend had told me about the Unclaimed Baggage Center, located in Scottsboro, Alabama. They apparently buy up the majority of the lost or unclaimed baggage in the US, sort it all out, and sell it in what is essentially a thrift store. It was just a short distance out of my way, so I decided to check it out. I arrived on a Saturday morning, which was perhaps a mistake, as there were so many people there! I had…