After a nice visit in Florida, it was time to head back to Texas. I woke up around 3am. Since Florida is in the Eastern Time Zone, this is actually 2am Central Time. Basically, I was getting up the same time a lot of people would be leaving the bar and going to bed. After getting ready and packing up the car, I made sure to top off my car.
For breakfast, I had the leftover pizza from Bocca Lupo.
The morning started a bit cool at 59 degrees.
Right now, Florida is experiencing a lot of issues with drought and wildfire. I ran into this firsthand with really smoky roads. At some points, I had to slow way down because it was very hard to see.
After a while, the smoke cleared and the sun started to rise.
It also got a bit cooler the farther north I drove.
The forests of North Florida were very scenic.
At rest stops, they don't mess around. There's armed security there.
Before you know it, I was out of Florida and into "Sweet Home" Alabama.
The drive through Alabama didn't take too long. Mississippi was the next state to go through.
I stopped at a gas station in Mississippi. It was the first time I saw an abstinence-only condom machine in a bathroom.
After my gas stop, I was on the road again.
Mississippi was soon in my rearview and I was driving through Louisiana. This was the first state I encountered any major traffic jams. It seemed between New Orleans and Lafayette, there were a couple accidents and the traffic became stop and go.
After fighting traffic, things seemed to open up once I hit Texas. I was happy because Texas meant I was getting closer to home!
Now, it was time to drive through Houston.
After Houston, I got to watch the sunset.
By the end of my drive, I was definitely tired. I walked into the apartment and found a pleasant surprise! Victoria did a little more decorating at our apartment and put up a Packer's flag. This was definitely awesome!
This drive was definitely a long drive. I drove it straight through and watched the sun rise and set. I was able to visit Alabama, a state I had never been to before. It was definitely nice to be back in Austin and the surprise Victoria had for me was great!