Segment Details
Miles: 353 Hours: 7:10
Notes
23977 massive massive solar farm holy cow
One of the great hypocrisies that I kept running into over the course of this trip involved sustainable energy. We think red states, MAGA and Trump, the environmental destroyer, and what naturally comes to mind is a) oil and b) coal – dirty, dirty, dirty. And yet I saw more wind farms in Texas than I saw anywhere else…just hundreds and hundreds of wind turbines. And there I was still in Florida, of all places, and there is a, welp, a “massive massive solar farm holy cow“.
2345.6 that’s all
Ok, you people need to get used to the fact that I love numbers and so there will be numerous notes about cool looking numbers. Deal with it!
23996 unbelievably poor sandy soil
Driving along the country byways really brings to light the soil disparities region by region. The area I was driving through had either been severely farmed rendering the soil completely depleted and useless for agriculture or it was too close to the Gulf and so was high in sand content making it, again, useless for agriculture.
24000 way to go Betty a ride
A big milestone for Betty! You go, Betty!
24057 that little bit of pleasantness was Niceville
From Wikipedia: “When mail service began on July 21, 1868, the city was known as Boggy, and on November 5, 1910, the name was officially changed to Niceville.” Which I think sums it up fairly nice-ly. Oh, it also happens to be adjacent to Eglin Air Force Base.
24088 when the hell does flat Florida Panhandle end
Bo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ring! Get me out of this state!
24123 Creedence Clearwater comes on who will stop the rain and it starts raining
CCR and Loki the Trickster were in cahoots with the timing on this. Messing with my brain…Creedence Clearwater Revival – Who’ll Stop The Rain just as it started raining. On a side note, I encountered very little rain throughout this entire trip. To be honest I think the next time I ran into rain was in Brantley, New Mexico 10 days hence and then the final time was in Grants, New Mexico one week further on. Which is not good, Boys n Girls. We need rain!
24125 Florida hello Mississippi
Goodbye, Florida!
24125 correction goodbye Florida hello Alabama
Well lookee here. Sweet Home Alabama!
24168 West 90 Main Street mobile
It was actually Springhill Ave in Mobile, AL. And it was spectacular! Deep, deep south antebellum mansions wonderfully preserved on the left and right heading out of the city. I actually did a U-ie and went back down the avenue just to take another look. Too much traffic to take pictures so I clipped a couple images from the town’s historical website (see gallery below).
24196 welcome to Mississippi
Continuing on with the Poverty State Tour. All along the Gulf were tiny towns that seemed to consist primarily of a small town office, post office, 10+ tiny churches, a dozen or so ramshackle dwellings and a Dollar General. No grocery store – the Dollar General was it. No other commerce. And that would be it until the next tiny town wherein everything was just a rinse-n-repeat of the previous one.
24210 just realized I’m now in Central Time what do you know
Time zones messed with me throughout the trip and at one point I was in one state heading east, I think, in Eastern Time and in getting to the next state the time zone changed back to Central! Made no sense!
Photos
