From Hot Springs National Park

Day 1: The trip got off to a good start when Mason and I went to Avis and received an upgrade to a full size SUV, because there were no more intermediate SUV’s. From there, we consolidated all my gear and food to fit in the back of the vehicle (seriously, thank God for the upgrade).

Had lunch with my family as both a send off for myself and a welcome home for my mom who got back to Tallahassee around 11 following a four week trip to Europe.

I left straight from lunch to head to David and Megan’s house, with a pit stop to see Cheri in Marianna. After getting there, I got to play some blocks with their son (they make magnetic blocks now; so cool), and build “big tower”. It was great catching up with old friends and meeting their daughter for the first time.

Day 2: Hung out at the house for a little bit to say goodbye to the Rice family, then stopped by Pensacola Beach to see the Gulf of America(?) before venturing into landlocked states for the next few weeks.

A nine hour drive through Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas is about as exciting as one could imagine, but on the bright side I finally upgraded to Spotify Premium and could skip songs with impunity without the interruption of ads. On the not so bright side, it rained for a few hours in the afternoon and the forecast for Hot Springs had a chance of rain for the next 12 hours.

Made it to camp around a little before 6, and was very grateful the rain had stopped. Worried about the potential for more weather I skipped breaking out the stove, and had a simple meal of black beans and peas (this may become a trend), as it began to drizzle.