The first leg of our Friends and Family Tour in retirement was to Florida for Karen’s 80th birthday. My dream was to stop along the way in Arlen, Texas to meet Hank, Peggy, and Bobby Hill. Maybe chat with Hank about propane and propane accessories. Then move on to the great state of Alabama, to Greenbow, Alabama to meet Forrest Gump. My ultra running hero…………turns out they are all fictional characters. Thanks reality for crushing my dreams. So now what? Well, we still had a birthday party to go to. While I am definitely not a big fan of driving long distances, the math was pretty straightforward, 2,400 miles in six days meant four hundred miles per day. So Friday we said farewell to a houseful of our Flagstaff friends. Sunday we said farewell to our church family and pointed the 4Runner east.

A long day one took us southeast of Amarillo down a deserted road.

Prior to this trip my only experience with Texas was an Interstate across the panhandle. We actually rather liked Texas. Although a current Texas resident and friend of Sharon’s thought they might not embrace my suggestion for a new state motto. “Texas – doesn’t suck as much as I thought!” And with the exception of the puzzling Dallas/Fort Worth roadway system, we found plenty to like in Texas.

Our hearts were set on using our narrow window of free time to explore Louisiana, so we ended our 2nd long day of driving at Chicot state park. Unlike anything we’d ever seen.

Paddling through the cypress swamp was otherworldly. We were treated to an amazing variety of both new and familiar birds. Sharing the swamp with alligators was by far the coolest…and spookiest part of our day. It’s easy to ascribe feelings and personality to other animals. Alligators are soul less, stone cold killers. While we were watching one swim by up ahead, an unseen gator about five feet to my right did a massive “I don’t want you here” splash/thrash. I just recently managed to unclench my butt cheeks!

We spent an interesting few days roaming around one small corner of Louisiana, sampling the swamps and tasty sausage known as boudin (thanks for the suggestion Steve and Michelle).

It still hasn’t sunk in that we are retired. In spite of several pleasant travel days across the south, and several pleasant days with family here in Florida, it still feels like we’re on a vacation. A vacation, that like all other vacations that have come before, must inevitably come to an end. But not today. Today we celebrate the completion of Karen’s 80th trip around the sun. We’ll think about tomorrow, and any other tomorrows…tomorrow.