DeFuniak Springs, FL

We happened to spend a couple of days near a small town called DeFuniak Springs.  The town is named after a spring fed lake this is nearly perfectly round.  We walked around this quaint little town and around the lake.  There are many beautiful and historical homes in the area.

If you look closely, this building has the Coca-cola logo etched into the stonework.

Alabama, Florida

Two states in one day!

Alabama is an exciting state for us because we have not been there before.  

Alabama is our 35th state together. Only 15 to go!

We have been to Florida many times, but here we are again.

Gulfport and Biloxi, MS

Not very good weather but we did go down to the beach.  Miles and miles of beautiful sand and water, and in our case, wind and rain.

Mississippi

This is our fifth state on our trip

New Orleans, LA

New Orleans, LA was our stop for the day.  Lots of beautiful buildings, music, and food.

New Orleans is celebrating it's 300th anniversary in 2018.  

St. Louis cathedral

King Cake, a Mardi Gras tradition

Good-bye Texas, Hello, Louisiana

After 10 days and over 880 miles on I-10 from El Paso to Beaumont, we finally left Texas and welcomed a new state into our trip, Louisiana.

We drove for 20 miles over the bayou on the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge. 

Water, water and more water.  For someone who spent the last 5 years in the deserts of Arizona, it's kind of strange to see so much water.

Galveston, Texas

City of Galveston and beaches.  Very old city, buildings dating back into the mid to late 1800s, those that survived the 1900 Hurricane.  Amazing architecture, many of the old downtown buildings have been restored.

Moody Mansion

Seawall built after the 1900 hurricane, updated and reinforced over the years.

Took a ferry from Galveston Island to the Bolivar Peninsula. Then drove up the peninsula back to the mainland.  It was a very beautiful drive with just a strip of land between the road and the Gulf.

Houses built up on stilts because of the hurricanes.

COTA-Circuit of the Americas Race Track, Austin, Texas

Circuit of the Americas is a race track in Austin, Texas built for Formula 1 cars. 

The first race held there was in 2012.  Those of you who know us well, 

you had to know that we would eventually visit a race track.

251 feet tall observation platform that you can actually stand out on during the race.  There are 419 steps to get up there, fortunately there is also an elevator.  Unfortunately, there were doing maintenance while we were there, so we didn't get to go up in it.

Starting grid

Famous uphill turn 1.  Elevation change of 130 feet.

Finish Line.