696 miles. 

You guys. 12 hours in the car today. That's a lot of hours in this thing. (See illustrated Santa Fe and imagine it's trunk filled with fishing gear and the front seat filled with a grouchy LP.) We left Port St. Joe's Port Inn, reluctantly, at 6am and about 18 miles into the trip, switched to CST, making it even earlier. We saw the sun rise in Florida, rolled through Alabama, hit Mississippi, drove through a bit of Louisiana and inched our way up Arkansas. Our longest day of driving... and the most naps I've taken in one day, ever.

We pushed our road trip limits today: listened to 8/11 discs of a 13 hour book, we grumbled "how many hours are left?", spent long stretches in silence and wondered, aloud, about the depressed cities we cruised through. I rolled the window down every time we passed some confederate jasmine, drinking in the sweet, intoxicating smell and sighing, closing my eyes and resting my feet on the dash. We almost ate fried seafood from a gas station. Almost.

We learned about the startling crime rate in Pine Bluff, AR, about water quality in Jackson, MS, and about the history of Hot Springs National Park. We drank, collectively, 8 coffees and celebrated our arrival in Hot Springs with 4 beers. We've seen all kinds of bodies of water and experienced varying levels of cleanliness at gas station bathrooms. Today was a long one, but 5 states in one day, I mean, whoa.

Soon we'll be back home, soon. But probably not tomorrow. Onward.

xo-LP