Ethan and I left out of Clearwater around 4:30pm and started the journey to Los Angeles, CA. Â It is 2,580 miles from coast to coast – and lots of different scenery along the way. Â And just as we pulled onto Highway 19 North, our Garmin GPS died! Â We tried several times to resuscitate it, but it was gone. Â Ethan would have to become very proficient with the map on this trip.
That night we made it to Monticello, FL – somewhere in the Panhandle, not far from Tallahassee. Â We were exhausted and fell into bed quickly. Â We were up the next morning, bright and early, ready to hit the road. We stopped off for breakfast at the Family Restaurant just next door to the hotel for the two eggs, toast, and hashbrowns special.
We were on the road by 7:45am and heading across Interstate 10. Â Actually, we would be on I-10 for most of this trip. Â We drove through the Florida Panhandle (where I waved to my friends the Dukes in Pensacola) and into Alabama. Â The drive was a quick one through Alabama and Mississippi and then we crossed into Louisiana.
Scenery was changing rapidly and spring had definitely come to the South – trees and flowers were blooming everywhere. Â Evening temperatures were still cool but it warmed up nicely during the day. We finally reached our destination for Monday as we crossed into East Texas. Â We would spend the night in Beaumont after driving some 688 miles.
Just across the street from our hotel was one of the local favorite Tex-Mex restaurants. Â We made our way over to Cafe Del Rio and I made a call to Cindy to let her know we were safe and to talk for a while.
The food was great and the atmosphere was definitely Tex-Mex – decorations, music, etc. was all very fitting for the place.
After dinner, we went back to the hotel and tried to relax. Â I still had some work that I needed to get done on the computer. Â I called Cindy again to say good night, did my work, and was off to bed.