The Trail To Mobile - Day 8 and Day 9

The trail from San Antonio to Baton Rouge, LA proved to be the longest so far. We covered 485 miles which is the most for us on this trip and should be the last big travel day by land. After spending parts of four different days in Texas, happiness truly was seeing it in our rear view mirror. We knew we were getting really close to our destination.

Once in Louisiana we retraced some roads that we traveled with Randy and Karen last September after a UW Husky football game in Baton Rouge. That was just after Hurricane Issac which had left a lot of water standing in the  bayous and the low country. Well it turns out that Louisiana has been having some record rains which we got to experience first hand.

 There were similar water levels now as there were then. I guess the difference is that it took a month and a half of steady rain to duplicate Issac's performance which took a couple of days.

                             

Day 9 started with the knowledge that we would only be on the road about 3-4 hours. In short order we passed through the remaining part of Louisiana, crossed through Mississippi, and then into Alabama.

We drove into the marina yard just after noon on Wednesday, January 16. We were met by the marina folks whom had been expecting us. They were a little surprised by what and how much we had inside the truck. I know that they were not expecting to see the dinghy and outboard motor with the radar mast laying over the top.

Within two hours we had our truck unloaded and possesions stored in an old trailer on the property.

What a relief that was. We were then able to arrange the return of the truck to Budget the next day and pick up a rental car from Avis while on the way. It could not have been smoother.

We feel very fortunate to have traveled 3,440 miles without incident as well as having the opportunity to visit friends along the way. The next part of the story is: The Trail to Mobile for the boat. We were in regular contact with the trucker on most days and watched their progress from afar.

Nautical Word For The Day: [from seatalk.info]

Port:

1. A coastal harbor offering safe anchorage, dockage, and facilities for offloading cargo.

From Great Loop Jargon:

2. A suitable adult beverage useful for toasting whether one's successful arrival in that coastal harbor is by sea or by land.