Day 41: New Orleans to Jackson, Mississippi, to Selma and Montgomery, Alabama

Miles: 9,613

States: 28 (Mississippi and Alabama)

We visited two state capitals today. Downtown Jackson is a ghost town, but there's a very cute arts district - we had lunch there. Fried green tomatoes, shrimp gumbo, and red beans and rice with andouille. It was fantastic. One of those meals where you say "yum" with every bite.

We got to Selma around 5, just as the voting rights museum was closing. Our grand plan had been to visit the museum, then drive the march route from Selma to Montgomery - March, 1965, Bloody Sunday in Selma on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Dr. King led 3,000 marchers to Montgomery, by which time their numbers had swelled to 25,000. Since the museum was closed, we drove more ignorant than we hoped. But we rolled down the windows and sang along to music from the 60s, some of it about social turmoil and upheaval.

Downtown Montgomery was very quiet as well - I guess that's what we get for going to the deep south on a weekend. We drove around the downtown area and took pictures - of the capitol, of the civil rights memorial, of the church where Dr. King was a pastor for many years.

Today we're headed to Birmingham, then towards home. I'm so ready to be home, even if it's just for a few days.

Day 40: New Orleans, Louisiana

After our Thursday night dinner of shrimp gumbo, jambalaya with andouille, and po boys at the famous Mother's, we were in the New Orleans frame of mind.

Friday morning, Andrew and I walked to the French Quarter for hot beignets and cold cafe-au-laits. We ate them on a park bench overlooking the Mississippi, with a red train rolling by and a big tour boat playing kitchy music on the river. We met up with Parker, a good friend from high school, to explore. We walked down to the French Market and gawked at alligator heads, penis mardi gras beads, and weird, cheap knicknacks. The French Quarter has gorgeous old homes with intricate ironwork and lots of greenery - so picturesque. And of course we explored Burbon Street. We counted 14 strip joints on our 5-ish block walk. And they're vulgar even during the day, with photographic advertisements for live sex acts and creative strip shows. I'm not sure how that's all legal.

We took the St. Charles street car through the Garden District, with its beautiful old homes, to an old fashioned lunch counter - Camilla's. The wait staff performed admirably and the food was delicious. (Club sandwiches loaded with fresh, real turkey, "dressed" burgers, omelets smothered in chili, milk shakes with Blue Bell ice cream...)

Notable: the trees in the Garden District are hung with Mardi Gras beads year round. It's hard to tell in this photo unless you zoom in.

Day 39: San Antonio, Texas to New Orleans, Lousiana

Miles: 9,178

States: 26

Looong driving day. Got in late last night. The city is clearly still struggling. We're off to explore today.

Day 38: San Antonio, Texas

Dad's lifelong friend Kerry put us up for a few days. He took off work on Wednesday to take us to the Alamo, see the San Antonio River Walk, and visit an old mission outside of the city.

The Alamo sits right in the middle of downtown San Antonio. The story is, of course, enchanting. It's chilling to be so close.

The River Walk is beautiful, enormous, and growing. I wish we had time to linger there on a Friday afternoon. Wednesday mornings aren't as popular.

The San Jose mission gives a glimpse of mission life 200 years ago. The space is beautiful, and with some imagination, exciting.

Day 37: El Paso to San Antonio, Texas

Miles: 8,633

States: 25

Well, Texas is big. We haven't encountered strong accents yet, evidently those are concentrated in Eastern Texas.

We *did* see a truck hauling two zebras and at least a dozen donkeys though. That was one of the weirder highway spottings.

And Andrew, mercifully, put the entire Ender's Game series on his iPod in audio book form. The time flies as we consider human motives and communication, forms of otherness, and the usefulness of government and religion. Lighthearted sci-fi.

Day 36: Tempe, AZ to El Paso, TX

Miles: 8,082

States: 25

Drove into and out of New Mexico today, I think we stopped once in the state. It's still hella hot here, although we drove through a rainstorm at one point and that cooled things off to 95 degrees.

The cactuses are way cool. There weren't many places to pull off the highway for photos, but I'll try to get one today of the stereotypical cactuses - those tall ones with the arms.

We had lunch and stopped at a knitting shop in Tucson. Mmmm cheap Mexican food this close to Mexico.

Day 35: Las Vegas to Tempe, AZ

Miles: 7,657

States: 23


Andrew and I got a late start yesterday after sleeping in, having brunch at the hotel, and snapping some pictures along the strip. We caught the very end of the fountain show at the Bellagio.

I forgot to say in the entry yesterday: WHY are there SO MANY kids in Las Vegas? Maybe the parents were confused by the name of our hotel, Treasure Island, but even there the booze and sex ooze thickly. Gross.

Tempe is unmercifully hot. The high today is 113 degrees. It was about 105 when we checked into the hotel last night. Overnight lows of 91. And it's dry heat - I'm thirsty and my skin needs lotion constantly. I'm ready to get out of the desert.