Location: San Antonio, Texas 

Car Mileage: 212,215 

Trip Mileage: 1,924 

In my extensive two days of tourism, I can attest that nobody, not even the sun, lives or even visits Mississippi. With cloudy skies above, the empty roads made my drive a great opportunity to warm up for the psychological stress induced by the New Orleans traffic. Since part of this trip is figuring out where to live when this adventure comes to an end, I now know that I couldn’t survive in this city even with an impressive four Frostops. My two days in NOLA taught me you have to drive like Vin Diesel even for the simplest excursions. Fortunately, my high school friend Constantine hosted me for a couple of nights. Not only was it a welcomed break from sleeping in my car, but it was a safe place to park in one of the most dangerous cities in the USA. Constantine gave me the full NOLA experience. We went to a Pelicans game, ate a beignet, had gumbo, walked the French Quarter, but most importantly I was taught how to peel crawfish like a true Cajun.  

“Live your life in the fast lane” sounds like some cliche advice you would hear at the end of The Breakfast Club or Perks of Being a Wallflower. Driving west on I10, I am wondering if it should be on the “Welcome to Texas” sign. I expected cars to be recklessly flying on the interstate since this is the Wild West. Instead, nobody seems to be willing to go the 75 mile per hour speed limit. Maybe they’re all used to the slow pace of cattle driving. I like to live my life about 7 miles per hour over the speed limit, but it has made me question if I am the only one in the state that can read highway signs. Not only can I read them, but I can photograph them WHILE driving. I hope my State Farm agent doesn’t read this. 

Speaking of driving, did you know 73% of drivers in the US consider themselves “better than average” behind the wheel? Ironically 90% of car accidents occur due to human error. The math ain’t mathin. I consider myself an average driver: no accidents or tickets to my name! Well, at least until a few days ago, when I was humbled in the form of a 3-mph fender bender. No, mom, I wasn’t texting, but I was in downtown San Antonio looking for parking for the Sixers vs Spurs game.  The other driver was wearing a Michael Vick jersey, so maybe he respected a little bit of recklessness. Since I was wearing a 76ers shirt he asked if I was from Philly, but when he saw my license plate was from Ohio everything clicked. His anger turned to understanding.  

I have enjoyed eight consecutive days of real housing accommodations. After visiting Constantine, I had a great visit with my sister Bethany in Houston, and my oldest sister Skye in San Antonio. It was nice to kick my feet up and spend some time with family for awhile. The next stop is Big Bend National Park, which will be the first of around twenty national parks on my tour. The next week involves finding free campsites or a place to park my car.  The upcoming five days will be 1,500 miles, but as Vin Diesel said “I live my life a quarter-mile at a time. Nothing else matters…” So I guess I’ll actually be driving 6,000 quarters of a mile, which should really make the time fly.