Abilene to Vicksburg

This morning in Vicksburg, Mississippi I have an earlier checkout than at other stops and slept later in the first truly comfortable bed of the trip.  Fortunately, there is not much to tell about yesterday's leg.

The predetermined route and the GPS were in agreement as I followed Interstate 20 east through the remainder of Texas and across Louisiana into Mississippi.  I'd had high hopes for my first visit to Louisiana, even knowing that the more famed portions were closer to the gulf than I'd be traveling.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.  There were still hours to be driven getting out of Texas.

Now everybody knows that Texas is a rather large state, but it's the actual driving of it that does the convincing.  Using mile markers to best make my point, you can travel north to south across Tennessee in roughly 180 miles, with Chattanooga around exit 178.  The Louisiana panhandle, west to east, chimes in at a similar number, perhaps closer to 190 miles from border to border.  Texas, however, tops a whopping 640 miles from west to east.  In most of the country, you can (and today I will) cross through three states with that much wear on the tires.

But exiting Texas was no more thrilling than entering it and the only stop I made, apart from the requisite stops for gas, was for lunch at a BBQ and Fried Pie shop in Canton called Baker's Ribs.  Because when you're in Texas, that's what you eat.  Ribs.  And they were pretty darned good.

It seemed a lifetime before the Louisiana state line appeared and the sign marking it was one of the last things I saw for the next three hours.  Interstate 20 through the panhandle is difficult to describe because for a short while the road which carves through thick, lush greenery is rather pretty but as the hours drag on and the view does not open up or change, it does become monotonous.  A mountain, a lake, or a billboard for some THING would have been welcome. (I did, by the way, pay my dollar to solve the mystery of the desert in Arizona, answering the question of "The Thing"). In fact, I had to hunt to find the convenience store or gas station which would sell me the requisite souvenir key chain before I left the state.  Sadly, that stop, when found, was no exciting backdrop for Frank Sinatrat, who failed to find a photo op in the day.

Shortly after sundown I reached Vicksburg, barely across the state line in Mississippi.  Though I had no particular plans to spend time in the city before hitting the road again, I do have the time to spare as the drive home to my own bed tonight should be roughly 7 hours, give or take.   And, darn it, Frankie needs a photo!