Mississippi

Mississippi is another world. We came into Memphis in the dark, so maybe the transition was earlier on. But one thing's for sure: what we saw today in Mississippi was not like what we saw yesterday in Tennessee. We were in the midst of high-flying casinos advertising buffets and slots when we turned off of US-61 onto a little highway, MS-38 I think, towards the river, and instantaneously it was as if we were in another era, one characterized by swamps, poverty, ancient automobiles, and a pervasive and surreal bleakness. Little whisps of cotton floating in the air caught on the car's radio antenna. I felt quite self-conscious and a little vulnerable driving around with New York plates—at least two people exclaimed when they noticed. (Locally license plates of any sort appeared optional.) Driving further south things seemed a bit more normal, nothing different than one would find around Fresno or the Sacramento delta -- mixed agriculture and light urban freeway sprawl -- but that little stretch of MS-38 left a lasting impression. The drive from Rochester down through Pennsylvania, Virginia, Carolina, and Tennessee is a hilly agrarian continuum, but then Mississippi comes abruptly as an alien world.

meteors tonight!

It was very dark driving through southwestern Mississippi and we saw a zillion "falling stars" from the car. The Geminid meteor shower is going on tonight, so take a look!

Baton Rouge I

We are in Baton Rouge now, staying with Jacques as his first couchsurfing guests ever. Bree and I are pretty much desperately hoping we'll like this city, since we committed to living here for a year, site unseen. We came into town on I-110 and I-10, Los Angeles-style interstates, but I-10 plunks you down right at LSU and immediately you're ensconsed amongst oak trees and wouldn't know there's an interestate so close. The semitropical atmosphere is obbvious; we noticed a bunch of bannana trees in the yard of the neighboring house, complete with fruit. I'm not sure how they survive here, since it does freeze.

I'm beginning to feel the length of this roadtrip; we've been driving for a week and are less than half way across the country!