Fl. to Austin

Last summer Anne and i drove her jeep from Tampa to Tallahassee to Pensacola to New Orleans to Austin.


We camped somewhere in northern florida where some unique natural springs fed into a lazy river.

  

the unique part of the springs was the underwater pits they came from. we had goggles and could swim down into them. looking up was a trip.

the dark part in the center is one of the source caves. there was something of a bottom about 15 feet down

i get all crazy holding my breath underwater so each time i had about 45 seconds of cold water cave exploring before i frantically scrambled back to the surface. 

there are a bunch of the spring holes. some of them are much deeper and bring scuba divers that go exploring with lights. they're all pretty close to the river and feed it by the streams they create. 

 As I went to the river's edge to walk out on a log and jump in, a group of southern sounding beer rafters was going by yelling at me to dive in like i was scared (there may have been a moment of hesitation with alligators on my mind, but whatever). I told them "I'm working." as in "I'm working on it, don't tell me what to do." They thought i had a southern accent too and that i said "i'm american" and in a newly respectful tone they replied "yeah, amuricn!" as in "we're amuricn's too! take your time with that dive." so that was my lesson in southern accents, although i preferred just listening for waitresses to call me sugar.

getting weird with some camping meals

hours of flat florida highways.

and oranges

early in Tallahassee 

 in a dark brown voice she said Pensacola 

Drove by a Ron Paul diner and had to see what might be cooking there. The place is named after him and offers southern diner food with a back section dedicated to sharing info on some Paul's distinctions as a candidate. The food was different and not necessarily an ideal pick but it tasted pretty authentic was mostly organic. McDonald's and Burger King were the other options but i think they get their food from the same place and it's giving people diabetes. 

New Orleans on the horizon

i couldn't get enough of these guys

the mississippi was at my back

i thought the french district actually had something to do with french culture but it's a ways removed from where it got its name. this is where the mardi gras festivities go down and tourists can come to get wasted any day of the year in their choice of about 900 bars in just a few square blocks. 

a lot of the bars that lined the streets had live bands playing all kinds of crazy jazz. it was a blast.

Austin

part of a river flowing in the city is partially concreted like a giant flowing pool and has grassy parks around it.  

Austin was going off. we ate a ton of awesome food, went to a graffiti show, saw a breakdancing contest heard some bands, took a bike taxi, survived the insane heat, met some nice people and tried some deep fried avocado dish from a food truck that made us both throw up just about a minute after it settled.






road trip life