Okay, so it’s not a super long trip (just 7 days), but we went on a bit of a driving excursion through the Southern states.  1787 miles covered (because we actually remembered to check the odometer before starting, for once) as we drove from Texas to Florida and back.

Our trip:

Day 1+2: Uncertain, Texas

We left on Saturday afternoon and spent two nights at a lovely house on the Big Cypress Bayou in Uncertain, TX.  We previously visited Caddo Lake for a long weekend in 2011, so this part of the trip was more of a relaxing weekend of grilling on the river with a little exploring thrown in.  We drove to the small town of Jefferson, TX to walk around, and spent a sunset at Caddo Lake State Park.

Day 3: Meridian, Mississippi

After our Caddo Lake weekend we drove onward to Meridian, Mississippi, which was ~342 miles (5 hours drive time).  Since it was a long driving day we didn’t do too much exploring, but we did picnic at Vicksburg National Military Park in Mississippi, and then took in a sunset at Bonita Lakes Park once we arrived in Meridian.

Day 4+5: Orange Beach, Alabama

Day 4 we stayed in Meridian until 2pm (or, Travis went and did work while *I* stayed in the hotel until 2pm), then we hit the road for the Gulf Coast.  We arrived just before sunset, so we went straight to the beach for sunset after dropping off our stuff.  Day 5 was scenic drive day — we drove along the coast from Orange Beach to the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, and then stopped at Big Lagoon State Park and Gulf Islands National Seashore (both in Florida) before taking in sunset at Florida Point in Orange Beach, Alabama.  I also woke up for solo sunrise both days and got some nice Gulf Coast beach shots.

Day 6: New Orleans, Louisiana

Day 6 we did a quickie trip through New Orleans, Louisiana.  Travis was eager to get home early in the weekend, so we just did one night in New Orleans.  We did a touristy walk through the French Quarter in the evening, and then on Day 7 I woke up for a solo walk through the French Quarter again in the overcast morning.  We regrouped, then took a family walk to the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park in New Orleans before departing New Orleans around noon.

Day 7: Kisatchie National Forest

After leaving New Orleans, we drove to Kisatchie National Forest in Louisiana which was 245 miles (3.5 hours).  The goal was to hike the quick Longleaf Vista trail (1.5 miles) and then drive to Natchitoches or Shreveport to sleep, but after watching sunset at Kisatchie we decided we’d rather just get home and sleep at home rather than check into yet another hotel just to drive home the next day.  It was another 4 hours home (but I actually helped drive, for once!) and we got home just after midnight.

That’s the basic overview of our trip.  I’ll add more detailed posts for our stops soon!