Back to Spring in Decatur, Alabama

     Our short cut, wasn't.  Driving down we had a rough time coming through Chattanooga and Atlanta.  Unbelievable truck traffic.  So we looked for another route home and decided to drive through Tallahassee and then north to Nashville.  The first part of the route was great.  Not much traffic and lots of wild flowers.  The Florida DOT planted lots of wild flowers in the median of I10.  Beautiful pinks and reds that I think were many shades of pink dianthus.

    We also drove over the Suwannee River which of course, set the tune "way down upon the Swannee River" rolling through my head all day.  I am such a fun travel partner, because I like to sing old songs that get stuck in my head after something gets me going.  Swannee River finally knocked out "Sailing."  Not sure whether Rick was grateful for the change.

    We headed north on "The Heroes Highway."  Everything in the South is named after someone or something - highways, bridges, State Parks, even the on-ramp.  The road was a four lane highway.  It seemed good at first, until we realized that it went through dozens of towns with stop lights.  Slow, slow, slow.  But there were lots of flowers everywhere.  Black-eyed Susan's, Indian paintbrush, lupin, and flowering dogwood.  

     We drove through Montgomery and Birmingham.  The landscape is hilly and rocky.  There are big pines, oaks and maples.  It is not what I expected, so much prettier.  The weather was cooler and a little rain, so it felt like May in Minnesota.  The sun came out, we got to the interstate, and soon we were here, half-way home.  Ahhh.