From Tampa I headed north to Tallahasse and the connection to the interstate heading west. The highway was flat and the traffic was light. I was making good time but after about 275 miles and hours of driving, my car needed gas and I needed a break. Filled the tank and walked around a little. Then I found a diner where I could get bacon and eggs.

Refreshed, I figured I’d shoot for Mobile, Alabama on the interstate heading west. It was another 240 or 250 miles and another 4 hours or so. That would give me over 500 miles for the day. A good effort.

As I drove toward Alabama, I thought of coach Paul “Bear” Bryant and his great football teams. “Roll Tide.”

I was still feeling pretty good so after gassing up, I pushed on another 75 miles to Gulfport, Mississippi. Checked into a motel and found a place to eat. As I was eating my dinner, I could not help hearing the way people talked. Hearing voices so characteristic of the south in general and Mississippi specifically, I was reminded to William Faulkner.

William Faulkner, one of America’s greatest writers, had received the Nobel Prize. He is probably best known for The Sound and the Fury but, in my opinion, his best novel is Absalom, Absalom. Faulkner’s style is multi-layered, complex and hard to get into. But, like Shakespeare, once you get accustomed to it, Faulkner’s writing is rich and rewarding. He is definitely one of my favorite great American writers.

After dinner and snuggled into bed, I fell into a deep sleep with Faulkner’s convoluted language rolling around in my 20 year old brain in Gulfport, Mississippi in 1964.

After a bacon, eggs and hashbrowns breakfast, I continued due west to Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the mighty Mississippi River. Louisiana seemed not only flat but there was water everywhere. In fact, the highway seemed like more like one long bridge than a highway. And the Mississippi River was mighty and massive.

And the river reminded me of another great American writer: Mark Twain. In fact, Samuel Leghorn Clemens got his pen name from his time on river boats. Mark Twain was such a great writer that Ernest Hemingway said that much of America literature derived from him – especially from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Who would argue with maybe the greatest short story writer in American history.

Passing so close to New Orleans I was reminded of the great American playwright Tennessee Williams and his Pulitzer Prize winning play A Streetcar Named Desire. I have seen the play a number of times, once with John Voight and Fay Dunaway. But who could top the 1951 movie with the actor’s actor Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh, Stella! I can only imagine Brando live on stage on Broadway in New York City!

With images of that iconic play and movie buzzing around in my brain, I drove west heading for Houston in the massive state of Texas.

Once I left the deep south and entered Texas, it got really cold. And with no heat, it was pretty uncomfortable. As a result of the cold I kept as far south as the interstate allowed. Plus, I had no interest going anywhere near Dallas given what had happened November 22, 1963.

I ground along averaging 60 miles an hour stopping only to gas up, get something to eat and try to warm up. I followed the interstate through Houston – again lots of elevated highways. Despite getting into the late afternoon, I decided to push on to San Antonio. It got dark but I still had about 100 miles to go. The highway became 2 lanes and, as it got later, the traffic became sparse.

I was struggling to stay awake. Then I experienced something I had never experienced before. I began to hallucinate. I started trying to dodge animals that ran onto the road then disappeared. Next thing I knew I was bumping along in the dirt and tumbleweeds off the road. I had fallen asleep. That rattled me. With the engine still running and the lights on in the nearly pitch dark, I got out of the car and walked around. The cold revived me.

I drove the rest of the way to San Antonio. There wasn’t really anywhere to stop. Despite the cold, I drove with my window open and stuck my head out when I started to doze off. I was spaced out with exhaustion.

I pulled into the first motel I saw at the edge of San Antonio. With no restaurant open, I got some crackers and cheese, a couple of candy bars and a soft drink out of the vending machines in front of the motel office. I slept in my clothes on top of the bed.

A loud knock on my door and the announcement “Check out time!” dragged me out of my stupor. I was still in Texas. It was overcast and a cold wind was blowing. The wind blew hard enough to push my little car around. My next goal was El Paso, Texas.

I am not much of a coffee drinker but with lots of cream and sugar, the coffee warmed me up and energized me enough to cover the 550 miles to El Paso where I flopped at the first motel I spotted on the edge of El Paso. I treated myself to a cheese burger and a chocolate milkshake then slept until my usual alarm woke me up: loud knocking + “check out time!” 

One more long day (a little over 400 miles) and I would be in Phoenix, Arizona. I was still driving through desert but it was prettier and, mercifully, warmer. Coffee, cream and sugar kept me on the road and out of the tumble weeds. I promised to give myself a break in Phoenix.

Hope you are in better shape than 20 year old Joe as he nears the end of his 1964 odyssey.

Again, I encourage you to take full advantage of our limited time special offer: buy 2 cases of JDD protein and receive 1 case of JDD protein for free.

Thank you for your business. As always, I wish you and your family the very best of health.
Joe