By the numbers:

• 267 miles from New Orleans to Crestview, FL –  4275 miles for the trip.
• Traveled in 4 states:  LA, MS, AL, and FL.  2 new ones for a total of 12 so far on the trip.
• Spotted one new license plate today:  Our old residence, Washington D.C.  – Only 4 US states left to spot.
• One new national Park:  The Gulf Islands National Seashore.  We stopped at the Mississippi part of the park.  Explored on the mainland but did not find a boat ride out to the islands.  28 National Park sites for the trip.

My view is that these types of national parks are some of the best examples of the need for a national park service.  As stated in the park film, “These barrier islands have served to protect us from the worst of storms for centuries.  Now it is our turn to protect them.”   The loss of these types of barrier islands, wetlands, and coastal marshes in recent times has contributed much to how destructive hurricanes have been when they come ashore.  Normally these places help absorb the energy of hurricanes and slow their powerful winds.  When the offshore barriers are reduced, the major storms hit the mainlands with greater force and cause greater destruction.

I am felling pretty good at this point about my planning for this trip.  I had a day by day outline of how our trip might go.  Nothing, was set in stone and we have made some day to day adjustments, skipping a few sites and stopping at a few we hadn’t planned on.  With all that as of today we are 1 day ahead of our original plan and 38 miles short of our expected mileage.  Maybe if I need a post retirement job, I could do vacation planning.

Tomorrow and for the next few days we will be in Florida and seeing friends so I may skip a few days on the blog until we are ready to head north on the Eastern Florida Coast on the 10th.