20 February

Once again my plans went haywire due to the well-meaning efforts of people at visitor’s centres.
I got up reasonably early to leave just after 7. That part went fine. I got out of Baton Rouge quickly and was settled in on the Interstate. It wasn’t too long before I was out of Louisiana and into Mississippi. Here the Visitors Centre had the charm and appearance of someone’s home. Free coffee or soft drink (yes, that’s what they called it, not sodas), Internet access (wireless) and fine furniture to sit on. I sent out my blogs and checked my mail, but had trouble uploading pictures (probably the connection limits file size transfers).
And here’s where the first problem of the day arose. NASA has a space centre just down the road where they test jet engines (and other agencies do other things). They had a free tour and bus – so at that price, and having a real interest in that (when we were young, our Christmas trees came from around the jet engine test stands at Laverton North), I went on that. Two hours came and went as I learned more about the space program and what goes on (and what Australia missed out on, having spent some time looking at our achievements at Woomera). On the bus on the way back, a couple were chatting to me and mentioned that I would probably like to see the USS Alabama – so when I called in at the Alabama Visitors Centre (they didn’t try to compete with the others – just friendly and informative service), I asked for and got information on the USS Alabama. I called in about 1:45 – and didn’t get to leave until nearly 5. The self-guided tour of the battleship, the air displays, the submarine and the discussion with one of the volunteers took up the entire afternoon. I finally dragged myself away and landed in Florida just after the Visitors Centre closed, so headed into Pensacola and booked into a Motel6 there. After unpacking I walked down to McDonalds intending to get a quick bite to eat before going back, doing the regular write-up and photo labelling and getting to sleep early so I could be out bright and early. The best-laid plans …
Firstly I cashed an Amex travellers cheque – this caused questions up the management tree until it was quickly resolved. I got my meal and started to eat it (can’t waste time during the day eating while attractions are open) when Peter (who it transpired was the owner) asked me about the differences between McDonalds here and at home. Then it moved onto Australia and a comparison to here, and then into computers. Before long he had his laptop out and was showing me what he had done (impressive photo work, especially the bread – or was that the buns – photos) and then we got onto some of my photos (comparing alligators and crocodiles). One of his staff was interested in the “Beware of Penguins” sign from Stanley, Tasmania. Then the discussion turned to cameras and he got me going with the description of the camera he was going to buy. With my mouth drooling I had to go before trying to work out some way of convincing him to buy the camera and letting me use it so I could teach him its features (when I returned it in, say, ten years time). I returned to my lonely writer’s garret (well, Room 120 on the ground floor) and did my writing thing, named and rotated photos and finally went to sleep with jealous thoughts of other camera users and owners.