We woke up this morning safe and sound. It was nice. We were, for the first time, at a rest stop. We had never slept there before since many people talk about horror stories from these areas. But we found a nice and safe one in Mississippi where there was a security guard. And although it said no overnight parking, she let us know that it was ok and she would keep an eye on our car! So we decided it would be fine and it was!
One thing that I have grown a great appreciation for is the security in knowing where you are going to sleep that night. This is something I have taken for granted, but now that we are on the road, we usually don't know where we are going to end up or even if we can find somewhere safe. Sometimes it isn't until 8 at night that we a place to stay! And if we can't find a place we need to keep driving till we find a Walmart of Target, which is not as safe as we wish. But knowing that you have a bed every night, well that is a nice feeling. And now we are set until next Sunday! That takes such a load of my mind!
Anyway, I digress. We headed out early this morning for several reasons. One was the reason mentioned above, not sure about the area so it was best we headed out early and secondly we had a counch surfer for tonight in Birmingham Alabama. We needed to get there before she headed off to work at around 3. Since we were at least 4 and a half hours away we needed to leave on time! So early morning we headed out and then went back into Louisiana only to leave about 30 min later to re-enter Mississippi! Two states in one day already. But we were not done there, we eventually left Mississippi and entered Alabama, our state for the day. While we were driving through here it was clear that we had left the swampy marshy lands of the Bayou and were now in a more forested area.
We stopped once for gas at possibly the nicest gas station we had stopped at yet. There were not only laundry machines, but hot showers for truckers. And the bathrooms were so clean and nice! If only all gas station were as clean as that one.
We made it to Birmingham safe and sound, although Joel was less than impressed with the driving of certain American drivers. Something about not using blinkers. And then there was the 30 min traffic jam that had us literally stopped on the highway for no reason. There was only one cop car and another car on the shoulder. No reason for everyone stopping! But Joel will get used to that, it is pretty normal in the more populated areas of the states.
We headed to a McDonald so we could get into contact with our host via e-mail. Unfortunately we needed to give them a call (we don't have a phone) but luckily we found a pay phone. After struggling with it for about 5 min (who knows how to use those anymore?) a nice lady offered me her cell phone. Thank god for humanity being decent! Who knows how long I would have been standing there? Well we called, got an address and headed to her house.
When we got there she was so friendly. Showed us around her house, let us use everything including a fully stocked bar and kitchen and then she headed off to work! The trust that some people have in humanity astounds me! And when we talked about it, she said, well if people rob me I will have less stuff and if a couch surfer kills me I just won't write him a good review. Seriously, some people say they have lost faith in humanity, but just try couchsurfing and you will regain much of it! People are friendly and trusting and let you eat everything! Very nice.
So Joel and I then spent the next couple hours watching TV, eating, showering, and everything else people take for granted when they are home. It was definitely nice. And tomorrow we are heading to Nashville! I can't wait, definitely the city I am most excited for in America!
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