Alien mops, Anastasia State Park, Saint Augustine, Florida.

Strolling wood stork, Sebastian Inlet State Park, Brevard and Indian River counties, Florida.

Manatees, Haulover Canal, Cape Canaveral National Seashore, Merritt Island, Brevard County, Florida.

Vehicle assembly building (VAB) and shuttle launch pad from Cape Canaveral National Seashore, Merritt Island, Brevard County, Florida.

string. 

There is a WalMart in or near almost every town and city in America. Olga is one of few exceptions.

Rain is not the tent camper's friend. It, bugs, heat and humidity are why almost all Florida campers have air conditioned motor homes or pull trailers. Ortona Lock Army Corps of Engineers campground near LaBelle, Florida.

Brent, the WalMart shopper, Ortona Lock Army Corps of Engineers campground near LaBelle, Florida. The blogger gave him a jump start when his battery died because his alternator belt "had issues."

Distinguished professor hard at work, Boynton Beach, Florida.

Cape Canaveral, Florida. Jaws of a 13.5-foot tiger shark caught yesterday near Canaveral jetties on a fishing line. The shark had a whole sea turtle in its belly. The guy holding the jaws said the meat was sent to a processing plant where it will become fish cakes. Oh, yummy.

Cocoa, Florida. People here must be nuts.

This is a surf shop?

Late Thursday afternoon May 14, after driving 3,400 miles in 24 days, the blogger swam and rode waves near his campsite at Sebastian Inlet State Park, Florida. He was last in this area 40 years ago.

Hispanic Moss, Payne's Prairie, Florida.

Lake at Payne's Prairie, Florida.

A deflating experience where the rubber meets the road.

Threatening sky approaching Saint George Island, Florida panhandle.

Recreational boat of choice, powered by quadruple Merc 300 outboards, Gulf Coast, Alabama.

Laughing gulls, ferry landing, Fort Morgan, Alabama.

Bob Seger's weekend retreat, Dauphin Island, Alabama.

Sweet Home Alabama, Dauphin Island, Gulf Coast.

The house where Eudora Welty wrote the code for her eponymous email program after a writing career that included a Pulitzer Prize for The Optimist's Daughter, Jackson, Mississippi.

Monument to Illinois men, including Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, who participated in the Union victory at Vicksburg, Vicksburg National Military Park, Mississippi.

Mississippi barge traffic, Vicksburg.

Driving Around North America (DANA), aka Travels Without Charley or The Economic Stimulus Tour

Remember the Alamo?

The ubiquity of picnic tables. You hike up a remote canyon to an historic stone cabin, and what do you find? Picnic tables. You continue up canyon to a grotto, and what's there? Picnic tables. You drive rural roads and what's planted every so often? Picnic tables. You go to the pavilion at a national seashore and what's perched on the deck? Picnic tables. It's as if the goal of travelers in America is to have a picnic at every possible location along the route.

Geometry, Padre Island National Seashore, Texas.

Whoever designs faucets should stop screwing around with up-down-left-right, all-in-one gizmos as shown immediately above and one above that, and stick with two on-off levers as shown at top. Hot lever on left, cold lever on right—simple, practical and workable. Faucet designers keep trying to "improve" on a good thing that works, and they keep messing up.

$30 motel (with tax), Van Horn, Texas.

Heavy metal, Seminole Canyon, Texas.

Ancient graffiti, Seminole Canyon, Texas.

Amphitheater at entrance to Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico. The site of a visit by the blogger's parents on their honeymoon in the summer of 1940.

Crescent moon, New Mexico.

White steed at White Sands.

Route 181, rural Texas.

The vehicle of choice for exploring the rugged terrain of Big Bend National Park—a red Ferrari.

At a roadside rest stop south of Valentine, Texas, out in the middle of nowhere, blogger encountered this lone bicyclist. He left Roseville, California, near Sacramento on the first day of spring, heading for Florida. His wife is in the hospital with Alzheimer's. He is 82 years old.