You know you're a redneck when...

... your checked shirt finishes 6 inches before your pants start. (That's an American joke, by the way).

The day started well in Panama City Beach. (PCB. Sounds like something you make circuits on, or a new type of venereal disease). Anyway, so I went down for the free continental breakfast (after my fourth massage spa of course) and was happily chewing away at my frosties watching Michael Jackson's first autopsy, when a large lady appeared. She carried a clear plastic box with a green lid which had vents in the top. On closer inspection, it was revealed to be a box containing live crickets. I don't know about you, but I prefer waffles and coffee for breakfast... (or one of Shanes magnificent sausage sandwiches on white with a bit of brown sauce. He never offered me live crickets though. Maybe he's missing something).

Anyway, after that (mis)adventure this morning (it put me right off my frosties, let me tell you), it was time to hit the road again. It hurt my fist. Yep they make the roads out of tarmac here too. (Oh no has it been that long since I've had a proper face to face conversation with someone I know, I've resorted to humour like that???).

Panama City Beach (see photos) was out of this world though. What a fantastic little place! When I say "little" - its used as a noun, not an adjective. The beach was amazing - lovely white sugary sand, that crunched under foot. Roger was right! Unfortunately I was only passing through PCB, really (plus what the hell do you do on a beach on your own apart from get pulled out to sea on the rip tides), but the 10 minutes or so I spent walking on there were beach heaven! (Although it was 8:30 in the morning, the temperature was already up to 87F and the reflection from the sand meant my skin was peeling off my body after about 2 minutes). Florida could well be my favourite U.S. state. This would definitely be a place I'd like to come back to - the beach alone is worth the trip, and the shopping area of town looked very nice too; but I didn't explore this.

So I carried on along my 320 mile trip from PCB to New Orleans (or N'Orlins to the locals). Man! There are some big trailers (caravan type things) out here. They seem to attach to some sort of mounting mechanism (pretty much in the same way as a trailer attaches to an articulated lorry) on the back of your pickup - should you have a pickup, of course. They don't attach to Tahoes for example. I'm pretty sure in square footage terms, some of these trailers are as big as my house.

One can also see why the cup holder was invented. The roads can get pretty boring and long. (Although not boring today, as there was plenty of traffic). Having a nice cup of tea to drink along the way is almost a requirement. Unfortunately, one thing Americans can't do is make tea. So I settled for coffee instead. This is possible even though the outside air temperature is at 41C, because the inside of the car is at -5C. The AC is so good in the Tahoe, even the beer is frozen. And yes, stored in the boot. Sorry trunk.

Along the way I passed a few funny signs. One of which was for Bagdad. The sign was shortly after a mock-Navy Jet was stood at a Rest Area. Thought better of visiting Bagdad in the currently climate...

Finally arrived in New Orleans though. It wasn't what I expected somehow. My expectations were of a hurricane damaged landscape with a small section in the middle still standing which was Bourbon Street, and untouched. Erm no.

New Orleans is a massive sprawling city like many other American cities. In fact, I entered into the New Orleans suburbs 16 miles before getting to the downtown (centre) bit. There are some large buildings which mark out downtown quite clearly on the landscape, just like in Miami, or New York City. The surrounding areas are all low lying buildings - so from 16 miles away the road is higher (sort of roof line) of the houses below it, which gives you a great view of the entire place. One thing about it, is that it is very very very flat. Oh and there are a lot of brand new buildings in the suburbs too... It is easy to see how a hurricane could just cause so much damage - there is no land mass to speak of to stop one. New Orleans is sort of nestled between the Gulf of Mexico, and a massive lake, Pontchartrain.

I didn't see much in the way of hurricane damaged places though, maybe that is because I had to keep one eye on the road, or maybe it was because most of it has been cleared up now. Or it could be that my route into the city wasn't a particularly badly hit part.

The shower is so powerful at the Best Western Bayou Inn, that it has rubbed my hair clean off. I needed a hair cut previously, but this has solved the problem! Nice one! (Just got to remember to put sunscreen on my head now).

Chilis for dinner. Nothing to report there, except the bstards wouldn't accept travellers cheques and I'm getting pretty annoyed at this now. Things have certainly changed over here since 2007.

Stats:
69% oil life left
19mpg average (24 UK mpg?)
2,000 miles covered
105 U.S. gallons used
3 Dennys + 1 independent cooked breakfast
10 bud lights + a few more