After Kevin and I had most of our stuff settled in Texas, it was time to pick up Katelynn in North Carolina. On that trip, we picked Interstate 20 and Interstate 55 to see the deep southern states. Instead of driving through Arkansas and Tennessee, we drove through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina.

By Vicksburg, Mississippi we crossed the mighty Mississippi River and made a short stop for some photos. The February sunset was reflecting on the river. It was beautiful. That night, we stopped for a rest in Jackson, Mississippi.

The following morning, we still had so much driving ahead of us. I didn’t have a driver’s license at the time, Kevin had to drive the whole way. The last 200 miles were painful. But we made it by the evening. And we both could hold Katelynn in our arms again.

Two days later Kevin, Katelynn, and I took the original route back to Texas. It was a tough 18-hour trip through North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas. Katelynn made her first trip across the Mississippi in Memphis, Tennessee, crossing into West Memphis, Arkansas. From there, we still had about seven more hours. At 2 am, we finally made it home.