From Asheboro, North Carolina, to St Augustine, Florida

Today we had another marathon drive, from rural North Carolina to sunny Florida, during which Keith got his first look at East Coast palm trees.

This being a driving day, we put the pedal to the metal and didn't do much in photography other than the state road signs.

By the time we made it to Georgia, bugs had splattered so plentifully against our windshield that we could barely see the sign through it.

Besides, a more accurate welcome sign would have read like this:

And the laugh over the Florida sign motto, "Open For Business", is that Governor Rick Scott, like Sam Brownback and other GOP governors, has trashed the state's economy to the point that businesses are running (out of state) for their lives.

Still, there is, as in all the states, great beauty. I got a kick out of this raven or crow, sitting on a sign at a rest stop that describes the kinds of birds to be seen in Florida. (I'm not sure whether this was a crow or a raven, because I didn't read the sign—I didn't want to disturb the little feller.