Rolling South

I don’t really like winter. I like it HOT – there is no such thing as “too hot”. I quickly get used to the heat. I also enjoy driving, so driving south to Florida is a very pleasant experience, and I enjoy each kilometer that brings me closer to warm sunny weather. Or at least that is how it is supposed to be . . . . .

Rolling South

This trip it took much longer for the “South” to make its presence known. It was bitter cold when we left, and even though it was officially spring, the temperature was -10° as we left home, and dropped to -15° as we made our way through New Brunswick. There was still snow on the ground at home, and it seemed to take forever to get rid of it. Of course it didn’t help that we were fleeing a huge storm that was coming up the coast against us. We avoided it by going in-land, but it spread snow all the way south to Virginia.

Trees in Bloom

Rolling south brings temperature changes as you progress down through the states. Normally the temperatures gradually increase, but this time it took much longer. Leaving Connecticut it was -7°, and although it did get up to 0° as the sun came up, it remained at 0° way down to West Virginia. From there it slowly came up a bit to +4°, but when we stopped in Virginia for the night Regis had to scrape not only our windshield but also the lady’s car parked next to us. She was not prepared for the -5 that morning and didn’t even own a scraper. It didn’t actually warm up until we reached South Carolina when it got up to 10°, but the real warmth did not arrive until we got to Georgia when things finally started climbing, and by the time we hit Florida it was finally up to 20°.

The other thing you look for as you roll south is the changes in the vegetation. At home everything is dull boring, brown, but as you roll south things slowly start to green. First come the farmer’s fields fertilized and prepped for the year to come. This appeared first in West Virginia, but as you got to southern Virginia even the highway mediums were starting to green up. Finally in the Carolinas the trees start to bloom and green buds appear. As we got to South Carolina even the trees started to leaf out, and finally in Florida things are actually green.

Florida at Last

Of course the other change that occurs as you roll south is the clothing. Before Virginia it was all winter clothes and boots. The first T-Shirt did not appear until Virginia, and he was pushing it in my opinion. The first pair of shorts appeared in South Carolina, and the flip-flops did not arrive until we hit Florida, where the bikinis and pink surfer shorts also made an appearance.

I’m hoping that I stay here in the warmth long enough that I do not have to roll north into freezing weather again . . . .