Then on Pearl’s actual property, the topiaries just go on and awesomely on:

That’s just a small corner of the yard. Amazing!!

After that, we decided to head over to Congaree National Park, home of the continent’s largest old-growth floodplain forest, champion trees, swampy goodness, and so many mosquitoes that they have this sign:

Eek. As you can see, we were pretty safe to go enjoy the park, so we walked for a bit out on the elevated boardwalk through the forest.

I really loved Congaree even though we only spent a tiny amount of time there. The air was sooooo fresh (thanks, trees), and there was this lovely balance of silence and lots of thriving forest activity sound (woodpeckers, squirrels, falling leaves, etc.). Plus we got to see a bunch of cypress knees:

The next day was Halloween and we spent most of it at the wedding (which was, after all, the point of this trip). Look at this beautiful location:

We had a great time reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. Plus, the bride and groom left on a boat as we all stood on the pier ringing tiny wedding bells. So lovely!

We headed out the following day and didn’t make very many stops because we had some lame, rainy weather (the worst for a meandering road trip). However, we can always make time for a giant Solo cup:

I mean, come on.

So! We are back in Cleveland, Mississippi, for now. Further bulletins as events warrant!

We’ll update more when we have more fun tales to share. Today was just driving; the most interesting thing we saw was a bowl of Halloween candy at our hotel’s front desk.

First of all, we went through Louisiana, and I owe you this:

Also, remember how I mentioned that it was snowing in Vicksburg? Well, here you can see some snow falling on the Super 8 pool (which was open, of course, since the day before had been 80 degrees or something!):

We did eventually get to Jackson and had to continue recovering from being sick. I had a little relapse, etc. I won’t bore you (or gross you out) with the details… but it did, unfortunately, prevent us from attending most of the events we had come to Jackson to enjoy. Alas! We still had a really nice visit with my aunt and uncle, and they took us to a very cool art event hosted by the Mississippi Museum of Art’s New Collector’s Club. It was a talk and studio tour at NunoErin studio in Jackson. They make very cool swamp-inspired, interactive artwork with thermoactive materials — basically, furniture, pillows, and wall panels that change color when warmed by body heat. Here is one of the artists demonstrating how to use a hair dryer to get the color change effect on some wall panels:

It was fascinating and really fun. Thanks, NunoErin!

Eventually we got back on the road to DC… and I have a few more state signs for you, including the elusive Virginia sign!

(By the way, we went through a little corner of Georgia, but they don’t bother to put up a welcome sign there. What gives, Georgia??)

In Virginia, we stopped at the Natural Bridge Exxon and saw this tiger:

It’s a far cry from the Itasca Wampus Cat, eh?

This tiger was made by Mark Cline, a fiberglass artist whose work we always see everywhere. In fact, we have several stories about Professor Cline… but they’re stories for another time.

Anyway, we’re moving to Austin. Wait, what? No, seriously. We are. I got a job. We got an apartment. Movers are coming a week from Tuesday. Soooo things are pretty busy and crazy. But we’ll keep you all posted as much as we can. Keep checking back!!