Day 19: I am solely responsible for the spread of swine flu

DAY 19: Coldwater, Mississippi
Miles traveled: 3,176
States visited: 12
Weather: 80, sunny

I have a bad cold that started with a sore throat in Knoxville and grew stronger as I passed through Nashville, Alabama, Florida, and New Orleans. Now it’s like a full blown case of swine flu. Possibly mixed with bird flu. And ricketts. I’ve spread my germs to six states so far. They should have me quarantined. Hopefully I survive to make it through the weekend.

Yesterday I drove through Mississippi on my way to Memphis. I purchased tickets for the Beale Street Music Festival weeks ago, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. It was cheap, and it gave me something to look forward to. But so far it’s been nothing but a hassle.

I had to leave New Orleans earlier than I wanted to make it here. I had wanted to spend some time in the deep south, but I ended up having to drive straight through Alabama and Mississippi on the parkway without stopping. So I have nothing to say about Mississippi except there was a lot of armadillo roadkill on the roads, just like in all the southern states. I didn’t even bother to take any pictures of Mississippi, so you’re stuck with the photo of me driving.

After driving all day to make it here, I was too tired to see all the bands last night, so day 1 of the fest was a bust. I was really looking forward to the Steve Miller band since I’ve never seen them before, but in the first 70 minutes of his set he played exactly 1 of his hit songs – Abracadabra. WTF? I was bored and so tired so I left to get some sleep. He probably played all the hits in the last 20 minutes. But who does that? When you have as many hits as he does, you have to spread them out better than that!

Since I left early I missed the All-American Rejects. Again, it was disappointing, but getting an extra hour of sleep to be ready for today’s festivities was more important. I checked the forecast for Saturday and it’s going to rain all day. I’ve never not enjoyed myself at a music festival; hopefully, this will not be the first time.

On a brighter note, I’m staying at a kick-ass hostel with free wifi. I was only going to stay one night, but decided a second night was in my budget after some recent donations (thanks!) There are 5 other people staying in my room but I was so dead I didn’t hear any of them come in last night.

No blog tomorrow (nobody reads on Sundays.) I’ll have a full report on the festival on Monday!