Interstate Travel

Early this morning, I watched the sun rise over the great state of Alabama as they awakened to the first full day of being the College Football National Champions.

Spanish Fort, AL Sunrise

After work today, I made a quick trip to the great state of Florida for the opportunity to participate in tomorrow's $1.5B (annuity value) Powerball multi-state lottery drawing. It was about a 38 mile trip one way, and the odds of winning are vanishingly small but for that kind of upside I'm willing to invest a little time and money.

Pavement Logo at the Florida Welcome Center on I-10E just over the Alabama-Florida State Line

It was a good little jaunt, and I even took a quick moment to swing through the Florida Welcome Center that was sporting a Blue Angel Jet static display, a life size dolphin statue, and this (trademarked) sidewalk logo.

I ended the meeting watching the 2016 State of the Union address given by President Barack Obama. He is exceptionally talented at delivering soaring rhetoric, and his presentation was a stirring look toward the future. I wish he had gone a little further in his call to big action on a number of fronts. I believe that the nation is primed and ready to tackle a major project. My choice would be a return to the Moon and on to Mars, but there are a number of efforts that are begging for national (and even international) investment.