From Florida to California and Back: 6,169 Miles of Adventure in Our Jeep Gladiator There is something special about packing up the Jeep, pointing it west, and watching America unfold mile by mile through the windshield. What started as a road trip from Florida to…
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One of the simple things I enjoyed about our 15-day, 6,169-mile road trip was watching the scenery change as we crossed from one state into another.
We traveled through several states on our journey from Florida to California and back, and along the way, I took pictures of the welcome signs whenever I had the opportunity.
These signs may not be major attractions, but they became little milestones during our trip. Each one meant we had crossed another state line and were one step closer to wherever we were headed that day.
Our journey west began with Alabama.
The “Welcome to Alabama” sign was one of the first reminders that we were officially leaving Florida behind and beginning the long drive across the country.
There is something about seeing that first state-line sign on a big road trip that makes the adventure feel real. We still had thousands of miles ahead of us, but Alabama was the beginning of our cross-country journey.
From Alabama, we continued west into Mississippi.
The “Welcome to Mississippi” sign was another milestone along the way. We would eventually spend time along the Gulf Coast in Biloxi, so Mississippi wasn’t simply a state we passed through—it became one of our stops along the journey.
Continuing west, we crossed into Louisiana. This would become an especially memorable state for us because New Orleans was one of the final major stops on our trip home. By the time we reached Louisiana on the return journey, we had already traveled all the way to California and were making our way back toward Florida.
Texas was a completely different experience. We spent a lot of time driving across Texas because of its enormous size. From Groom and the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ to Columbus, San Antonio, El Paso, and the long stretches of Interstate 10, Texas became one of the states that we experienced the most during the trip. The “Welcome to Texas” sign was another reminder that we were entering one of the biggest portions of our journey.
After crossing Texas, we entered New Mexico. The landscape immediately began to change. The wide-open spaces and increasingly dry terrain were a big contrast to the green scenery we had seen farther east. Our trip through New Mexico included Gallup, where we stayed at the historic Hotel El Rancho before continuing west toward Arizona.
Arizona was one of the highlights of our entire road trip. We entered the Grand Canyon State and eventually made our way to Grand Canyon National Park, one of the most spectacular places we visited during our 15 days on the road. Seeing the Arizona welcome sign was especially memorable because we knew we were getting closer to one of the major destinations on our trip.
From Arizona, we continued toward Nevada. The “Welcome to Nevada” sign marked our arrival in the state that would soon bring us to Hoover Dam and Las Vegas. This was another major change in scenery, with rugged desert landscapes replacing the forests and mountains we had encountered earlier.
Eventually, we reached the state that was the ultimate destination of our journey—California. The California welcome sign was particularly special because this was the goal we had been driving toward for days. We explored Nevada City, Campbell, San Jose, Santa Cruz, the California coast, and several other places during our stay. We also spent time with family and visited Testarossa Winery before beginning the long journey back east. Seeing this sign meant we had officially made it to California.
Of course, reaching California wasn’t the end of the adventure. It was only the halfway point. After enjoying our time in California, we began the long drive back toward Florida. We traveled back through the Southwest and Texas before eventually reaching Louisiana and continuing east. Along the way, we saw many of the same state signs again, but this time they meant something different. We weren’t heading toward California anymore. We were heading home.
Our return journey took us through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and finally Florida. By then, the welcome signs had become more than just photographs. Each one represented another section of the journey completed. After thousands of miles on the road, we were getting closer and closer to home.
Finally, we reached Florida. For this post, I wanted to include a special image of the Florida welcome that represents what it felt like to finally return home after such a long journey. I also created a Florida state-line image with the bridge-style entrance you were looking for, similar to the type of large architectural welcome structure you see when entering Florida on I-10.
