Bridges and Conquering Fear-not something to take lightly, but if you want to travel almost anywhere you have to conquer that fear. My best friend and I found that out first hand as we traveled from Phoenix, Arizona to Jacksonville, Florida.
I have never been fond of bridges. I don’t know why, but they just scare me. I’m afraid of heights too, so that may figure into it, but I cannot remember a time that I wasn’t freaked out about bridges. To drive from Phoenix, Az to Jacksonville, Fl, required some major mind over matter and facing and conquering fears. My best friend was coming with me on this trip. Now to add to the adventure, my best friend does not like bridges either. She has a reason. When she was younger she was involved in an accident where the bus she was riding in crashed over a bridge. Her fear had a basis, mine did not.
The Trip
I’m always up for a road trip! No matter the reason I’m always game for a trip to just about anywhere. Sadly this trip was to clear my dad’s house because he has been moved into a nursing home after sustaining a head injury in July, and due to Parkinson’s disease.
The trip we were embarking on was from Phoenix to Jacksonville, Fl on I-10. Since I have driven Route 66 and fell in love with the Mother Road, I was excited to travel from Phoenix, Az to Jacksonville, FL. Nearly coast to coast and there were so many places to see and I had never been to Louisiana or Mississippi.
As I began planning the trip I realized that once we made it to Louisiana it was nothing but bridges! Not just little bridges, big, structures of steel high in the sky allowing ships and boats to pass under the bridges without the worry of clearance. BIG TALL BRIDGES! I didn’t know what to do. As I plotted possible routes I came to the realization that the most efficient way to Jacksonville would include crossing these bridges. So we didn’t have a choice when it came to bridges and conquering fears. Did I mention they were big bridges?
The Bridges
Louisiana
Lake Charles, Louisiana
The first major bridge we encountered was The Calcasieu River Bridge. What a bridge! As I began to research I found that the bridge had been deemed structurally insufficient by The Department of Transportation, but later declared safe by the Louisiana Department of Transportation. Ok, that makes me feel better, NOT!!! But I knew there was no other choice but to cross this bridge. Then I saw the picture.
All I could think was this bridge was like a roller coaster hill, steep and scary. I was not amused. In fact, I had a bit of a panic attack just looking at the picture. But the more I searched the more I realized the only way to make this trip was to go over the bridge. There is an I-10 bypass, but the bridge for the bypass is just as scary, and it’s actually a longer bridge. So over The Calcasieu River Bridge, we would go.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
The Horace Wilkinson Bridge crosses the mighty Mississippi River in Baton Rouge. Notably, this is the highest bridge on the Mississippi River, and of course, we had to cross it.
By Sewtex – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6531919
St. Rose, Louisiana
After passing through Baton Rouge, La, I-10 dips down to The I-10 Bonnet Carré Spillway Bridge. Now, this bridge isn’t as high as The Calcasieu River Bridge but it is LONG! This bridge crosses Lake Pontchartrain, and at 58,077′ in length, The I-10 Bonnet Carre’ Spillway Bridge is one of the longest bridges in the WORLD!
New Orleans, Louisiana
Our next bridge encounter took us to New Orleans, where we crossed The I-10 Highrise Bridge. This bridge wasn’t nearly as high as The Calcasieu River Bridge, but it is busy. It’s a six-lane bridge and traffic is always moving fast. We crossed this bridge at night, and it was still busy.
After crossing this bridge we made it out of Louisiana into Mississippi and we would not encounter our next bridge until we reached Alabama.
Alabama
After crossing into Alabama we follow I-10 into The George Wallace Tunnel. The tunnel carries travelers through Mobile, AL, and actually under the Mobile River. Once we emerged from the tunnel we were joined to The Jubilee Parkway. Eastbound the Jubilee Parkway is two lanes, and westbound it is two lanes also, and the bridge is 7.5 miles long and is named after the Jubilee phenomenon that occurs in the Mobile Bay.
Florida
Ferry Pass, FL
Leaving Alabama crossing into the panhandle of Florida we came to The Escambia Bay Bridge. This is the last bridge we crossed until we reached Jacksonville. It was a smooth ride over the bridge with water on both sides, but no high points to stress us out.
Bridges and Conquering Fear
When it came to Bridges and Conquering Fear we didn’t have much choice. We had to get to Jacksonville, and the only way was over the bridges. What we learned is that we can cross a bridge without a panic attack, and we really don’t have anything rational to fear. Yes, accidents happen, and bridges do collapse, but statistically we were going to be okay crossing the bridges, and we were. I think we really conquered our fear because a week and a half later we had to do it all over again, only heading westbound!