Thursday morning.

Photojournalist Mark Guss and I made our way separately to Naples this morning, leaving our respective homes in Bradenton and Tampa. He made better time, hitting Interstate 75 early and calling by 11 a.m. with an update. Traffic was already backed up at times on northbound I-75 between Sarasota and Port Charlotte. Guss didn’t know whether it was evacuees or not, as the bumper to bumper gridlock was sporadic at best.

By 1:30 p.m., when I finally hit the highway, I too came across long stretches of stalled cars, heading north. There didn’t appear to be any accidents or major construction causing the delay. Just long lines of cars, trucks and recreational vehicles going nowhere fast, but at least, going in the opposite direction of the coming storm.

That’s the thing with hurricanes and evacuations. You don’t know who’s leaving, who’s commuting or who’s just out for a drive. You sit and wonder, “Am I crazy to be heading the opposite way?”