ON THE ROAD AGAIN - SPRING 2016

Our mascot "Ellabbie" in the back of the truck.... 'I swear we are not the Beverly Hillbillies!!

We’re “on the road again” in Bert, the towable truck.  He got new “shoes” before we left and so far we’ve only used his heater.  The AC is still questionable, working on its own terms!!  At least David has reinstalled the glove compartment (for now!! LOL).  We are headed west on I-20 with only a brief outline this time.  We are determined not to over plan this trip and to see a few things well, instead of just “hitting the highlights” of waaaaaay too many places.  Our general outline includes, checking out Birmingham (more on that later), Borderlands in Tucson (the brewery that Dave owns an interest in), picking up our RV near Phoenix, perhaps a day trip up to Sedona (depending how much time and attention Bessie, the RV, needs), then over to Anza Borrego Desert State Park near Palm Springs, CA,  for the desert wildflower bloom spurred by el Niño, then to the Dana Point Whale festival where hopefully we will witness the blue whale migration.  That will put us near San Diego on the 2^nd week of March.  After that we have nothing definite planned.  Now, David is telling folks we’ll be home in 5-6 weeks, and I’ve said “hopefully by Easter” several times.  Time will tell!!  Of course Bert, the truck and Bessie, the RV, have an equal say in the matter.  (Or perhaps veto power! YIKES!)

We left Thursday morning for Birmingham after getting our absentee ballots in the mail.  We managed to get there with just one major stop at the contemporary furniture stores I’d been eying every time we drive to or through Atlanta.  It was a fun hour and we saw several items that might be good for Dave’s new room that we might come back to on our way home.  The only real cost was it put us in Atlanta’s rush hour traffic, but then when are you NOT in rush hour around Atlanta!

We arrived at an AirB&B Dave had booked in Birmingham just a little after dark.  We were Ellen’s first guests, and it was our first AirB&B so we were a good match!  She was in a very nice townhouse community in Mountain Brook, a Myers Park type neighborhood near downtown.  After settling in, Ellen gave us a few suggestions for dinner nearby.  We ate at a farm-to-table-fast-food place.  I know, it sounds like an oxymoron, but somehow it worked.  For my SC readers, imagine an organic/hippie Lizard’s Thicket, with fewer choices.  We were tired after the long drive, so instead of exploring further, we went back to Ellen’s to crash.

After leisurely coffee with Ellen in the morning, we went off for a day exploring Birmingham.  During breakfast, we finished our research, filled out our absentee ballots and had the waitress witness them.  For once David was glad he is still technically registered as a Democrat so that he did not have to vote for any of the “Dysfunctional Republicans”. (they stopped putting the fun in dysfunctional a few months ago!!)

One of our most fun finds in Birmingham was the Sloss Furnaces.  When they closed down the furnaces in the 70’s (EPA standards and lack of modernizations) they were later preserved as a National Historic Landmark.  Though rusty and at places overgrown, it was fascinating to be allowed to wander around the giant industrial site.  We could see inside the boilers and the huge pistons that drove the blowers for the blast furnaces. And with only a few restrictions we could climb all over everything.  They have converted the slanted sand casting floors where they cast the pig iron, into a stage and event venue and according to the lone docent on site, there are weddings there every weekend.   From there we went to Birmingham’s free art museum, but both commented that we can do art museums in almost every town we visit (and many times do!), but the Sloss Furnaces was a unique experience!

After the art museum (great Wedgewood collection and a total of 8 contemporary pieces) we drove by a few landmarks from BuzzFeed’s “50 Things to Do in Birmingham” and then drove over to Red Mountain and the Vulcan statue that stands watch over Birmingham.  The information center/museum was both a history of Birmingham and of the statue.  It was forged and cast for the St. Louis World’s World Fair where it won the international prize for metallurgy.  One of his key and prized features (from every local who mentions it) are his naked buns from the rear!  The view from the catwalk around the statue high on the mountain gave a great panoramic view of the city.  We liked it so much we came back after supper to see it in the dark, with the lights blazing.

Deb can always spot a Chilhuly

Ellabbie on Vulcan's foot

No caption needed

Vulcan's hands from the catwalk

Bi

Birmingham by day....

.....And by night!

As I write this we have just driven into Texas where we will spend the night in Tyler outside of Dallas.  We have driven across the other half of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.  Our only real stop has been in Tuscaloosa (we drove by Bear Bryant Drive) where we toured the Kentuck Arts and Craft Center.  I bought a really interesting bracelet.  Not the type of jewelry I usually wear, but I just liked it! Gifts to yourself are sometimes the best!.

Today as we drove across the Gulf States, we finished Murder Runs in the Family by Anne George,  A Southern Sisters Mystery.  They are fairly silly and definitely chick-lit, but it was fun as I knew they all took place in Birmingham and use many of the landmarks we saw (Vulcan, Mountain Brook, Red Mountain, etc.) as a backdrop.  And it made the 8 hour drive today much more fun.  One of the best lines in the book was when “Aunt Sister” (I love that name!) turns to a babbling Patricia Ann and says, “And me in the middle of the pasture without my shovel!”… a line David and I vowed to remember!