Alabama 2019 - Days 1 & 2: Surprise! and a Helicopter

Friday 22 Nov

The day is dedicated to travel, from the time we get up at about 7am the focus is preparation for the trip.  The taxi is due at 10:30, we are ready by 10:20 (unusually!).  It arrives in good time, although sitting in the back seeing many clocks showing different times is disturbing, even when the maximum difference is 2 minutes.   The journey is good, none of the contingency time is needed, so we end up with time to kill in Terminal 3.  I suppose that is what they want.  Going through security there is an elderly man having his bags searched.  A bottle of ketchup, or something similar, is found.  It is held together with parcel tape.  It is above the 100ml limit so will have to be surrendered.  I feel sorry for him, he seems more confused than angry.
There is still 2 hours before the gate opens.  We paid £12.00 for a salad, sandwich and 2 waters at Eat, the airport is a rip off - but you know that.

Sitting at the gate, an old man sits opposite me and says "Hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait".  It sums up my feeling but I am not in a conversational mood and avoid further eye contact.  This was a mistake.  When boarding was called we both got up at the same time and there was a gentle clash of heads.  He was OK, so was I.

The flight left 25 mins late, but was ready to go on time.  We were informed that the arrival time was not affected.  We settled in, if you can do that on a plane.  There is free WiFi (allegedly), you are not allowed to use it to message people.  For me it didn't work, no internet connection was provided.  I have since been told I should have installed an app.

The choice of films did not seem inspiring, I watched:

Storm Boy
This was the best of the three, the story told by a grandfather to his granddaughter of the rescue of some baby pelicans.   The backdrop to the story is another piece of conservation, and the two are cleverly woven together.

 
Toy Story 4
A formulaic extension to the franchise, watchable but not inspiring.


I am Mother
A skynet story, or is it? The sole girl being bought up by a robot (mother) gets to discover the real world.  As Sci-Fi goes the telling is better than the idea with this film.

Airline travel is NOT environmentally friendly, but there are some obvious small things that could be done:

1. Serve a fork, knife and spoon as required, not every time.
2. Give out what's asked for, not tooth brush and paste, and eye shades to everyone.  This is already done with headphones. 

We arrived 30 minutes early, which made for a better flight than usual.  To compensate, we were put in the slowest line through immegration.  People from the next flight overtook us.  The queue management this time was awful, this has not always been the case, so I suppose it depends on the staff.  Our bags were set off the usual carosel, waiting for us. It took at least 45 minutes from start of the queue for the particular desk to being officially allowed in.

Robert met us and drove us home.  Robbie's face (surprise) and Madelyn's hug made the whole day worthwhile.  Total travel time is about 18 hours. 

Saturday 23 November

We slept badly.  That is not a surprise, there is jet-lag to be overcome as well as overtiredness.  Saturday morning set the pattern for the rest of our time here:

• Get up, breakfast, walk Mauve, shower and be ready for the rest of the day.

We went out to a yard sale. A couple opened their house, priced up their items and invited people around.  We bought a few odds and bits.  I can't see this working in the UK, but let me know if I'm wrong.
Just across the road was another of Karen's friends - Erica and her two boys, her husband was recording a Vlog, so we didn't meet him. They have a lovely roomy, airy house, with the lounge area open to the roof.

After that we did our first shopping.  By then the rain had started and the standing water meant a shallow paddle in to and out of the supermarket. (approx $153 was spent)  The self service check outs are as unreliable here as in the UK.

After lunch, back at the house I helped Robbie build a Lego helicopter, here's the finished article.

Another dog walk, and home for beef stroganoff. Before that I was playing with the children, chasing and catching them, Mauve could not resist joining in.  She doesn't know her own strength though, so had to be put in her crate.

Grandad was tired and dozed off on the sofa.