Alabama 2023 - July 17

It's hot and humid today, despite the high cloud cover making it quite grey.  The nail polish has been out and was fun for a while (not for me, that smell is awful). There is not much to do in the heat, so after a brief spell of shopping, we return home.  That's our second visit to Pet care, where small rodents and both fresh and saltwater fish are on sale.  The children love that store, and enjoy looking at the fish, the crustaceans and the rodents (who are mostly hiding).  I can't imagine a shop like it in England.

On return home, we have ordered a new phone for Jo, who has had charging problems for a while, but worse since we got here.  Only easyfundraising.org.uk had some problems, so we won't get anything for this purchase. I tried a local attachment to VPN, a UK attachment to VPN, and nothing at all, but it just sat there waiting for some weird site, and didn't connect. Everything else worked OK.

Here's the URL that doesn't work https://www.kqzyfj.com/click-1612532-13359509?sid=166824431&context=loyalty

Alabama 2023 - July 16 - Sunday, but not Sunday

Sunday here is not like Sunday at home. Firstly, there are apparently no trading restrictions. Secondly, there is no church to attend, but church still dominates the pattern of the day.  We rushed to get lunch before the church crowds finished their services and swamped the restaurants.  Thankfully, the queues were short. 

In the afternoon we went to get 'snow cones', crushed ice with a flavoured sauce dribbled over it.  Then played with the children until dinner time.  Robert had cooked steak for Jo, and Catfish for me.  Both were very good.

In the evening, we walked Maiev to the courtyard house and back, about a mile.  There were fire flies in the little piece of woodland where the rain water drains away, toads on the side of the road, and bats flying around the tops of the trees.  It was still uncomfortably hot.

Alabama 2023 - July 15 - Quiet

The day started watching the Ladies final at Wimbledon.  It was a quiet day, spending time together, and playing with the children.

Albama 2023 - July 14 - Sad News

We had some bad news - Jo's mum passed away, and news reached us in the early morning, just after midnight.  We were, understandably, up late. The day started with watching Wimbledon.  A lot of the time was spent talking about our families and their history - what we could remember.  Robert showed us his grandfather's rifle with the presumed Japanese writing on it. It is a historic object and cannot be fired.  We were unsuccessful in our translation attempts.

Alabama 2023 - July 13 - The long road home

There is one primary objective for today, get the Suburban back to the rental company on time.   The secondary objective is to have breakfast at The Ugly Diner.  To achieve both of these we require an early start, so we are packed as much as possible, the night before, ready to leave at 6:30.  In the morning from 6 am, the house is a hive of activity, and everything is set the way it needs to be for check out.  The car is loaded, even the children are ready.  We leave on-time, we arrive at the restaurant at 7:03.  Breakfast is ordered, and eaten.  The whole experience is as good as the other day.

Then there is a 270-mile journey out of Gulf Shores, back to Auburn.  For a while we are in commuter traffic, but once on the Interstate it is a straight forward journey.  We arrive back in Auburn in time to unload and return the car to its rightful owners.

The rest of the day is quiet.  We have Culvers, fish and chips (for Jo and I) for our evening meal, and set ourselves to watch Ted Lasso, in a 'mini-binge' we get through a good part of series 1.

Alabama 2023 - July 12 - Once more to the beach

To start the day, we went to The Ugly Diner for brunch.  Its nearest equivalent in the UK is a high street café.  Whatever it is, it is also the best restaurant we have visited.  There are only a few tables, a long one down the middle is the best for us, it is unoccupied, so we are sat straight down.  The drinks are chosen and delivered promptly, as is the food.  This is the first place where the food is really hot when it arrives.

The weather is not good, there are storms moving across the top of the gulf, and we are occasionally engulfed.  It's not a day for beach activities, at least not yet.  So we visit the state park, on the way we stopped to look at some flowers that we had noticed and discussed on two or three trips up and down that road.  They are Swamp Rose Mallow, and in today's overcast, and rainy conditions they are closed up and not at all impressive.  When open, they are beautiful.

Heading to the state park, we come to Peter's Ice Cream and Donuts (English: doughnuts). It is just a few minutes after lunch, so although we go in and order, the children are not very hungry, so do not eat all their ice cream.  It is a nice little place, I'm surprised how many people visit.

Later, at the State park visitor centre we see all sorts of wildlife, mostly stuffed for display, but a number of wild birds that have been rescued following some injury that has left them unable to fend for themselves.  There is also a random tortoise wandering around.

Then on to a supermarket to buy supplies to make sandwiches to eat on the beach.  When we get to the beach, there is very light rain falling, with dark clouds threatening more.  "This is the most English beach experience I've had here" our host says.  In England, though, the temperature would not be in the upper 20's.

We sit on the beach, sometimes visiting the water and watch the wildlife.  A large pod of dolphin pass us, quite a distance from shore, but so lovely to see.  There are pelicans, terns, and black-headed gulls.   There is also a bird that looks like a hawk, seemingly catching things in mid-air, over the sea.  We can't work out what it was.

Madelyn like to be buried

Crab collection, first bucket full

Later in the evening, after the sun had set, we get torches and head along the sand to catch crabs.  The crabs are very nimble, there is a technique for catching them that takes some mastering.  Once in the net, the baby ones can be transferred to the bucket by hand, but don't try it with the larger ones because nip.  It was good to see the children running across the beach, chasing crabs, sometimes losing them down a hole, sometimes losing them in the sea, and mostly catching them and transferring them to the bucket.  When they are first put in the bucket, they are 'mad', but usually calm down in a few minutes.  They were all released back into the sea before we returned to the car.

Alabama 2023 - July 11 - In the water

There was a shark experience on the pier at 10am, it was a bit of a rush to get there in time, but we made it.   The presentation, I think, was aimed at children, but the university students seemed unable to avoid all the long words, the technical names for parts of the shark, or its reproductive methods.  It was interesting for me, and the exhibits - partial skeletons (mainly jaws), and live rays (barbs removed) was interesting for the children. The tank is fairly shallow, and one had escaped a couple of days before.

We spent about an hour before moving on to brunch at Ruby Slipper.  The restaurant had a long wait. The waitress, seemed to be pre-occupied with something, and was not that attentive. The food is mainly omelettes, and was nice enough, but also seemed to take a long while to arrive.  Neither of the waits was timed, but spent with the grandchildren, who are not particularly impatient, so, if they are getting active, we have been waiting too long. The portions in America, at least in this area, are smaller than I remember them, which is probably a good thing.  The prices are also higher, which isn't.

We then drove to Fort Morgan, arriving in the heat of the day.  It was a relief to get into the museum.  The fort was originally built to defend against the British.  It has a chequered history, being re-fortified in times of conflict, and all but abandoned soon after.  WWII saw the most spectacular abandonment, when in 1946 (a year after the war ended) it was handed to the state as a historical site.  On top of the fortifications, there are great views of the oil rigs in the gulf.  If you think of these as ships, it is easy to see how useful the fort was.  Inside the massive buildings, with their high vaulted ceilings, the temperature is more comfortable, and you can begin to see how people survived the searing heat. That is, until you see the dress uniforms in the museum - thick material, tightly buttoned and high necked.

The picture shows us walking through the tunnels, they provide a fantastic echo, and led to a lot of shouting.

There were lots of dragon flies at the fort, I took a picture of one, if you look carefully, you should be able to make out the wings.

After driving back from the fort, and taking a short break, we headed to the Crab Trap Restaurant for an early tea.  The plan was to eat, then go back to the pier and spend some time on the beach, but a storm was threatening.  We were initially told there was a 30-minute wait, at the end of 30 minutes, we were told we could eat outside, or wait another 30 minutes. We decided to eat outside, under cover. 

So, after eating, we went on the beach immediately behind the restaurant, and enjoyed an hour (maybe), on the beach, in the water.  The water is warm, but still requires some acclimatisation.  I enjoyed it much more than I expected to.

A darkness fell, we left the beach and travelled to an amusement arcade, the children loved it, but for me those places are simply a waste of money.  However, the occasional wins are a good life-lesson, I suppose.

Alabama 2023 - July 10 - Deeper South

Alabama is part of the deep south, although it is in the Northern Hemisphere, and North America.  Today we headed further south, and ultimately ended up with quite a long drive through Florida. I have some preconceived ideas about Florida, and as we crossed the state line I was surprised to see how run down  'back-woods' America, it really was.  After about 4.5 hours of travelling in the hired Suburban (7-seats, and colossal, but just what we need), we reached our destination - the A-frame house, or the triangle house, as the children call it. It's on Innerarity Point Road.  It is a unique place, I have never seen anything like it before.  Inside it is well furnished, but there are some odd things - there is no kettle, for starters.

Before our long drive, we collected lunch from Wendy's, and ate in the car, as the journey started.

In the evening we ate at Sunset Grille, a lovely restaurant on the waterfront, there was a slight delay as the outside tables were closed because of the weather, when it rains here, it really rains. There are rivers running down the sides of the roads in seconds.  Most of the food was good when we got it, and the waitress was superb.
 

We went to the Pier in Gulf State Park.  We saw a blue heron, which didn't look very happy and may have had something caught around one of its legs, pelicans (which Madelyn has decided are really Albatrosses), and watched as a family caught a catfish.

Finally, we watched the sunset, then home to bed.

Alabama 2023 - July 9 - Land of Lego (2)

We completed the Lego build today, well I say we, I mean Robbie, who did at least 95% of it. As with all kits, there were a few mistakes, and a few places where the instructions were not entirely clear. Robbie had measured the time taken on his tablet.  The build total time for all sessions, excluding breaks, was 4:31:48.83. Jo and Madelyn completed theirs yesterday, and did not time themselves.  The picture below was taken by Madelyn.

Later we went to Buc-ee's, it's new(ish) to Auburn. For those who haven't seen one, it's a Gas (Petrol) station.  As with all such places, there's a shop attached, the difference here is that the shop is enormous and stocks almost everything you can think of.  Why would you suddenly need to buy a large gas barbecue on your way across America?  Well, you can get one, and all the things that go with it.  But it doesn't have everything, the cowboy hats come in many sizes, but not mine, how sad.  The place was heaving, I think it has become a local tourist attraction in its own right - definitely an experience.

After that it was nail painting time, my turn will come tomorrow, I think.

Alabama 2023 - July 8 - Playground

We completed another bag of Lego today, perhaps the smallest bag of the kit, tomorrow we will tackle bags 6 (2 bags), 7 and 8.

In the early evening, we played with Mave and watched the birds flitting between the two dead trees just beyond the fence.  Like all 5-year-old dogs, she has calmed down a lot.  She clearly remembered me, but I'm not so sure if she remembered Jo, last time she saw Jo was a long time ago.

Opposite Robbie's school, there is an accessible play area for children, it is a remarkable place, undoubtedly the best play area I have ever seen.  We visited in the evening, once the heat of the day had gone, today has been wet so not as oppressive as other days.  There are climbing frames, percussion instruments, monkey bars, slides, swings and a whole load more, including a zip wire.  It was there last year, and while there are signs of wear and tear, the accessible zip line is closed, some patches of the rubber floor have lifted, and some are worn, there is no sign of vandalism.  The children had a great time, and so did the adults (well, this one anyway).  There is lots of shaded seating too, but unusually for America, not a huge amount of car parking.

We were speculating on its cost, I guessed at about $1,000,000.  I was way off, the actual cost, a matter of public record, was closer to $4,000,000.

Alabama 2023 - 7 July - Land of Lego (1)

To distinguish the subject from the theme park is important for me, as I wouldn't want you to mistake what I'm talking about.  The main activity today was to purchase and start to build Lego kits.  Robbie bought the Chamber of Secrets (76389), and Madelyn bought Friends Hair Salon (41743).  Robbie's was budget busting, but we rarely visit, and it was clear this was the only one he wanted.

I've blogged about children and Lego before, the other grandchild who builds Lego, sorts and plans before the start of the build.  This grandchild likes to jump right in, so the first few pages have been done before I can collect my thoughts, let alone some bricks.  There are 8 bags in the kit, we did 4 today, for a total build time of about 1 hour 58 minutes.  There were several breaks for picture taking to track the activity.

Early progress

Early Progress

Robbie enjoyed taking pictures as much as the build I think, after we stopped building, he continued to take pictures for a while, not just of the Lego, but he started to make a story with a small dinosaur. 

In the afternoon / evening, Robert and Karen's friends came over.  We have met Erica and the boys before, but this was the first time we had met Kwasi.  Robert and Karen prepared another excellent meal for us (salmon cooked in the smoker, chocolate brownie) we had a good time chatting and eating together.

Alabama 2023 - 6 July - Anything from anywhere?

 

Having an old phone that is nearing the end of its life, the original picture I took of this banner was not on my phone when I came to record my first blog of the holiday.  When we arrived at the airport exit, we were met by Karen, her phone already in a call to Robert and the children.  So we got an instant hello. On arrival at the house, we were ushered in quickly to two very happy grandchildren holding the banner. A precious moment, that needs recording, but the recording happens as a memory and must not become part of the event.

Today was a quiet day, the heat outside is oppressive, so we're not going anywhere.  So, you might think there is not much to do, but things at home are still going on - things that should have been completed before we left.  There is a constant stream of messages. There are websites I can't reach from the new laptop, but can from my phone, which makes it much harder to see what is happening.

It is not true that I can do anything from anywhere, I need to be local, move cables around, and reconfigure routers, which means restarting them.  So all that is delayed until I return.  Meanwhile, we play with the children, chat with the adults, a little, and watch Wimbledon.  It's fun, with an underlying dose of frustration.  Perhaps it was better when I didn't know?

We also have technology problems here, Jo's phone has decided not to charge from the charger I bought with me, but it does seem to work with one of the chargers here.

Alamaba 2023 - 5 July - Land of Plenty

Today was an acclimatisation day, a chance to relax, a chance to get used to being 6 hours away from the body clock.  That does not mean there is nothing to do - there is always preparation, and today the preparation is shopping. It's only fair to note that shopping is an activity I hate, I'd do it online and sit and wait for the delivery, rather than find a space in a car park, push a wonky trolley down aisles packed with stuff I have no interest in, and fight with a 'self-service' till.  But that's what we did, apart from the self-service till. We visited Kroger in the morning.  American supermarkets are in a league above their British counterparts in terms of range and choice - they have too much to choose from, which makes finding exactly what I want difficult. Especially when they don't have it!  But, perhaps because of the holiday yesterday, the shelves are not brimming over with goodies.  American is a land of plenty, if you are able to access it. Still, we get a good enough shop done, and return home.

Lunch is salad from, a large plastic box containing 1lb of mixed salad leaves, and some other loose fruit and vegetables. I also found some Danish blue cheese, which was very nice. I'm not the only one trying to eat healthily now.

After lunch, we visit Sam's Club, which is like Costco, very big and requires a subscription to enter.  Some things there are very cheap, but not everything.  We get towels for the beach and fish (snapper) for dinner, and a few other things.  During the walk around this store, we have a short conversation about supply chain issues post covid and how they haven't recovered.  If you're a regular in Britain, you'd never have noticed.  There is food price inflation here too, but there's also more slack in the system, so it's not affecting people quite as much.

Dinner is cooked at home and the snapper is very good.

The day has been hot and humid, even after dinner it is uncomfortable outside.  We took Maeve for a short walk, so that Jo could see their old house. It is less than half a mile away - they call it the courtyard house, but, of course, we can only see the outside, so not the courtyard itself.

The remainder of the day was spent watching Wimbledon and playing with the children.  Despite having loads of toys, this stick and old bottle gun is Robbie's favourite at the moment.  That's childhood, and it's good to see him enjoying it.

Alabama 2023 - 4 July

In planning this trip, I spoilt two of the important days in July for my hosts.  By choosing to arrive on 4 July, I not only saved a few pounds, but disrupted a national celebration.

As always, our journey started early, we were up just after 6am. Looking back on last year, (https://3cephas.blogspot.com/2022/07/alabama-2022-1-corporate-greed-is.html), most things went better.  There was none of the chaos at LHR T3, but the estimate from the taxi company for the journey to Heathrow has had 30 minutes added somewhere along the way.  We left at 7:30 and arrived in the terminal 2 hours and 15 minutes later, which give an average speed of about 26 MPH (41 KMH), we will soon be back to the 8 MPH that London Taxi Cabs are supposed to have managed when they were horse-drawn.

Progress through baggage drop was acceptable, and so was security (no need to remove shoes any more!), together we completed the process in under 1.5 hours, so having left some time to spare, we were sat in the terminal, and ate lunch at a leisurely pace.

Boarding was delayed for about 10 minutes.  Here we are just before the last communication before radio silence - better known now as  'Aeroplane mode'.  Being seated at the back of the plane meant that we were in no hurry here either. Take-off was scheduled for 13:55.  The plane left the gate only 2 minutes late, (13:57), but we did not leave the ground until 14:20.

The flight was mainly comfortable, even I had enough legroom.

 

I watched 3 films :

14:00 The Pope's Exorcist - written by an exorcist, but it is unclear if this is meant to be a true story.  It's a good enough watch in 'edited for aeroplane use', and kept me engaged for the entire film.

16:10 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - during which I dozed a few times, so still haven't seen it all the way through.

18:32 Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, as story from the Shrek universe.  It is quite enjoyable and seems to hang together, but it is fairly moralising at the end - to be expected from this franchise, maybe.

The food on the plane was edible, but beyond that, unremarkable.  Better were the sandwiches prepared by our hosts for the onward journey.

On landing we were diverted to an unusual gate, and had a long, uncomfortable wait before we got there, with the temperature in the cabin rising from barely warm enough to uncomfortably hot.

We arrived in Auburn in time to get out to see the 4 July fireworks, we watched the city's display from a local car park to avoid the crowds.  I tried to take a video, but as usual the phone camera is inadequate.

Being here after a long journey feels like coming home, it is so good not to have to book in to a hotel!

As so to bed, local time about 23:00, or time at point of origin about 05:00 the following day.  Very tired, but also out of sync, so sleeping is difficult, and I wake at 3:30am.

Home at last

Although the title may sound negative, it simply reflects the long journey we have undertaken, but first I must talk about the Atlanta Aquarium. Our day began late, Jo and I overslept by about an hour, then we had to pack and drive to Atlanta. Time was moving on, we finally entered the Aquarium about 3pm. It is an amazing place, with separate Aquaria for different types of habitat. They have dolphins, Beluga whales, mantra rays, and various sharks. Those are just the large creatures, there are also lots of different types of small fish, frogs, and American alligators. We went to Gunbeaux for food, before heading to the airport. Atlanta airport has a new international terminal, it is about 10 minutes drive from the existing terminal. We arrived at the gate about an hour before boarding. The flight left on time and arrived in Amsterdam early, so we had an easy transfer to the little BAe 146 for the 40 minute hop to London City. After a short wait for our bags, which we began to think were still in Amsterdam, we passed through customs. Going through customs is an experience I hate, I'm always expecting to be stopped and detained for no better reason than they can. Then we took the DLR, the Jubilee line and the main line to Billericay. The total time in transit was about 13 hours, I slept for barely 2 of those.

American New Year: Last full day

Another reasonably quiet day because we have to return the car to Hertz by 10am. I took Karen to work and returned home. About 20 to 10 we left for the car rental place. I have driven 1271 miles in the two weeks we have been here. There are some things that I'm still getting used to - there are normally no sidewalks (pavements), nor are there always borders between properties so it can be difficult to know where to turn. I have missed the right entry a number of times.
I spent some time looking at the passage for next week's sermon, and drank one of the beers Robert brought me.
We picked Karen up from work and got lunch from Firehouse Subs. They got Karen's order wrong, but the food was OK. Once Karen was back at work we returned home and watched the Liverpool game, then went for a walk. Jo had been out this morning, so we walked around the estate, the went towards the Village Mall. Only about 15 minutes later we were crossing the vast car park on this side of the Mall. It takes about 1200 cars. We went through the Mall and into Applebees for a desert and a coffee. They had no cream, so the coffee and tea had to be drunk black. Then we returned to the house as the sun went down. Sunrise was at 6:44 and sunset at 16:49. By the time we got back it was almost completely dark.
For our evening meal we went to Olive Garden, the food is excellent, and for once the service was also excellent, there's always a down side though, in this case it was the young people in the next booth, particularly the one in the middle facing me. who were excessively loud. Then Karen drove us back home in time to watch Moonshiners.

American New Year's Day

When we returned home yesterday the TV had arrived, so this delivery at least had worked well. Today is a quiet day, we were late home last night, but still awake at 7am. Time to catch up with the blogging, and enjoy Karen's American breakfast - pancakes, maple syrup, bacon (freshly cooked), scrambled eggs, and cinnamon bread. Then more time spent learning the tablet while Job finishes her knitted blanket.
We went out to the local Crackerbarrel for lunch. There was a long wait for a table, and an even longer wait for food. Karen spoke to the manageress, and the service improved. She also gave us our meal for free.
As it seems impossible to get to a drive-in, I will have to settle for seeing The Hobbit in a regular cinema. There is only one in Auburn, so it is an easy choice. The next 2D show is at 8:55, which is rather late. It means that we won't be back until midnight. The cinema is a huge multi-plex, our theatre is almost empty. The seats are very comfortable, and the building is reasonably clean. The Hobbit has been criticized for being too long, everyone agreed, except me. It is so long since I have read the book that I can't remember a lot of the details in the story. The key points I recognize, but the dwarf history I do not - time to re-read the book.

American New Years Eve

It is New Year's Eve. 2012 is almost over, 2013 is almost here. Karen and Robert's Christmas present is due to arrive today, I wonder if deliveries here are as fraught with difficulty as they are at home. We have decided to visit Chewacla state park. It is only a few minutes away, and it will be the first proper walk we have had since arriving. The GPS announces "right turn", as I look left there is the park entrance -two enormous sliding black gates. We turn left and pull up by the entrance kiosk. Entrance to the park is $2 per person. The park ranger provides us with a trail map and advises us that the waterfall is where new visitors start. We drive around the park, up the hill steadily to the main parking area, a sign points into the trees 'trail to waterfall'. Really, that's a trail? There doesn't appear to have been either human or animal in that direction recently, so we make our way through the trees. The fallen leaves are covering loose rocks, about the size of a child's fist, and I now realize that my first mistake of the day is quite serious. I didn't bring my walking boots, yesterday's park has given me an entirely false expectation. This is the real outdoors - well it is if you ignore the restrooms, water taps and barbecues  Slowly and carefully we proceed down a rain gully, at least there the dry leaves have been removed and we can see the rocks.
The waterfall is really the overflow of the dam that is responsible for the lake, we follow the sound to get there. There are some very large tree trunks that have been washed over the waterfall, l'd to see it in full flow. We then walked along the edge of the lake trying to spot birds, there are a few, but only a few. The woods must provide less food than it appears capable of producing.
We walk for about thirty minutes, it is the furthest we have managed since arriving. Soon the trail is blocked by a fallen tree, this is only an obstacle because we are not properly dressed. Anyway, it is time to return, so we make our way back, and choose a different path to reach the road, it turns out to be a mush easier route.
Close to home, we pull off the road into Flint's Crossing, and eat at Panera Bread. The food is really good, the cost is rather high and the portions on the small side for America, so I wouldn't score it highly on the value for money scale.
Later one of Robert's friends arrives to take us to the Gridiron football game, the Chick fil-A bowl - LSU vs. Clemson, it is near Atlanta, so it is a long drive. On arrival, we eat at Varsity, the biggest burger bar I have ever seen, it has multiple rooms to eat in and also has a drive in, so you can eat in the car. Everyone who visits Atlanta will eat there, including presidents and the King (Elvis). They have pictures to prove it, it is an amazing place.
We then head to MARTA, the City train service, and purchase a breeze card to get us to the stadium and back. I put a $20 note in the machine for a $10 fare and get 10 x $1 coins back. I'd forgotten that Americans had a dollar coin, I assume they still hate it -I certainly do.
The stadium seats near to 80,000 and is a sell out, although only 67,000 odd are actually there. Free tickets have that effect. We are seated at the Clemson end, 7 rows from the top. The field is small, but I can see it all, which is important as I am trying to learn the game. There is a touchdown almost immediately for each side, LSU score first, then the game settles down, and I start to get the idea of 10 yard advances and 4 stops (downs), fake plays and flag on the field. LSU start to have the upper hand. It is a game of two halves, each split into halves again, but these breaks are barely noticeable in the game, which appears to be all wait and a few seconds of explosive action. The half-time show is made up of three marching bands, a stunning show, then we settle down for the second half, but almost immediately we are called down to level 1 where there are seats available 8 rows from the front. Once seated, we realize we have missed a touchdown, LSU are taking a strong lead. In the final quarter, Clemson begin a comeback. They are two points behind with two minutes to play left. The atmosphere in the stadium is electric, the announcer pleads for order at the end of the game, and reminds people not to go on the field. At the start of the final play, Clemson need a field goal to win. They are inside the final ten yards on fourth down, the clock is stopped at 2 seconds. The goal is scored, and the noise is deafening. I could not have been at a better first game. Football is a very technical sport, I hope I can keep in touch, at least now I will have some idea of what's happening when the Super Bowl is on.
We return to the packed train, the mood of the crowd is friendly, with lots of chat between strangers, yet there has been little alcohol sold.
In the car on the way back, we talk about the church plant that Robert's friend is planning. He has a brilliant vision and is planning carefully and listening to God for direction, to make a church that disciples well, but doesn't become a show, like so many of the US churches are.
The last day of 2012 and the first hour of 2013 were so exciting.

American Sunday

We slept well in the enormous bed, but still woke before the alarm. Breakfast was to be at Robert's friends, so we picked it up on the way in from Hardees.  Then drove to the first place the 'Never Lost' GPS didn't know - Robert's friend's house, they have been there for five years.
We ate breakfast then drove to their church, quite a distance away.  The North Glencoe Baptist Church was on Christmas break.  The third choice preacher was on duty, he is normally the High School Pastor, and responsible for media, the band was even more up to date thsn usual. The sermon was well constructed, but was really three sermons in one. He was preaching on Habakka - Habakkuk to the rest of us. His constant mispronounciation began to grate a little, so much so that Karen looked up how to say the word - have-a-KOOK.

Back at the house our host had prepared Hawain Stack, a base of rice topped with chichen in a sauce and various salad itens (including pineaple) placed on top. It is a family recipe, and very good.

Having eaten we decided to go for a walk, so we drove to the local park. The park has a tarmac trail (path) to follow around the trees. It is used by all sorts of people, mostly though it is set out for a game. There are things that look a little like rubbish bins, but their sides are made of chains, a little way away, through the trees is a concrete platform, you stand on the platform and throw a frisby into the 'bin'. You are prevented from doing this by the trees in the way, so will need another try from within one pace of where your frisby lands. That, of course is too simple, so there are different types of frisby, to produce distance, curves, and accuracy. We watched someone practicing. We walked around the trail twice, once in each direction, then said good bye to our hosts and headed back to Auburn. The first stop was foe fuel. Normally I have to pre-pay for my fuel because I don't have a ZIP code but here the man in charge unlocked the pump and Iwas able to pay in the usual way. He was from Bahrain and was studying in the USA. He said he was not expecting the situation in his country to improve, so would not be able to go home. The drive home was the hardest I have done. American drivers drive on main beam too much and drive too close to the car in front. For miles I could feel my face lit up from the reflection of headlights in the wing mirrors. Its a problem I have to deal with at home too, but very rarely for so long. I arrived home exhausted.

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American Christmas: Huntsville

We drove the three and a half hours to Huntsville and easily located the NASA Visitor Center – The U.S. Space & Rocket Center.  At the entrance there is a Saturn 5.  This rocket is THE rocket.  There are no others of such importance. It marks out the space programme so clearly.  It is enormous.   I stand and look, eventually I take a picture.  We have arrived quite late, having stopped for lunch at Cracker Barrel in Cullman.  The food is very good, and the portions are large.  We bought a few souvenirs to take home.  Then we travelled onto the space centre.  I’m back to the Saturn 5, I could stand there looking at it all day, but there is an exhibition to see.  The story of the moon race is laid out, but there are also many pieces of military equipment on display.  I hadn’t realised how tightly integrated the ballistic missile program and the space program were, I suppose it is not the sort of thing you think about as a child. In 1969, I was 13 years old and totally engulfed in the optimism of the 1960s, and especially the space program.  I was nowhere near as optimistic as von Braun, though, he thought we would get to Mars by 1970.  There is a hall dedicated to the Saturn 5, a life-size model stretches almost the length of the hall, and its stages are separated, so you can see the whole detail of the rocket.  The story of the moon landings project and the building of the rocket motors go down one side, and the other has exhibits about the astronaut’s lives in space.  At the end of the hall is a Lunar Module and a Lunar Rover.  It is great for children, with loads of things to try, and great for those who lived through it, but for the other adults in the party it is just a small part of history.  We have little time and I also want to see the shuttle (Pathfinder).
Some things are missing from the exhibition, or I missed them.  There is nothing about the astronauts that died in developing the space program (except for the shuttle challenger, and then it is limited to the technical investigation). There is very little about the Gemini programme, which is a shame.
There was one major disappointment, as a non-citizen, I am not allowed on through bus tour. The phrase on the website about credentials is meaningless, so I called them. NO FOREIGNERS.
After leaving the space center with a few souvenirs, we drove to Gadston, where we would stay for the night.  First we stopped at a restaurant called Top of the River. We went there to try catfish, there was way too much food, after the blow-out at Cracker Barrel. The catfish was served as gougons, which meant that the covering had to be removed to taste the fish. It tastes like cod, but does not flake, and is not chewy. Very full, we drove to the Marriot hotel, where we struggled to get a room. The woman on the desk said she could not use the coupon for both rooms, but could give us a better deal on the second room. We ended up with the coupon price - bizarre. The room was great, and the bed very comfortable, but the experience was further ruined by not being able to access the internet.

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