Sweet Home Alabama

“Big wheels keep on turning
Carry me home to see my kin
Singing songs about the Southland
I miss Alabamy once again
And I think its a sin, yes” --Sweet Home Alabama lyrics by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Alabama is where Jeff and I were born and raised and it is still home to the majority of our family members and many of our friends.

Our children have been in Alabama for the past week and a half in Huntsville. So, our ultimate destination on the whirlwind trip was to go to Huntsville to retrieve our daughters now that we are “settled” in our new home. However, we made a pit stop in the Birmingham area on Friday night to deliver our fish. We had a 25-gallon fish tank with fancy goldfish in Anna’s room. Obviously, we could not keep the tank in our RV and we were too attached to them to just give them away to someone we didn’t know.

We arrived late Friday night in Hoover. We would like to try some of the other camping spots but chose to stay the Hoover Met (home of the Birmingham Barons baseball team) because of its convenience to my Mom’s apartment complex. We have stayed there once before. Essentially, it’s the RV parking lot for the Hoover Met. It’s not much to look at since it is a parking lot. But, it provides full-service hookups, it’s quiet, it’s in a nice area of town, and is extremely convenient to everything we need.

My Mom and Grandma live in an apartment complex for elderly people. They had a fish tank in their lobby already but all it had were neons. Our fish were placed in that tank in the lobby of her apartment complex. I decided the trip and the effort was worth it when I saw the elderly people’s faces light up when they saw our fish swimming in that tank. Of course, one of our fish is sort of lazy. He spends a good portion of his time sitting at the bottom of the tank or floating upside down---usually not a good sign of health where fish are concerned. We warned my Mom not to flush him as this is normal behavior for him.

My Mom is always good for some entertainment each time we visit. She has always had a creative way of pronouncing words. She was telling everyone at her apartment complex that her son-in-law brought them some “guffies.” (That would be “guppies”…but even then, that is not the type of fish that we brought). Jeff, who never misses an opportunity to exploit the ease in which my Mom can be manipulated, jokingly gave her the proper name for the fish. He told my Mom they were “pancy moldfish” (instead of fancy goldfish) after she told him she had been telling everyone they were “guffies.” As I said…my Mom is always good for some entertainment…and Jeff is never one to shy away from the fun.

My Mom and Grandma drove out to the see the RV before we left. My Grandma, who is 89 years old, had a tough time getting in but she made it. She was determined to see it.

We left around lunch time on Saturday morning to continue our journey to Huntsville. We arrived in Huntsville early in the afternoon. We stayed at Ditto Landing in Huntsville. This was our first time to camp there. Our first camp site did not provide adequate power. So, we moved to another site. This was somewhat of a hassle but we had a better peace of mind after moving. We no longer had to worry about our power intermittently shutting off. The second site’s power was somewhat questionable but wasn’t causing the issues that we experienced with the first. Both were supposed to be 50 AMP sites but I’m not convinced they were delivering 50 AMPs. The campground was peaceful but definitely not as nice as others that we have stayed at.

It was so good to be reunited with our daughters again. We had missed them terribly but fully recognized that we needed that time alone to pack, move and get settled. They were thrilled to see us too and couldn’t wait to see their new home.

Saturday evening, we hosted a cookout at our RV. Our friends, Pete & Gabrielle and their daughters Krista and Lia visited with us at our camp site. My mother-in-law, Gail, also joined us. The girls enjoyed playing together and watching Zathura on our outdoor TV. My father-in-law, Harold, passed on the cook out as he was under the weather with the stomach flu…..the same stomach bug that Gail and our younger daughter has just had the night before. We were all hoping that none of us would get it.

We bought a tablecloth early Saturday morning that we will have out when our friends and family visit us in the future so they can sign it with a permanent marker. This will be our keepsake for our adventure. I only wish we had it on Saturday morning when my Mom and Grandma also visited with us.

After awakening on Sunday morning, we visited the playground at Ditto Landing and then walked out to view the Tennessee River and the replacement bridge for the Clemont C. Clay (or C.C. Clay) Bridge.
The Clemont C. Clay bridge is one of two cantilever truss type bridges that spanned the Tennessee River just south of Huntsville. The C.C. Clay bridge was a 75-year old bridge that has now been dismantled and has been replaced with a reinforced concrete structure. The Ditto Landing trail provides a nice trail for walkers and bikers along the river. I can see why the locals would visit this area for a peaceful walk or bike ride. While looking out on the river, Anna spotted a play area on the other side of the river. She pointed at it with her middle finger on her right hand. So, I suggested to her that she point with her other finger. She obliged pointing again with her middle finger but on the left hand. What can I say….she’s not exactly a conformist.

We left around lunch time on Sunday to head back to Georgia. I started feeling nauseous early in the trip. I hoped it was due to the RV movement as I can be subject to moving sickness at times. We had also hoped to make it to our campsite before it was dark. That too…didn’t happen. But, Jeff backed the RV into our campsite like a pro in the dark.

While we were setting up, I decided to get a flashlight and show the girls the play area. On the way, we spotted an armadillo. Usually, the only time I see these that close are when they are sleeping (aka dead) on the road. But, this armadillo was alive and quite active. Rachel and Anna were thrilled to see this animal walking around and to be able to get so close. And, they enjoyed viewing the moon over the lake. It’s moments like these that make you treasure the changes we have made.