Alabama | Alley-bama

Time passage on trips are unusual for me, seems once we hit a certain point the rest of the trip flies by. Happened on this one also Sunday… Monday… Tuesday… WednesdayThursdayFriday. Time to go home. No one regrets this more than Sydney who had a great time with Roscoe the dog who joined the household earlier this year.

We choose to return on Saturday versus Sunday to get ahead of the traveling crowd. A good decision, the crowds were light and rain was forecast for the San Francisco Bay Area on Sunday. Unfortunately this also meant we would not be in Alabama for the Iron Bowl, the yearly football game between the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn University Tigers that occurs on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This rivalry started as a battle in state politics for funding thru the passage of time and legislative maneuvers became a football rivalry. Passions for the two teams in our Alabama home fall on the side of Alabama. In the overall family there are also Auburn fans (which leads to some fun ribbing) a Texas A&M Aggies fan, Kim’s Dad, and a University of Houston Cougars fan, Kim’s Uncle Patrick. Whenever Patrick raises the the subject of the Cougars he gets the same response most non-Alabama teams get, “They play football there?” All for fun. The 2014 Iron Bowl started while we were in flight but we checked the score when we landed landed and Auburn was up in the 3rd quarter. Must be interesting times back in Alabama at this time, emotions run HIGH about this game. However fortunes changed and the Tide took control and won the game 55 to 44. Must have been quite the roller coaster ride Craig! This win helps keep the Crimson Tide in the Iron Bowl series lead with 43 wins to Auburns 35 and one tie. Roll Tide!

The return journey took us via Houston and afforded us the time for a meal at one of Kim’s favorite’s, Whataburger. A chain across the southern United States (Closest to California is in Arizona) they make a good burger that was designed to make you say ‘What a burger!’ when you took a bite. And it does.

Home and back to reality. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving as well and Happy Holidays to all!

Sydney and her pal Roscoe going at it.

Looking down the Tennessee River towards Decatur after leaving HSV.

An Antonov 124 at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

One of Kim’s favorite stops when we make it to the south.

Some of the spoils of the trip.

After a long Thanksgiving day we were all pretty tired and had a relaxing morning. However me being me I got restless and had to get out and see something. Besides I was off on my picture taking, only took a couple of hundred so far… So out we went for a drive around town.

Decatur, Alabama was founded in 1810 and with its position on the Tennessee River made it an important transportation hub. This brought attention both bad and good. it was the sight of several encounters during the American Civil War and thus was destroyed. The access has also attracted industry with GE, Del Monte Foods and United Launch Alliance (ULA) amongst the companies having a major presence here. So if you bought a GE Refrigerator or Freezer, Meow Mix (Del Monte Foods) or a Delta IV launch vehicle (ULA) it came from Decatur.

The town is typical of what I have seen in other parts of the southern USA, beautiful downtown’s that tend to the quiet side. This is really too bad, these places have buildings with lots of personality and a feast for the eyes but have an empty feeling to them. Perhaps it is me with the problem, I am so used to being in large cities that when I go to small towns I get the vibe all wrong. I guess I will have to keep visiting until I figure it out…

After dragging Kim, Patrick and Syd around greater Decatur for several (cold) hours it was beer time and back to (Decatur) home for one last meat before going home. A.D. (Kim’s Dad) was smoking a turkey and I was asked to make garlic bread. The results should be interesting…