Last Day in Alabama

Thursday Bill & I took the Chevy truck to get a quick look for a grinding sound when you turned the steering wheel left. The nice mechanic at the Chevy garage went for a ride with us (he drove first, then me) & it wouldn't do it, of course. So he said to bring it back at 8am Fri. morning & he would put it up on the rack & make sure there wasn't any emanate danger lurking in the shadows.

Since we couldn't get anything done right then, we headed to the Shrimp Festival. It was sooooo hot. I said it was like the Neptune Festival? Not! I would take Virginia Beach Neptune Festival any day. The arts, crafts, entertainment was about the same, but it was too crowded to walk & the booths were set up every which way. Also, there was no beautiful sand sculptures to see & watch make. That is the neat part about the Neptune Festival. And of course, the price of the food was outrageous. We decided after about 1-1/2 hr., a cold lemonade, that was enough & came back to the trailer. I had shrimp in the freezer so I made our own shrimp dinner. Not bad either; & it didn't cost me $23.00!!!!! Probably not even $5.00!

Friday we took the truck in for the inspection & he didn't find anything drastic. Two hard rubber "things" that rest on the axle pressurize when you turn the wheel. One seems to be a little more protruded than the other, but no danger to us or the truck. Thank You Lord! I wasn't prepared for an expensive repair bill. To top it all off, he didn't even write up the service & sent us on our way with a handshake & a smile. Thank You Lord Again!

We then went to Amy's with donuts & sweet rolls as Bob's Mom & Aunt were there. But they were getting ready to leave, so we had a short visit with them & then Amy, Bill & I went for a ride in the country & to Fairhope to the wharf on Mobile Bay. It was very breezy, but still hot in the sun. Pictures? Nope. Nothing to take but water. Not even a boat (except the sail boats that were in dock). Amy had to go into work at 2:30 for certification of correct installation of car seats for a couple of hours. She had to be there along with the inspectors that were watching her, & then parents declined to have their car seats checked. Wouldn't you think after the effort everyone put in parents would want to make sure they had the car seats in correctly & their children were safe????

Later we went to Amy & Bob's for supper.

Saturday Amy & I & the boys went garage saling at the "pricey" houses. I bought a couple things & no one else bought anything. Me, with the least amount of space! She was looking at a leather couch, but the lady didn't want to come down on her price.

We came back to the trailer to pick up Bill & were going to go to Pensacola, FL for shrimp. Before we left we stopped at Bob's sister's & she sent us to the shrimp boat down the road to a good friend of theirs. We were after prawns to take back to AZ with us for Gene & Faye. Well, they probably aren't the big prawns he was looking for as I didn't have room for 30# in my freezer, so I opted for 2 - 10# bags of just a bit smaller shrimp. I'm sure they'll eat them for Christmas Eve no matter how big. They are fresh frozen, right out of the Alabama Mobile Bay.

I went swimming in the afternoon & then to Bob & Amy's for supper. Talked to my brother, Herb, Amy's dad & her mom. Our once a year phone call. All seems to be well with them. Gloria had a spell with her breathing but doctor has her on meds so seems to be doing okay. Herb's kidney stones seem to be behaving for the time being.

This morning Bill was having problems with his stomach. Too much spice in the foods for him I guess. He opted to stay home from church. When Amy was done singing in the choir, she came & sat with me. She forgot to tell me she was singing today. That's okay. I wasn't afraid. It was after all, God's house. I wasn't a stranger. After the service I talked to the choir director to tell him how much I enjoyed their music. He said, I met you before didn't I. I said yes. Then Amy said they needed a couple substitutes for Hand Bell practice tonight. So after we go out to eat, I'm going with her & "try" to play. It's been about 3 yrs. since I played. Cross your fingers or say a prayer! I really am kind of excited about playing again. I'm a little rusty on the piano as the fingers get stiffer with age, but maybe the bells won't be quite so bad.

This will be our last evening in Alabama. Tomorrow we head out on the westward route. So, until next time, somewhere on the road................The Traveling Cardinal's