April 11 - 14, 2014. Driving home.

It is not easy to leave the sunny south when friends and family back home say, "don't hurry, the weather is terrible," but there comes a time when one has to go home. There are taxes to be done, appointments to keep and of course the weather can only improve.

All in all, it took about 30 hours, over 4 day to get home. My Pleasure Way, "Precious" can keep up with all vehicles on the interstate, and unlike "Westy"can make the trip without any interruptions due to breakdowns! 

Some of the highways are in need of repair, most notably those in Virginia, Massachusetts, and New Brunswick. The interstates through Alabama, Georgia and Maine were great. As for scenery, aside from the beautiful flowers and the greenery of the southern states, it is the rolling hills of Virginia that appeal to me. 

        

The weather was warm and sunny right through to Maine and we were able to wear shorts up until our last day on the road. Our first glimpse of snow came in Maine, while in New Brunswick we saw snow, ice and encountered fog. The fog lifted as we passed Amherst and it got brighter and warmer as we approached home.

The bikes are unloaded, the van's  fridge and closets are emptied and I am getting reacquainted with my house. This series of blog entries ends here. I will no doubt start blogging again in June when we head to Amsterdam.

April 10, 2014. Alabama Museum of Wonder and Desdamona: A Play About a Handkerchief.

On Poorhouse Road in Seale, Alabama, about an hour from Auburn, there lives a man named Butch Anthony.  At the age of 14 he found dinosaur bones in a creek near his home and since he was already a collector of things and a maker of stuff, he decided to open a museum and named it the Alabama Museum of Wonder. His collecting and making was put on hold while he did a degree in anatomy and zoology at Auburn, where those dinosaur bones are now housed, but he soon went back to his craft and has become a well respected artist of some renown.

You need the exact address and a gps or a good map to find his place as there are no signs to guide you there. I had emailed him to see if he would be around on Thursday and the reply I got was simply, "yes, thanks".  We drove up the long curved driveway and honked the horn, which I learned from his website, is the way to let him know that you have arrived. We were greeted by three dogs and two peacock...all friendly. 

First of all, he invited us into his home where he showed us the paintings he was working on. He answered our questions, said that we could take pictures of anything we saw there and then led us to the museum. Wow! What stuff....wall to wall pieces of art. Much of it looks like folk art, while others are curiosities. He paints over existing pieces, mostly outlining people's bones, and adds text. He puts, what I would call random prices together to from pieces of art. For example I saw a piece that included a globe, toy dinosaur, yellow chick, bottle containing a turnip root, an animal skull much more. 

             

All of his work is for sale, ranging in price from $125.00 to $500.00 or more. We didn't purchase anything but did leave a donation in the wooden box provided. There was certainly no pressure to do so, no was there any indication that we were interrupting, although he was at work when we arrived. Butch is a very humble man. However, I did find out that he is on a TV show called "American Pickers" and that PBS was coming by the next day to do a special on him. 

       

As if all that wasn't enough, as we were leaving he suggested we visit his drive through museum up the road. Of course we stopped and not only drove through, but got out of the car to look more closely at this one of a kind museum, made of five containers; the kind you see on big trucks and at container piers. There were some very cool things here too.

          

On the drive home we couldn't stop talking about this unique man and his art. I am so glad we visited Butch Anthony and his Alabama Museum of Wonder. You should go!

We got back to Auburn in time to grab a bite to eat and take Jackie for a short walk before it was time to go to the Telfair B. Peet Theatre at Auburn University to see Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief. From the playbill: "This play is a raucous reimagining of Desdemona's (Othello's wife) last days. Vogel upends the simple caricatures given the three female leads and gives each a fully formed character - complete with opinions on sex, power and class." 

The play was exactly as described...lots of humour amid serious topics, all relevant today. 

Wow...what a full day. Thanks Jessica!

April 2-8, 2014. Auburn.

Since arriving in Auburn about one week ago we have been enjoying our visit with Jessica, Nolan and Jackie. Jessica and Nolan are busy people; Nolan is a full time student, while Jessica is a full time professor.

Jackie is a dog who loves going for walks, checking the kitchen floor for crumbs and lots of attention. We have enjoyed our daily walks with her and although she likes to bark at other dogs it seems to be a "let's play" request rather than anything malicious. Jackie responds to a few commands including sit, down, stay, and what does a good girl do? (lie down and roll over). The power of a small dog biscuit is amazing.

        

Auburn is a true university town. The school colors of orange and navy blue are everywhere: buses, stores, restaurants, cars, and particularly on people. The Auburn campus is very pretty, particularly at this time of year when so much is in bloom. 

University sports are very much a part of life in this town. We had hoped to go to a ball game but both teams are playing out of town. We did attend a track meet where we saw the 100, 200, and 400 meters. We also saw some pole vaulting and high jumping. The event was an invitational and so we saw some great athletes from all over the US. 

We played golf at Indian Pines, went to a movie and had dinner with some of Jessica and Nolan's friends. One of the best pars of this visit was visiting the site where Jessica and Nolan are building a house.

         

March 30 -April 1, 2014. Weeki Wachee, Rainbow Springs and Auburn.

Leaving Florida to head north is what snowbirds do at the end of March. We are no different except that our north, until sometime in April is Auburn, Alabama where Spring is warm and sunny. 

We wanted to make two stops en route to Alabama; both state parks: Weeki Wachee and Rainbow Springs. Weeki Wachee originally belonged to a movie studio with its main attraction being a mermaid show. Apparently the girls used to stand out by the highway in their bathing suits to try attract people to the show. Today, you need to line up at least 45 minutes before show time in order to get a seat for the  30 minute show. 

                                  

             

We experienced just about everything Weeki Wachee had to offer. We took the 30 minute boat ride where we saw manatees and an enormous eagle's nest; watched the 30 minute reptile show (two snakes, two turtles and one alligator) and saw the mermaid show. All well worth the $13 admission fee. It is not a large park so we were glad to have gotten there early and left before it got too crowded and the lines too long.

         

Rainbow Springs State Park is a relatively new park and so the campsites and the facilities are very modern. There are several hiking trails with one in particular that leads to the Withlacoochee River which is a 141 mile long stretch of water. We did a bit of biking and although we enjoyed the park, the absence of Wifi is a strike against it.

On Monday we continued on north through Georgia, enjoying the countryside once we left the Interstate. Horses, cows, peanut and pecan farms along with gorgeous spring blooms made for a pleasant drive to sunny Auburn, Alabama.