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Louisiana – Saturday, January 5

I started off with my donation-of-the-day. Today was my animal-related one for Louisiana, and it went to APAWS, which stands for Animal Protection and Welfare Society. They’re located in Baton Rouge, and will take in any animal, and are very pro-active in finding “forever homes” for them. In fact, they were having a pet adoption day at a local PetSmart, which is where I saw them. There were lots of cute dogs there! There were people looking at the dogs, and I hope they had a successful day. They appreciated the donation – and said every bit helps.

Then I headed to downtown Baton Rouge, which is on the Mississippi River, so I was hoping to find a good river walk in addition to walking around the Capitol area and the rest of downtown. Parking was easy on a Saturday – hardly anyone was around. Louisiana has the tallest Capitol building in the country – I walked around the grounds, but didn’t go inside. Then I walked around the downtown area, but there was nothing very exciting. Not many places were open – must be a city that is busy during the week, but not on weekends. After a mile and a half of walking around town, I found the stairs and elevated crosswalk to get over the train tracks to the river walk. There was a bit more life down at the riverfront – people were out enjoying the river walk, and there was a big museum, some riverboat casinos, and a navy destroyer that offered tours. It was kind of a sprinkly day, but Tula and I were able to get about 5 miles of walking in altogether. And that was enough of Baton Rouge!

Then I drove north along the Mississippi for a ways. This is part of the Petrochemical Gold Trail and there were a lot of oil refineries and that sort of thing. It’s hard to know whether to be fascinated or disgusted by all of that! I’m sure things are much, much cleaner than in the past, but there’s still a lot of pipes, towers, tanks, smokestacks, white smoke spewing forth, lights, flames, etc.

I ended up in St. Francisville which is pretty close to the Mississippi border. It’s in plantation country, and several have been restored to their original appearance. One of the plantations is still occupied by descendants of the original owners. St. Francisville was named for a short-lived monastery, and in the early 1800s was also the capital of The Free and Independent Republic of West Florida – “a small but spunky nation” according to my Triple A guide – that lasted for 74 days until the US and Spain finally decided that this area was indeed part of the original Louisiana Purchase. St. Francisville is also known for its Audubon Pilgrimage every March – John James Audubon painted dozens of his bird illustrations in this area. I finished my walking for the day in this town despite the drizzle. Then I thought I would drive down the other side of the Mississippi as I made my way west toward Lafayette. Somehow I got really turned around near a big oxbow lake that I thought was part of the river (which I think it was long ago) and despite heading west on a road, I somehow ended up going east, and I was getting into an area of narrow roads and vacation cottages, and it got dark and I had no idea where I was! I just had to turn around and was able to retrace my route – I’m still not exactly sure where I was! An interesting little detour!

But I made it to Lafayette – I drove across the huge Atchafalaya Basin, which is mostly swampland, but didn’t see much of it since I had lost time around the lake by the river. But I will see other swampland!

Louisiana – Friday, January 4

I’m intrigued by Lake Pontchartrain right by New Orleans. It’s a huge lake – not as big as one of our Great Lakes, but still so big you can’t see across it. There’s a long causeway right across the middle of it (which I will drive across later) – and several other shorter causeways closer to shore. I drove along its north shore until I came to the town of Mandeville. I had called the Samaritan Center food pantry in Mandeville earlier to see if their wish list was current, and I’m glad I called. They had some different requests. They needed powdered milk, canned tuna and chicken, and shelf staples like flour, sugar, salt and oil. So I got some of all of that, and took it over to the center. I met Amy, who I’d spoken to on the phone, and she showed me around. Their food pantry is well organized and they help 140-160 families a month. They get a cart full of goods – starting with an assortment of non-perishable items, and then they top it off with some perishable food. They also run a thrift shop next door. We chatted a bit and got a picture, then Amy showed me a pile of sleep mats that someone had made out of plastic shopping bags. They looked like they’d provide a little comfort for someone sleeping on a sidewalk. She asked if I’d be able to take a few with me to give to a homeless shelter in a different part of the state – they’ve kind of distributed all they can in their area. So we put a few in the car, and I told her I’d let her know when I find a place to drop them off. From the Samaritan Center I was able to walk down to the lake, and found a nice walking path along the water. It was a pretty day and the water was sparkling. The walking path went right along the water, and there was no beach – just a concrete wall with frequent sets of stairs to make it possible to get in the water for swimming. The lake was pretty calm, but I can see it wouldn’t take much for the lake to overflow its banks. As a result, all the homes built on the street across from the lake are built off the ground – some people use the lower area as garage space (I don’t see a lot of garages around here), or storage space for outdoor furniture etc. It made me curious how often the lake floods. Tula and I walked from one end of the lake trail to the other, and through the little town of Mandeville and covered almost 4 miles. There’s also a long rail-trail that starts in town, but before walking on that, I wanted to head out to Fontainebleau State Park. The park had some trails, and Tula and I walked another 4 miles. Up until this point, my walking shoes had still looked pretty new despite having 200+ miles on them already, but they got some good old Louisiana swamp dirt on them today! The park used to be a sugar plantation and was bordered by the Bayou Cane. There’s still a few remnants of the old sugar mill. I ran out of time to walk on the rail-trail, but plan to hit that on the way back out of Louisiana. I’m glad it’s staying lighter a little longer in the evening – I took advantage of that and headed over toward Baton Rouge for the night.

Louisiana – Thursday, January 3

Since I had ended up on the outskirts of New Orleans, I knew I’d be spending my day there. So I looked at maps of the French Quarter and got some good tips about parking and all from the front desk clerk. It was a little tricky getting down there because there was a great deal of construction and repair work going on. I’m guessing some of it was a result of Hurricane Isaac last August. But I eventually made it and found a good (free!) parking spot for the day and Tula and I set off – my plan was to walk all the east-west streets throughout the French Quarter and then go up and down all the north-south streets. Most of the streets are very narrow and one-way and there was stuff to see everywhere. It was not ideal walking for Tula – there wasn’t so much as a blade of grass to take care of business, so she had to settle for a bit of dirt at the base of a tree! Plus there were quite a few people, and lots of streets to cross, so after a couple miles, I took her back to the car and she seemed content to stay put since she’d been out for a while. I covered some more streets and enjoyed listening to some musicians who seem to just set up anywhere they want. I popped into some shops and now that Christmas is over, they’re gearing up for Mardi Gras, and there’s enough purple, green and gold decorations and junk to buy to rival the red and green stuff for Christmas! And then there’s the Super Bowl stuff too – lots going on in New Orleans! I went through thru the French Market which is where dozens and dozens of vendors gather to sell gifts, souvenirs, food, art, one-of-a-kind stuff etc. I got a couple unique things for the grandkiddos. Then I needed refreshments – I knew whenever I got to New Orleans I was going to stop for cafe au lait and beignets – and I don’t even like coffee!! But I found the Cafe du Monde and it was packed on a chilly afternoon – pretty much all they sell is beignets, which are wonderfully delicious fried dough pieces covered in powdered sugar, and cafe au lait, although they have a few other drink choices. I got a table without waiting too long, and enjoyed my tasty treats. The beignets had so much powdered sugar on them that I put some in the cafe au lait too – it was warm and good. (I’m pretty sure what I was drinking, with all the steamed milk and the powdered sugar, wasn’t very closely related to coffee!).

I headed back to the car to get Tula out again – now that I had my bearings, I knew I could walk her mostly in residential areas where it wasn’t so crowded. On the way back to the van, I listened to a little jazz group performing by a park, and then went into the enormous St. Louis Cathedral. Inside the church, there were 2 “poor boxes” – to collect money for the poor. I didn’t realize churches still had those – I thought they were a thing of the past. I asked the nun that was standing nearby where the money goes, and she said it goes to help the needy through several organizations. I asked if I could put a check in there, and she said of course and to just indicate it’s a donation for the needy, so I wrote a note when I went back to the car, and wrote out a donation check, then went back to the cathedral to put it in the poor box. I don’t know why this delighted me so – probably because it was something I didn’t expect to be able to do! And to find the poor box in such a beautiful cathedral, in a city that I was enjoying walking all around, made it a special donation for me. I got Tula out for another long walk – mostly in the residential area of the French Quarter, but I also took her partway down Bourbon Street too! Walking in the residential area was quiet during the day – all the doors and windows were covered with shutters, and although I suspected there were some nice courtyards behind the gates, I couldn’t see anything! After I finished my walk with Tula, I headed out one more time on my own. There were fortune tellers and tarot card readers; black magic and voodoo shops, shops full of masks and jesters and puppets; tons of restaurants, bars and cafes – one could literally wander the same streets over and over and keep seeing something different! I walked until it began to get dark, and called it a day. I did a little more than 8 miles and still didn’t cover every street! It was a really interesting day!

Alabama – Wednesday, January 2

I drove back down to the Gulf Shores and got a little walking in on the beach. The waves were pretty big. I saw some shells and an ugly jellyfish sort of thing. I had discovered that there was a ferry that could transport cars across the mouth of the Mobile Bay to Dauphin Island, and that would save me a quite a bit of driving as I finish up with Alabama and make my west to Louisiana. The fare was very reasonable, and we drove out to a state park where the ferry terminal was. It was a pretty windy day, and when I saw the ferry, it looked like it could barely carry 2 cars across the open ocean, let alone the 20 or so that we’re lined up. I literally got the last spot for the next trip, and the crew was efficient getting one load of cars off and another on. It still seemed like a pretty small boat heading out into some good-sized waves! The crossing took about 1/2 hour and we were rockin’ and rollin’!! I think Tula would prefer not to do that again. I felt bad – she started trembling a bit – not accustomed to the rocking motion, but then she settled down and slept once she felt that things were okay. There were lots of oil rigs out in the bay – all different sizes. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen oil rigs in the water, but this is petroleum country! I saw a boat making its way from rig to rig – made me wonder how long the workers stay on a rig at a time, and how often they get supplies etc. There was a tang of oil in the air, but I didn’t know if that was from our ferry or from the oil rigs. Once we were back on solid ground on Dauphin Island, I got Tula out for a quick walk by an old fort. I didn’t go in it – I’ll just visit the national park forts that I have a pass for.

I drove around the island a bit, and found a long bike trail, so I was able to finish off the Alabama miles. It was quiet and peaceful. Dauphin Island claims it is America’s birdiest coastal town. But this is definitely not their busy season! As I was heading for the bridge, I saw some tall skinny condos for rent – I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a skinny building! The bridge back to the mainland was a fun one – mostly flat over coastal waters, and then a big “hill” that almost looked like the bridge had buckled!

Once I was back on the mainland, it was a short drive to Mississippi, and it didn’t take long to drive across the southern end of that state, and before I knew it, I was in Louisiana!

Alabama was a divided state to fit in the Christmas holidays – 4 days before Christmas, and the rest afterward. I made all 7 donations – The Help Center, The Family-to-Family food drive, the Helen Keller Foundation, Out of the Rain food pantry, the new Alabama Veterans Home, Dogs on Call, and McKimie Place. And despite needing a little extra time because of the flu bug, I finished all 56 mikes of walking.

Now, Bonjour Louisiana!

Alabama – Tuesday, January 1

As I was crossing a bridge heading east out of Mobile, a big ship caught my eye, and I remembered reading something about a visiting a battleship. It was very impressive-looking, so I took the next exit and drove over a causeway toward the ship. This was the USS Alabama and it was in the Battlefield Memorial Park. I didn’t really expect them to be open on New Years Day, but it was, and I decided to take the time to visit – there’s the battleship, a submarine and a plane hangar to see. I started with the battleship and loved the tours. There were 3 different self-guiding tours, and they led all over the ship. There were a lot of little touches to make it seem as though the soldiers will be right back – office areas with cigarettes in the ash trays; half-eaten candy bars (Nestlé) on a desk; cereal snack paks waiting to be chosen, etc. With 1940s music playing in the background, I felt like I’d gone time traveling! This was a battleship that carried abut 2000 crew members and it was really interesting seeing the living areas (they had a soda fountain too!), and the medical and dental rooms, and offices and navigation room, and uniform and cobbler shops, a store (a pack of cigarettes cost 5 cents). We could go down to the engine rooms, the torpedo rooms and then climbed up a bunch of ladders to the different command centers of the ship. I was fascinated. There was a map of the USS Alabama’s travels in WWII, and it spent time in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, and Saipan – all the places I’m heading for soon. I felt quite a connection to the ship! It was special for me to be standing on the decks of a ship that had been to all of those faraway places. After leaving the battleship, I wandered through the plane hangar, and then got on the submarine, and walked from one end of that to the other. They’re very awkward to walk through, since the hatches are only 3-4 ft tall and you have to step over and crouch down at the same time. It seemed so cramped after the battleship. Then I went back into the visitor center. I had noticed a retired military officer sitting at a table of books when I first arrived, and he was still there a couple hours later. I went over to look at the books he was selling, and we got to talking about how some of the proceeds of the book sales help support the park. Colonel Glenn Frazier survived the Bataan Death March in the Philippines, and several years as a POW and his book, Hell’s Guest, tells his story. He was also consulted for Ken Burns’ documentary on The War. He talked quite a bit, and showed me pictures in the book, and then I mentioned I was heading to Guam and Saipan soon and would be visiting the WWII memorials. He seemed pleased that people are still interested in the memorials and wnat to learn what happened. He had been to the territories also, and for me to meet a retired military officer who had been to those places, as well as stand on a ship that had been there made my day. I had already finished all of my Alabama donations, but I wanted to make an extra one when I bought a copy of the book. The book was about $31, so I made an extra $25 donation to Battlefield Memorial Park, just because it had been a special visit. The colonel was easy to talk to – at 89 was just a little older than my dad, and he made me think of my uncles and late father-in-law. I mentioned how many of their stories are gone when they pass away, and I’m guessing that’s one of the reasons he wrote his book. He also talked about forgiveness – incredible under the circumstances, and it took a long time, but was necessary in healing. He was interested in my journey, and told the cashier about it, then told me he liked what I was doing. Even if he said it just to be nice, it was fun to hear. His book is coming on my journey.

So I was all smiles as I crossed the bay, and headed south into the little panhandle of Alabama. I had covered a few miles at the battleship park, but needed to get some more walking in. We stopped in the town of Fairhope – and I found a big waterfront park and Tula and I walked a few miles. There was a big pier to walk out on too. Lots of people were out enjoying the pretty day.

Then I drove the rest if the way down to the coast to the Gulf Shores. There was another big pier, but dogs weren’t allowed on that one. Lots of people had been fishing, and there were fish-cleaning stations right on the pier. I didn’t recognize any of the fish! Then I called it a day – I have about 5 miles to walk tomorrow to finish up Alabama.

Alabama – Monday, December 31

I had woken up really hungry during the night, so my appetite seems to be back! There was a Cracker Barrel next door, so I went and had a good breakfast. I had read about Mobile’s New Year’s Eve celebration – instead of dropping a crystal ball like they do in NYC; or a peach like they do in Atlanta; Mobile drops….a giant moon pie! I couldn’t imagine why. But, that all eventually became clear. Moon pies are actually made in Chattanooga Tennessee, but for some reason they became a popular treat for revelers to throw from Mardi Gras floats, and Mobile started celebrating Mardi Gras even before New Orleans. And in these southern cities, New Year’s Eve signals the beginning of Mardi Gras, so the powers-that-be in Mobile decided about 5-6 years ago that they should drop a giant moon pie from the top of one of their tallest hotels. Rumor had it that the largest edible moon pie would also be on hand for the community to sample. I headed for downtown to see what I could see. I wasn’t that far away, and once I was there, I discovered I had left my camera behind so I went all the way back to get it, only to discover Tula had been sitting on it. Between taking my time to get ready this morning, and taking time for a good breakfast, and running around for the camera, it was already early afternoon, and I was eager to get out walking.

But, in getting to the parking place so I could get out and walk, the van acquired another battle scar. At the same moment that I turned left out of a driveway into a clear lane, a 16-yr-old driver quickly pulled out of her parallel parking spot a car length or so behind me into the same theoretically clear lane. Neither of us saw the other, and we bumped. I don’t think the timing could have been more perfect, and I’ve often wondered on highways when there’s a clear lane in center (when there’s 3 or more lanes of traffic) what would happen if someone decided to pull into the center lane from the far left lane at the exact same moment someone else decided to pass a slower vehicle in the right lane – both parties would think the center lane was clear, but they would potentially collide. And that’s what happened, but on a much, much smaller scale. Both of us thought our intended lane was clear, and we apparently pulled out at the exact same time. No tickets were issued (although they nearly got one because they couldn’t produce the correct insurance papers and I don’t know how that was resolved), and the young lady got a reminder from the police officer about it being her responsibility to look ahead of her as well as behind her when pulling out of a parking place. But the bottom line is probably my fault since I was turning left. My damage is mostly a little paint scraped off right front bumper (I had completed a good part of my turn) but they got a dent in a door. The young lady’s companion was a little scary – a thin older white lady who kept talking about the devil being in Mobile! She told me the devil is in Mobile; what in the world was I doing there from Michigan; and only bad things happen between New Year’s Eve and Mardi Gras because of the devil! And this incident was her proof! It was a little unsettling – I was glad when we could go our separate ways.

And I had been thinking of my donation-of-the-day too. In reading up about Mobile’s New Year’s Eve activities, I saw one of the events was a formal ball where the proceeds would benefit McKemie Place – Mobile’s only shelter for homeless women. In fact, it’s the only women’s homeless shelter in 3 counties. Since I had forgotten to pack my ball gowns, I decided to call them about simply making a donation. They had quite a long wish list, and I wanted to find out which supplies were most urgently needed. But no one answered the phone – not surprising on a holiday. The address of the shelter is not made public for the safety of the women who need to use it, but the website said financial donations would be gratefully received at a P.O. box. So my donation-of-the-day was a check to McKemie Place, along with hopes that fewer women need to use the facilities this year.

After my little fender-bender incident, Tula and I walked for nearly 4 miles all around Mobile. We followed the parade route, and walked up and down lots of the streets but it took me quite a while to begin to enjoy it, and then an insurance agent called – and I think I was still stewing about everything. Plus Mobile isn’t quite a pretty as some of the other towns I’ve been in, although I did admire the “iron lace” on a lot of the balconies. But, I put it behind me, walked some more, and then decided to get a hotdog from a busy street vendor, and I took it into the park to eat. When I was nearly finished, I heard some shrieks, and realized a bicyclist had just been hit by a car right in the intersection near my park bench. I didn’t see it happen, but saw the car rocking to a stop, and was relieved to see the bicyclist pick himself up, dust himself off and then retrieve his bike. There were police all over the place because of New Year’s Eve, so they were on the scene in less than 60 seconds, and there was no need for sirens, and an ambulance was not called. The driver at least wasn’t going fast since downtown was busy. That kind of put my incident in a different perspective. This is a city that has a pre-American Revolution fort within city limits – it’s kind of strange to look up and see both a 1700s fort and modern skyscrapers at the same time. And something else strange happened when I was taking a picture of some crepe myrtle trees – their bark is so smooth I wanted a picture, but there’s some really weird flashes of energy/light in the first photo, and it just adds to the strangeness of the day – I posted both photos and any logical explanations would be welcome! It’s a little eerie. We walked a little more, and then drove to find the Carnival Museum which was going to open at 6pm and be free-of-charge this evening. I found that I’d be able to park in the same place to visit that and watch the Mardi Gras parade. So as I returned to my original parking spot, all of a sudden there were blue police lights behind me, and I wondered what in the world I’d done now! It was an officer on a motorcycle. I couldn’t pull over because the police had put up heavy metal fences along the parade route, and there was a lot of traffic in the other lane. I slowed down to indicate I saw them, but didn’t know where to pull off. AFter about 3 blocks, I was able to pull over a little, and he wasn’t even after me – he zoomed around when he could. But it rattled me again and all I could think of was that old lady saying the devil is in Mobile!! Goodness! At that point I knew I wasn’t going to stay downtown until midnight – the Moon Pie would have to drop without me! My plan was to go on one more short walk by the stages (the Commodores were their headline act); visit the Carnival Museum at 6; and watch the Mardi Gras parade at 7:30 – I really wanted to catch a moon pie and some beads! And then I was going to head back to the motel, and watch the rest on TV. I’d had enough of Mobile!

Tula and I went on our last walk of the day, and festivities were in full swing. I never found the edible moon pie (one lady said it hadn’t been delivered yet), but I got some nice shots of the big electronic moon pie. A bunch of people were doing sound checks for the Commodores – an old Motown group – I think they’re older than me! Police officers were standing around on corners and Tula went up to one of them, and he said he could tell she was a real killer! Even though the parade was still 2 hours away, he told me dogs are not allowed at the parade – “a few big dogs with big mouths and big teeth” have spoiled it for all dogs. That didn’t matter – Tula wasn’t going in the Carnival Museum anyway, and I was going straight from there to the parade.

So I took her back to the car, and went to the Carnival Museum, where I got my education of the day. I think I was expecting scary jester costumes and gaudy masks (why I wanted to do that to myself after the day I’d had I don’t know!). But what I got was a lesson in the culture of the royal Mardi Gras families of Mobile. I had no idea. Mardi Gras royalty is serious business around here, and the gowns and lavishly decorated capes of the current and former Mardi Gras Kings and Queens were on display in all their opulent finery – sequins, beads, gems, crystals, antique fur – mind boggling. And there’s crowns and sceptres – this was like a different world. It’s a huge big thing here – there’s a campaign for a white king and queen, and another one for a black king and queen – this seems to be perfectly acceptable. The potential candidates must be between the ages of 19-26, and must have impeccable local geneology, and be wealthy enough to spend so much money on the campaign that one could have bought a house instead! Some people have a multi-queen past in their family geneology, and this is reflected in the designs of the cape. One cape was so heavy they had to sew in little stainless steel wheels to help it roll along! The man telling us all this said Bill Gates himself could come to town to offer up his daughter as a candidate, but despite his great wealth, she wouldn’t be eligible unless she married into a geneologically-correct family. Really?!? Like I say, it was an education! And they start the guys young – to get them used to dressing in elaborate costumes and comporting themselves with dignity in front of large crowds. It’s a whole slice of American culture I had known nothing about!

Then it was time to go find a good spot to watch the parade. I found a place near the beginning and near where I parked, so I could make a quick get away! The parade lasted for about 45 minutes and had some Mardi-Gras floats (nothing in comparison to what they’ll have for the actual Mardi-Gras parade when the royalty is out!) and a variety of school bands and dance groups – some of whom were better prepared than others. People on the first few floats threw out moon pies (yes, I caught one!) and lots and lots of beads were tossed out. The crowd was enthusiastic and was well behaved from what I saw – actually sharing beads with people who hadn’t caught any. Then I was ready to go after one more look up at the moon pie – I didn’t want to hang around for another 3 1/2 hours until midnight.

As I headed back to the motel, I passed a movie theatre, and made a quick choice to go see the Barbra Streisand/Seth Rogen road trip movie – Guilt Trip. Nice way to end the day – it was funny. Then I watched the Moon Pie drop on TV. Happy 2013!!

Alabama – Sunday, December 30

I woke up feeling somewhat human. I can’t believe how much I’ve slept the last few days. But I know it was good for me. I feel okay – just still a little weak, but walking doesn’t sound so bad now! I had ended up in Dothan Alabama right by the Georgia border in the southeast corner of the state. In its early days before it was on the train lines, Dothan was apparently a rowdy town of lumberjacks and turpentine workers. I didn’t really want to see anything in town, so I took my time getting packed up and ready, and found a park nearby with a pretty trail, and ended up walking the whole 3.3 mile trail although I had to rest on one of the benches once. It was about 1/2 mile too much so I was happy to get back to the van. Tula was very happy to be out and about again – she had been very patient with me yesterday and I think she slept as much as I did! The van really needed an oil change, and I had hoped to do that yesterday at a place right down from the motel, but that didn’t happen, and they were closed on a Sunday. But as I started heading out of town I saw a Tuffy Auto place which was open on a Sunday afternoon and got the oil changed and tires rotated – and didn’t mind sitting and waiting at all! I felt rested again by the time they were finished. As further evidence of the “peanut pride” in some of these towns, the Tuffy place had painted peanut statues dressed in military uniforms!

I had already spent 4 days in Alabama before heading to Georgia for Christmas. I had made 5 of my donations already, and only had 2 more to do. I wanted my animal-related one to go to DOC – Dogs on Call, which is a therapy dog organization in Alabama that is run through Easter Seals. These dogs (and their humans!) provide Comfort Care in hospitals, community programs, hospices, VA facilities, nursing homes etc. Special DOC teams also work with autistic children, and people with disabilities and brain injuries, and others work as Disaster Relief Responders in partnership with the Red Cross. I think it’s such a wonderful service. People often seem to respond differently to animals than they do to humans. Their home office is in Montgomery, and since I wasn’t going to get there, this donation will be mailed in – which makes it a bit easier for me while I get back on my feet.

I headed west through southern Alabama toward Mobile. The road was hilly and curvy and there were both fields and forests. I stopped in the town of Enterprise because I wanted to see the memorial statue to the Boll Weevil. The boll weevil of course nearly wiped out the cotton industry – the insect came in from Mexico and chomped its way through nearly 90% of the cotton crop despite poisons and other efforts to get rid of it. Because of that, many farmers had to turn to other crops to make a living, and in doing so, discovered that peanuts were also a lucrative crop. So in 1919, the citizens of Enterprise put up a memorial to the Boll Weevil; not to remember its destruction, but to remember it with appreciation as something that ultimately led to more farming diversity and more prosperity. I was expecting to see a large statue of an evil Boll Weevil, but instead it was a statue of a bug held aloft by a maiden – right smack in the middle of the main intersection in town! It might be the only monument to an insect!

I was feeling well enough to walk a little more, and did just under 2 miles. So I actually covered about 5 miles today, which I didn’t expect. I had made reservations in Mobile for 2 nights – I want to be sure to have a place to head back and rest if I need it tomorrow! So I finished the drive to Mobile and got settled in, and got another good night’s sleep.

Alabama – Saturday, December 29

Other than going to the lobby to make myself eat some oatmeal and pay for the room for another night, I was down for the count all day. I could barely muster the strength to get Tula out. So I stayed in bed all day. The chills at least were gone, but I had no strength or energy. I dozed a lot and watched stupid TV and couldn’t do anything productive. But it was what I needed.

On a brighter note, despite getting sick at the end of the Georgia week, I finished it off and loved the state. All 7 donations were made (City of Hope-First United Presbyterian Church in Atlanta; Ronald McDonald House; toy drive for Marine Corps Reserve; Tickets for Troops-historic Savannah Theatre; Park Place Outreach for youth; Old Savannah City Mission; Georgia Sea Turtle Center), and I walked (or rather dragged myself the last 3 miles!) all 56 miles in Atlanta, Macon, Savannah, Darien, Jekyll Island, Blakely and river trails. Mission accomplished!

Georgia – Friday, December 28

I slept for 10 hours straight last night and should have woken up refreshed. But instead, I have no energy at all. I only have 3 miles to walk to finish up Georgia, and that will be goal for the day.

I was happy to just sit in the car for a while as I drove across the southern part of the state. This is cotton territory, and I saw fields of cotton that were waiting to be picked, and others that looked like they’d been picked recently. There were fluffs of cotton scattered along the roadsides and blowing down the road. I passed a couple of gins (cotton “gin” is simply short for engine) but all I could see were warehouse buildings and bales and bales of cotton sitting outside, labeled with spray paint. Most bales were rectangular and some were round, and all were big. They seem to cover the top half of the bale – doesn’t really matter though because this is the “raw” cotton and still has to be cleaned. I saw signs that mentioned pecans, but didn’t notice any pecan orchards.

And no trip through this region would be complete without seeing something about peanuts! I don’t know what peanut plants look like when they grow, and I’m assuming some of the empty fields I passed were old peanut fields. This area of southwest Georgia is the state’s biggest peanut growing region, and when I stopped in the town of Blakely to finish my walking, I saw the Peanut Memorial on the grounds of the courthouse in the town square. There were a lot of peanut facilities and peanut pride in this town – a seed warehouse; buying and shelling buildings; lots of trucks and train cars at the warehouses; but I didn’t see one peanut! I think they’re harvested sometime in November, judging from some old Peanut Festival posters that were still up. I know I support the industry – both in consumption of peanuts and peanut butter!! The town square in Blakely also had the oldest remaining original Confederate flagpole in the state.

I got out to walk, and was really dragging. I was even worried I would have to sit down in someone’s front yard to rest. But I somehow finished, and then I got in the car and drove the short distance to Alabama. I found the first reasonable pet-friendly place to say, and by 5:30 was collapsed in bed with the chills. Ugh. No energy to watch TV or even read – what a waste of time!

Georgia – Thursday, Decemeber 27

I headed south along the coastal highway to the town of Darien, where I thought I’d get out and walk a bit. This part of Georgia is very flat, with several wildlife preserves, and lots of marshy land. The Intracoastal Waterway works its way through here, and sometimes there’s a whiff of rotting vegetation. This isn’t a part of the state with solid, sandy beaches! This used to be rice plantation country, and there were signs pointing out sites of old plantations. There are also shell recycling facilities, and I don’t know if those are for commercial businesses, or even individual homes. They eat a lot of shrimp, crab, crawfish and oysters down here, so the end result is a lot of empty shells. Shells (mostly oyster shells I think) are often a component in sidewalks down here.

I was not feeling 100% well, and kind of poked through a walk that was just under 3 miles. Then I needed to rest – definitely not normal. I found a church parking lot, and put the seat back in the van, and actually took a short catnap. And I don’t typically nap!! This was not a good sign. I pushed myself to get out and walk another couple miles, but once again, that was about all I could do before wanting to rest again. I was going to begin driving west across southern Georgia, but the turnoff was near the bridge to Jekyll Island, and I thought maybe some fresh sea air would revive me, so I made a detour. I had to cross several bridges and drive a little ways to actually get there. Sometimes the road seemed to be the only solid surface around with all the marshes and sea grasses around. The island is pretty big, and I got out and walked the paved path along the sand dunes and listened to the ocean. There were other people out walking and riding bikes, but some of the big hotels seemed pretty empty – once again, I was happy to be here without all the noise and crowds of the busy seasons. Jekyll Island is such a dog-friendly place that they had dog water fountains everywhere there were people fountains! There were a lot of environmental signs describing some of the many species of sea turtles that nest in this part of Georgia, and how important it is to protect their habitat. It was a pretty walk, but didn’t do much to revive me. Before it got dark, I wanted to go see the historic part of the island with the grand old hotels. Back in the early 1900s or so, there were lots of very wealthy families building “cottages” and hotels on the island – I read somewhere that 1/6 of the world’s wealth was controlled by people who vacationed on the island. All the buildings in the historic district were built of wood, and all were painted a goldenrod yellow with brown trim and shutters. The main hotel was enormous and fancy, with landscaped grounds, beach walks, tennis courts, and a very-closely mown game area – maybe croquet?

I had parked near the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, but they closed earlier than I had expected – I’ve just been a little too slow with everything today. I still had my animal-related donation to make this week, and this was what I wanted to do. It would have been fun to go in and wander around the exhibits a bit, but I will mail a donation instead, since they had closed. I would love to visit a turtle nesting beach somewhere along the way at the proper time of year.

I finished my walking, but just barely, and left Jekyll Island and started heading west across southern Georgia. I drove a ways, and when I stopped for the night I was too tired to do anything except go to sleep earlier than normal.