Tuesday June 28

Folks we are really behind in our blog.  We will work to get caught up.  Love you all. 

  At Kathy's we all have so much to say to each other that the conversation swirls around a lazy morning and a late start.  Much was planned ( travel to Indian mounds and museums) but the sky darkened and the heavens opened up and a torrential downpour ensued.  Being Californians we immediately ran out onto the porch to watch the lightning and the rain bouncing off the trailer.  Kathy was not so excited about watching the lightning and told the story of her mother being struck by lightning while standing in the doorway of her house.  Following her admonition we went into the house and turned on lights as the sky continued to darken.  (I am so glad that we were not driving in this.  We would have had to pull over. )  We reevaluated the activities of the day based upon the weather.  What was amazing was the storm blew through and the sun came out and we were off.

The day  before, Yvonne had received a phone call from her sister (Michelle) who asked if Yvonne could play at her Sunday service.  Yvonne had not brought any music so one of the tasks of the day was to find a music store and purchase appropriate music.  After a few phone calls to the Tuscaloosa music stores we were directed to Southwestern Music Gallery.  Kathy did not know that end of town so we drove off into unknown territory.  We were told it was behind the Kmart.  Behind is an interesting term.  A mile down the road from the Kmart we found a warehouse with a piano keyboard attached to the side of the building.  We were there.  We walked into a warehouse full of grand pianos and bins and bins of music.  We were greeted by Gary who, when asked if he carried Christen music said, “Of course we do Ma’am.  We are in the buckle of the bible belt.”  Yvonne was in hog heaven.  Bins of music.  Kathy and Stanley gave her a time limit and we were out of there in under two hours. 

Kathy then took us a twisting tour of the University of Alabama and the city of Tuscaloosa.  We saw some of the damage caused by the tornadoes, much of it already cleared. 

By this time it was 5:00 and time for BBQ. She took us to Dreamland BBQ, a local favorite.  We were greeted by Cooper (Y’all).  His accent was so thick that Kathy had to translate.  We were introduced to an Alabama BBQ tradition.  In Alabama, after you order instead of a basket of bread and butter you get a plate of Wonder Bread and a cup of their signature sauce. We learned to dip our Wonder Bread into the BBQ sauce (yum).   Stan’s tour of BBQ continued with some amazing ribs and a bottle of Naked Pig beer.

 We went home to finish the laundry, pack the trailer, tell more stories and get ready for the longest driving day in our trip.  While we were loading the trailer, Stan came running in to the house.  There were fireflies in the yard.  Here are two Californians jumping up and down and running around watching something that they  had only read about but never see.  (Each night we see fireflies and exclaim over them the people around us are incredulous.  They just cannot believe that there are no fireflies in California.)  It was at least and hour of entertainment for both Kathy and the Californians. 

We cannot thank you enough Kathy for hosting us here in Tuscaloosa. It has been a wonderful time but too short. We will be back.