Sweet Home Alabama

Lynyrd Skynyrd may have sung the lyrics and called Alabama home but for us it is home for only one night. We are outside of Birmingham. Can't say we have ever visited these here parts. Tomorrow we invade Georgia and take Atlanta!!!! It has been a long slog but one without any major pitfalls. We did have to deal with a car problem. Somewhere in Texas (or I should say in the last two days) the car was dragging and pulling to the left. It wasn't until we stopped for gas in Marshall Texas that we noticed we were missing a wheel cover from the rear drivers side. Losing that essential piece of equipment no doubt upset the aerodynamics of the automobile. The air rushing around the exposed lug nuts created excessive drag on the wheel surface thus pulling the car to the left. This morning we made an emergency landing at a VW dealer in Boosier Louisiana, near Shreveport, and inquired as to whether they had the part. Expecting it to be a typical dealer we were stunned when the response to our question was not "we can order it" but "sure, we have one in stock"! We were so happy that we didn't really comprehend the price of the piece of plastic. Oh well, we were so happy to get it and once we slapped the orb on we were on our way again and the car ran straight and true.

We are about two hours from Atlanta. We have driven 2005 miles since Monday afternoon. The topography continues to change and amaze us. We are now traveling in very green countryside with tall pines, bayous, rivers, wide open grazing areas and more golf courses than I expected. Crossing the Mississippi River was exciting. The interstate is two lanes each way but often has a median of woods between the traffic directions. Compared to Texas we seemed to fly through Louisiana and Mississippi and into Alabama.

Friday we will not be in a hurry to get on the road. We will time our arrival in Atlanta to avoid the rush hour which on Fridays starts at 2:30 or so. Looking forward to getting the keys to our new place on Saturday and if all of the utilities work we will stay there with our inflatable bed. I am dreaming that Sunday will be somewhat relaxing before starting the new job on Monday. We shall see.