Wednesday we left Alabama for the next leg of our grand adventure. While we’re looking forward to having cable television again (Deb missed the entire fall season of The Closer and we spent the night in a hotel so Dan could watch WVU humiliate Clemson), as is the case every time we move there are a few things we will miss.
One is the food of southern Alabama. If you like good old fashioned country cooking, this is a great place to be. While Deb still can’t bring herself to eat grits or greens, she decided she likes okra and fried catfish. Cooking is as much a pastime here as hunting and fishing. All of our coworkers have either cooked for us or brought us food from home and all of it has been great. And while the restaurants around are nothing fancy they have some of the best food we have ever eaten. One of our favorites was the Stagecoach, about 45 minutes from the park. We tried to eat at a different place each time we ate out so we could hit as many places as possible and it is the only restaurant we ate at more than once. We discovered cornbread salad there – a dish that is very simple but mighty tasty.
Something else we will miss is the people. Since the first day we felt welcomed. Everyone became like family to us so quickly we attended both a wedding and a funeral in the short six months we were there.
Uriah United Methodist Church is a small church (47 were in attendance last Sunday) with a big heart. Even though most of the members have been going there for their entire lives and know everyone that lives in a fifty mile radius, we never felt like outsiders.
Our coworkers quickly became friends and just the other day one of them told us he would “miss us more than family”. Our boss, Thomas, has been great. He let us do things our way and was a very patient teacher. Remember Deb on the zero turn mower? He taught her how to do it. Don has a story for everything and has gotten Dan in trouble more than once keeping Deb waiting. Doug has been our go-to guy for information and Deb’s rescuer on more than one occasion. Wayne worked with us for awhile and was the little brother Dan never had. Fred and Sue, Workampers like us, helped us know we made the right decision to do this. Their travel and work camping stories have given us so many places to think about! Danny was a board member that showed up whenever we needed an extra hand. Allison and Justin worked with Dan on the zip-line and invited us to their wedding!
We enjoyed our time in Alabama and take with us fond memories. While here in Florida we hope to visit some friends from Guam and one of Dan’s cousins. We’ll keep in touch!
