Travelodge Mobile

1st blogged trip (leg). On the way from Toano, VA (over by Willamsburg)... Stayed the night at Satsuma, AL, just above Mobile. Headed to Houston, TX for a Monday delivery. Will stay tonight at the Pilot in Baytown, about 1/2-hour away. I prefer larger stops with more amenities, but my company fuels at Pilots, and I can get a shower ...

... We arrived to Mobile with just enough time to prep the boat before departing for Vegas the following afternoon! After a few days of Vegas with my folks, we headed back with them to Texas for Thanksgiving. A very happy ending to this leg of our migration to the lower latitudes with Hawkswood!

More adventures are in the works...stay tuned!

Preparations for a vacation maybe different than preparing for a journey. This sojourn is different than a vacation for us. It began more than six months ago as an idea. Then after much discussion about possibilities and logistics the research began. We decided to devote several hours twice a week to the task of learning as much as possible about China, her history, language and culture ...

... four o’clock but the cars were already filing the dirt lot, I’m sure if I stuck around I could have witnessed a healing or better yet a baptism. Worked my way into Mobile and wanted to stop in Bayou Labattre to pay my respects to Bubbba’s mother (Forest Gump) but it was getting late.

I finally stopped for the night in Pascagoula, Miss. at Shepard State Park. After the orientation from the ranger ...

... Chinese authorities. The mountain turned out to be a mole hill.

Then there was the notion of just sending the passport out to the unknown. Would it ever return?

Therefore it was with much relief that David tore off the end of the FedEx package to reveal our passports with the Chinese visa stamped within the inner pages. We marveled at how some entities have the power to change the face of a document that others consider sacred.

Breathe

... be an All-Star baseball team at the hotel for a tournament and they had taken over the very small pool. We told the kids we could swim in the morning instead and luckily, they were ok with that. We had dinner at a Waffle House across the street. It was a really nice night.

... Lot of ceramics.
Saw many porcelain works of Boehm.
Took 3 hours to see this big garden,Saw the Rose garden,Oriental Gardens,fountains,conservatory,a bayou area and mirror lake.
Back to Mobile and had dinner at Godfather's Pizza.Eat as much pizza as you can.

I got into Mobile and stayed with my Grandparents, who I hadn't seen in quite some time. This was very nice to be in a safe place where I could just relax and talk about things that had happened over time, and whatnot. As with San Antonio I didn't do too much other than to rest and visit with my family, and eat some good food. But this was a great stop nonetheless, and I look forward to visiting my roots in Mobile again.

... We were forced to stand in line with 300 of our fellow cruise mates. The customs agents were separated into 6 lines and they gave each person in their line the third degree. When we finally reached the customs agent, he asked us the normal questions. We informed him that we had exceeded our alcohol limit. He kindly overlooked our discretion and allowed us to pass through without having to pay the duty. On our previous ship, a custom officer boarded the ship and was placed ...

... help anyone could offer me would be greatly appreciated. I plan to devote much of my Christmas break to job hunting, and general life and self discovery. If I have learned one thing not related to vinyl siding these last few weeks, its that growing up can be a pain in the ass...but in the end you will be a much better person for it. Happy Holidays to you all, and I hope to see as many of you over break as possible!