Monday, October 10

This morning we drove back to Hillcrest Baptist Church and started walking east toward Prattville. John had his umbrella and I wore my rain gear as the weather forecast was rain. We shouldn't have bothered, the sun came out and it was a great day to take a hike.

 

Nothing unusual about todays walk. We passed by several more produce stands that were closed. A man in a pick-up truck hauling his Kaboda tractor behind stopped and talked. He informed us that this was the small community of Billingsley. There were no buildings in sight, so I asked him how can you tell. He just laughed and said the community was off the highway and that there was a high school, 3 churches and about 200 families that lived there.

He also added that his sister-in-law worked at the Fat Girls BBQ Cafe just up the road. We had seen it driving out to the starting point, but didn't have the nerve to ask him if she was one of the fat girls.

 

On we walked until we arrived at the Country Mart, just across the highway from Fat Girls BBQ Cafe. On the door was the usual sign, "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service", but the owners had added, "Pull up your pants".

 

We "sprinted" across Little Mulberry Creek as there was very little shoulder to walk on.

 

Up ahead were Carol and Ruth. 13 miles today and we found .01 cent. Stay tuned ...

Sunday, October 9

Last night our hosts, Gigi and Don, treated us to "chestnuts roasting on an open fire". We had a campfire with roasted chestnuts last night. Gigi's mother, step-father and step-sister were there as well as Gigi's husband, Don.

 

The chestnuts were very good. They are rather large and since we had pear cake and sweet potato pie beforehand, one chestnut was all I could handle.

 

This morning we all attended the First Presbyterian Church of Prattville. The pastor, W. Bryant Hansen was from Memphis and his father-in-law graduated from the University of Arkansas. But, he kiddingly said "I wouldn't tell people you are from Arkansas", referring to the 38-14 win overAuburn.

 

On to lunch at Applebee's and then home to give our dog, Jolie Blonde, a bath. She's much cleaner now.

 

Tomorrow we walk. Stay tuned ...

Saturday, October 8

Yesterday after our walk, we moved from Brierfield Ironworks Historical State Park to Kountry Air RV Park near Prattville, AL. The park is owned and operated by Gigi and Don. They just bought the park three months ago and are working hard to make some improvements. Don is originally from Colorado and Gigi from southern California. Very nice folks.

 

Ruth took us out to mile marker 96 this morning and we were off. Our walk took us through very similar scenery, the same as yesterday.

 

This is peach country with several roadside produce stands along the highway. Trouble is, this is not peach season and all but one stand was closed.

 

We came to the small town of Maplesville where there was a rest stop. John had a quick nap and we were off. Just a short walk ahead was a Chevron station and an Oreo Ice Cream Bar for John and me.

 

Carol and Ruth were waiting for us in the parking lot of Hillcrest Baptist Church. The sign out front had a interesting message for John and me. And for everyone else.

 

Today we found a bungee cord and .16 cents. Stay tuned ...

Friday, October 7

We started walking today at the intersection of Highways 82 and 25. Within a short time we were walking through Centreville, Alabama. The Cahaba River flows right through the center of Centreville, (maybe that is how it got it's name) with a business district on our right and one on our left. Therefore, we didn't see much of Centreville as we were walking down the center (of Centreville).

 

On we walked amongst Kudzu and pine trees. We are once again walking along the edge of the Talladega National Forest. Highway 82 has turned into a 2 lane road with a shoulder that is all of a foot wide. But traffic is light and when an oncoming car doesn't pull over for us, sometimes they can't, we just step into the grass.

 

Towards the end of our walk, we met a man probably in his mid 40's, walking on the same side of the road as us. He said he was going to Tuscaloosa and did I know of a store ahead. I told him the closest store was in Centreville. He seemed to think that was alright. He asked us where did we start walking and we replied, California. He asked when did we start and I told him it was a long story. I asked him if he needed water and he said he was OK. He seemed like a pleasant fellow and we saw him about 2 hours later when we passed him in our RV. He had almost gotten to Centreville. More about moving tomorrow.

 

Today we found .42 cents. Stay tuned ...

Thursday, October 6 (part 2)

Last Monday, we moved from Lake Lurleen State Park to Brierfield Ironworks Historical State Park. It is a little out of the way, but with RV parks few and far between, you go where you can.

 

This is a small but very unique park. There are 25 campsites and many rustic and historic cabins for rent. Lisa, the manager, was very helpful and informative when we arrived here. She is a great asset for the park.

 

The park is the site of a blast furnace and rolling mill established in 1861. In 1863 the Confederate government purchased the facility for $600,000. paying in Confederate currency. The Confederate government spend large sums of money expanding and improving the works.

 

In March of 1865, the Tenth Missouri Calvary torched the ironworks, thereby shutting off a source of iron for the Confederacy.

 

Revived after the war, the works were shut down permanently in 1894, modern technology having taken over.

Thursday, October 6

When Ruth took us out this morning, we could see and smell smoke along the highway. A fire somewhere. Someone probably clearing some brush. We started walking and soon came to the smoke, but it wasn't bad, so on we went. The weather was perfect today. Sunny and crisp.

 

We walked through the town of Eoline. It looks like it had been hit by a tornado. Lots of trees down and a fire engine sitting outside, no firehouse. John said that it doesn't run anyway. It's just there so people will think they have fire protection.

 

On we walked until we came to the Cahaba River. Best looking river we have seen in a long time. A sign advertised that you can tube down it. Clear and flowing, it looked like a good float stream. If I just had my fishing rod and an Alabama fishing license.

 

Up ahead, Carol and Ruth were waiting for us. We found .88 cents and a fork in the road. Stay tuned ...

Tuesday, October 4

We started our walk in ht e suburb of Northport this morning. Before long we had reached the Black Warrior River and started across the Woolsey Finnell Bridge during morning rush hour traffic. I don't want to do that again. There was a 2 foot area to walk on our right and a guard rail on our left, the type that keeps you from falling into the river, it didn't even come to our waist. Total concentration and tunnel vision got us across. (I know, we're walking on a bridge). I don' know what the river looked like, I didn't look down. We were both very relieved when we arrived on the other side. We also came to two other bridges that offered some difficulty.

 

On we walked passed the campus of the University of Alabama (boo). After that we walked through an area that was devastated when a tornado ripped through here on April 27th. The debris has been removed leaving a very large area devoid on any type of building. Rebuilding will be a long process.

 

On we walked passed the Best Buy store that John and Ruth had to take their computer, it crashed. They bought a new one and got to talking to the sales associated, Will. It turns out that Will had worked at the Best Buy store in Centreville, VA, where John and Ruth's daughter, Jona, lives with her family.

 

Will's dad is a helicopter pilot and had just returned home from Afghanistan. A shout out to Will and we are glad your dad is safely home.

 

We walked on until we got to a Shell station. After using the facilities, we had a snack. A Little Debbie Zebra cake for me and a bag of pork rinds for John.

 

Five more miles and Carol and Ruth were waiting for us. We found .66 cents today. That includes the .13 cents that Ruth found in a McDonald's parking lot. Stay tuned ...

Wednesday, October 5

Ruth took us out to mile marker 60 this morning. We walked in the wet grass as cars sped by us going to Tuscaloosa. The morning rush.

 

We passed throught the town of Duncanville. There was a service station, all purpose store there, John's.

 

The sun came out and the traffic became lighter and John and I walked. That's what we do best. We were walking on the border of the Talladega National Forest. And yes, there are lots of trees. Not much else and not much to report.

 

We stopped at the County Line Grocery and Gas Station. Closed, boarded up. Oh, well, we were almost finished anyway.

 

We waited for Ruth and Carol to pick us up. We found a knife, a small screwdriver and .16 cents. Stay tuned ...

Monday, October 3

Yesterday, Carol and I didn't feel very good, so while John and Ruth attended the First Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, we stayed home and rested.

 

That evening, we roasted "6" hot dogs over an open fire. Very good even with Jolie Blonde in your face begging for a bite.

 

Ruth took us out today around 7 am and off we went. It was chilly this morning, in the 40s, but the sun was out and it turned very pleasant. The highway had a good shoulder and we were soon walking through Northport, AL, a suburb of Tuscaloosa.

 

A man in a pick-up pulled over and said, "I have seen you guys for the past 3 days and I just had to find out what we were doing" We explained what we were doing and he said, "Well, that makes sense now". He wished us good luck and we were off. A little bit later, we stopped to chat with 2 young men picking up trash. They were very much impressed by what we were doing and had indeed heard about Habitat. We were off again.

 

John stopped for an soft serve cone, but I passed it up as I wasn't sure how my stomach would take it. I'll buy two later, to make up for the one missed.

 

At mile marker 48, Carol and Ruth picked us up. We had a good coin day, $1.80 in coins. Stay tuned ....

Saturday, October 1

Yesterday we moved the RVs from Country Living RV Park near Columbus, MS to Lake Lurleen State Park, just west of Tuscaloosa, AL.

The park is named after former Governor George Wallace's first wife. Our campsite and the park is very beautiful, scenic and wooded. Trouble is, no phone service and that means no working laptop.

Ruth dropped us off at the Rock Bottom Baptist church and we were off. Not bad walking today, a far cry from yesterday. We walked through the town of Gordo and kept walking. No donuts or ice cream today. We came to the Sipsey River, which looked more like a swamp than a river, climbed a big hill and there was Ruth and Carol waiting for us.

Today we found a fork in the road, a very large wrench, (I even tried to do some bridge repair work with it) and .34 cents. Stay tuned ...