Alabama

The Bessemer High School alum has made it back to see the old stomping grounds! Finally I am seeing all of the places behind the stories I have heard for years; and at the same time Bill can see how much the place has changed. We arrived Friday at Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham, Alabama just south of Birmingham. This is very convenient for quick access to Bessemer and other areas in the region we want to explore. Bill and I drove around a bit on Saturday to explore his past and to visit the gravesites of his mother and step-father. Bill could not exactly remember where it was but we found the cemetery on Hwy 150 (the road into Bessemer). As Bill recalled there was nothing out there in 1962--now it is near a major mall and directly across the street from a couple of auto dealers. We found that to be a bit ironic as Bill's grandfather owned a car dealership for years.

I finally have a place to ride my bike for miles on end without worry of any encounters with dogs! This state park has almost 10,000 acres of land many of which are mountain bike/hiking trails as well as bike lanes on all of the roadways. I rode for 35 miles today and still did not access the part of the park to the left of the camping area. I am getting a lot of hill work in so I should be prepared for most hills I encounter in Iowa.

This park also has an 18 hole golf course (is this the perfect place or what!)--which we played yesterday with Jerry Dailey (Bessemer HS class of 61). It is a nice golf course with very reasonable rates--so reasonable the three of us will be back at it tomorrow. Hopefully, with a little more course knowledge we can knock a few shots off of our scores.

We will be here for nearly one more week before moving back north into Tennessee. Less than a month until RAGBRAI so my job is to continue piling the miles on the road and conditioning my legs. It has been very hot and humid here so I feel I am preparing myself for some of the weather we are likely to encounter.

More Later...Susan