Sunday, August 29, 2010

excerpts from the road. part three.


well, where did i leave you yesterday?
oh yeah. just outside Birmingham. Oak Mountain State Pk. Alabama Wildlife Center.
((in case you're dropping in for the first time, sam & i just got back from a camping/road trip/vacation...from FL>AL>GA and back to FL again. cool sites. lots of pic's. 12 days. this is the third post of our adventures. one more to go after this and then life will be back to 'normal'...posts filled with the little critters of nature.)  :]


ok. so let's roll. Birmingham, Alabama. SLOSS FURNACES

amazing. 

overwhelming. 

massive.

an old industrial site
that was in operation from 1881 until 1971. 

now a national historic landmark. 

you can still smell the molten iron. 

you wander around the site...
you can see and feel what it must've been like...

the heat. 
the smoke. 

sparks. 

fire.  

the huge blast furnaces.
imposing smokestacks. 

a maze of pipes.




i left there feeling drained. and hot. it was getting cloudy and i was hoping it would rain. it didn't.



after Birmingham 
we were planning to head to 
the highest point in Alabama. 
but first...we had to do a drive-by 
of birmingham's "satanic statue". 
a fountain.
outside a church.




on our way to Cheaha, 
we stopped by the De Soto Caverns
 in Childersburg, AL.

(cool caverns, 
but i wouldn't recommend it to anyone
as it was very  pricey 
and nearing the end of the tour, 
down in the caverns, 
they showed 
a laser bible show 
about the creation of life.
i'm sure a lot of people wouldn't mind this...
after all, we WERE in the bible belt.
but we didn't pay 40 bucks for a sunday school lesson...
and then told we had to pay another $20. 
for additional tickets to see the butterfly garden. oh well.)

MUCH cooler caverns: we've been to the Florida State Caverns
Tuckaleechee Caverns in Tennessee 
and Lost River Cave in Kentucky....and i would say GO to any of these!!
check 'em out if you have the chance!

well, later this eve i'm gonna try to get the rest of our vacation on here in ONE MORE post.
Cheaha St Pk...De Soto St Pk...then to GA to see Providence Canyon, GA Veteran's Memorial St Pk...and finally back to FL for one night at Stephen Foster Center St Pk before puling into the driveway at home, parking the truck...pulling out from under the camper...unloading...and then getting on with all the chores we left behind.
laundry.  mowing.  more laundry.  food shopping.  
back to work tomorrow.  wow.

No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one.  
~Elbert Hubbard 

so, stay cool...have a happy day...or night...
laura  :]

5 comments:

  1. Laura, although I enjoyed your post, the quote at the end was THE BEST! peace...:)JP

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  2. Laura! Welcome back home! =) I've been so busy reading your vacation updates I forgot to comment and welcome you back! =) Hope you guys had loads and loads of fun! =)

    Jewell

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  3. awesome cave pics! Bummer you got more than you bargained for with the sunday school lesson :-P

    All the rusty pipes look neat!

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  4. Don't like the first part, but love the rest. Caves are special, pity they could not just let the people experience the silence (voice of God). As per usual though, humans are always filling the air with random noise that really does not mean half as much as the silences we could create.

    they say that God is too big to fit into any man-made religion. I wonder if the religious are aware of this fact?

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  5. thanks Home In The Hollow, Cntry Jewell, Erika Jean, and Keda!!
    for stopping by and enjoying the journey...

    i appreciate all your thoughts...and comments...always...

    laura :]

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thanks for stopping by! it's always nice to hear from fellow wanderers!