AL Part 3

Wednesday, November 28, 2001: Fort Morgan, Alabama

This morning, we packed up our gear, cleaned Alex's house, and got ready to start back out on the open road. We walked over to David's house and received a grim forecast for tonight and tomorrow, complete with thunderstorms, heavy rain, and lots of wind. It looks like we'll be here until Friday.

David let us borrow his truck today, and we drove back down to Fort Morgan State Park where our exciting crossing of the Mobile Bay from Dauphin Island had taken us almost three weeks ago. We didn't get a chance to take a tour of the fort back then, but waiting on the thunderstorms to pass allowed us to spend the day being tourists. The Confederates used Fort Morgan during the Civil War to protect Mobile from an attack by Union ships. Today, the fort had a very interesting tour led by some Confederate reenactors.

Friday, November 30, 2001: Bon Secour Nation Wildlife Refuge

The sun was shining today, and we finally got back out on the road. We were able to take a hiking trail from Hwy 180 into the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge and found tonight's camping spot in the sand dunes. Since we've been living in a house for the past three weeks, it feels like we were on a camping trip tonight. Tomorrow, we plan to continue along the coast to Gulf Shores.

Saturday, December 1, 2001: Foley, Alabama

The tide was out this morning, and it gave us the privilege of walking a few of today's ten miles right on the coast. There is a strip of hard-packed sand between the beach and the water that is good for walking. The only problem with walking on this strip of sand occurs when one is busy gazing out upon the gulf and fails to see a larger than normal wave that comes up and over his boots. Nevertheless, the scenery on today's walk was fabulous. The Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge offers a very rare glimpse of what Alabama's coast would look like without thousands of beach houses and condominiums. I loved it.

We made it to Gulf Shores around 2:00 pm and called a pastor named Paul, whom we had met last week at the New Life in Christ Church in Foley, Alabama. He had offered to let us stay in one of their "prophet's chambers," which are two spare houses next to the church that they use to lodge guests or speakers when they are passing through the area. Paul was more than happy to come pick us up in Gulf Shores this afternoon so we could spend the night and join them for church tomorrow. And so, after one night of camping God has blessed us with a home again, and we're back indoors.

Sunday, December 2, 2001: Foley, Alabama

We had a packed-full day of church and fellowship at the New Life in Christ Church in Foley, Alabama. They had a guest speaker this Sunday, a Christian comedian named Nazareth, who travels around the country speaking at churches and in prisons. Nazareth was born in Nazareth, but lived most of his life in Kuwait before moving to America. An Arab-American now, he jokingly said that he has been, "feeling a little more Mexican since September 11th."

After church we were invited out to lunch with Brother Paul and his family, along with Nazareth. They took us to a place called Lambert's, which was quite an experience. The waiters and waitresses at Lambert's continuously walk around the restaurant with large bowls and serve up food right onto your plate whenever you ask for more. Sometimes they throw their famous rolls to your table from across the dining room and you have to catch them. After lunch, we attended the evening church service as well, and Brandi and I were asked to share a few things that God has been teaching us on the road.

It was a good Sunday. Paul and his wife, Carolyn, have authored several books, and they've graciously added a few of them to our library (as well as a few pounds to our backpacks.) We are going to continue walking east from Gulf Shores tomorrow.

Monday December 3, 2001: near Orange Beach, Alabama

A nice woman named Sandra gave us a ride back down to Gulf Shores today, and we continued our walk east through Gulf State Park. Several of our miles through the park today were walked on roads lined on both sides with RV's. The "snowbirds" have arrived! People have been telling us for weeks that the snowbirds would start arriving in droves after Thanksgiving, and they were right. We walked past hundreds of RV's today, from states like Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. We also walked past hundreds of smiling retired folks and heard comments like, "That looks like a heavy load," and we answered questions like, "Where you headed?" and "How far are you going?"

I really enjoyed walking through the state park today. It was like walking through a mobile retirement community, and everyone seemed very happy to be there. The weather has been beautiful. There was just a joyful vibe in the air, and it made me feel good to see so many people smiling. I hope the smiles continue, as the Gulf State Park is sure to get more and more crowded in the weeks to come.

Tuesday, December 4, 2001: Big Lagoon State Park, Florida

Today we were given some really bad directions from a really nice older couple who were out on a morning bike ride. They told us about a "shortcut to the beach" that we followed for about two miles before it dead-ended in the woods. I was devastated, but we had no other option but to turn around and walk back. So, the first few hours of our day consisted of walking a total of four miles, only to be exactly where we had started that morning. Devastating.

We finally made it out of the state park, through the community of Orange Beach, out onto Perdido Key and to the Florida state line. We met a nice man named Ray today, who I asked to take our picture at the state line. He took our picture, but then I took one of him and Brandi, and I like that one better. Ray lives in upstate New York, but December through March, he lives in a condominium on Perdido Key. (Snowbird)