I knew I had taken some pretty good (digital) pictures from my trip to Alabama in 2011, so I thought I would post these as a supplement to the last post. I copied these from my Facebook page, so who knows how long they'll stay up here. I haven't had much luck when doing that in the past. I'm assuming my wife has the original file of these somewhere in her cloud storage but I don't know how to access that for this post. All of these photos are either in the Talladega National Forest or Cheaha State Park. I'll accompany them with my original comments, with any present additional observations following in italics.
1. Alabama woods.
2. Slipping in a few pictures of the baby, for people who are interested in that sort of thing. The baby is in 3rd grade now. At the time of this trip I only had five children. (I eventually had six of course).
3. Making the trail mix for the strenuous hiking to ensue. This is in the chalet at Cheaha State Park. This threesome is in 10th grade, 12th grade, and 7th grade respectively now.
4. Swimming pool at Cheaha State Park. With view of Talladega National Forest.
5. View from the balcony of the park restaurant. I went with the two older boys for breakfast at the restaurant one morning, but otherwise we ate at the cabin exclusively. My wife is not a big fan of eating out, especially with children. I am, though.
6. The road to Alabama's highest point is well-traveled.
7. Transmitter atop Mt. Cheaha.
8. There it is.
9. Commemorating the moment. My children at this time were in the habit of searching for these U.S. geological survey medallions every time we climbed a mountain, which they usually found.
10. I like this tower.
11. For aficiondos of antique playground equipment. This is a remarkable piece. I think they have replaced this in the intervening years. I still follow the park on social media, and I remember a few years back their announcing the completion of one of those generic, but safe, modern playgrounds.
12. Talladega Nights.
13. This is supposed to be "The Beginning of the Trail." In the National Forest.
14. This supposed to be "What can go Wrong?"
15. So far so good.
16. Alabama is more woodsy-beautiful than you think. To be honest I was expecting cotton fields.
17. (My spouse) has the artistic spirit in the family. She takes all the good pictures.
18. Maybe next year (child #4) will be able to get out of the backpack. This one is in 5th grade now, and is the most physically daredevilish member of the family.
19. Uh-oh.
20. I believe these are some of the celebrated southern pines. It might be noted here that there was no one else out on the trail on this day.
21. Someone is tired in the 93-degree heat. Fortunately a severe lightning storm is about to hit within the next five minutes.
22. (After skipping an unflattering picture of me in the rain) The rest of the crew comes in from the rain, which did cool the temperature considerably. Note how dark it is outside the car windows during this storm. This is at three or four o'clock in the afternoon.
23. Balcony of the circa 1940 CCC-built chalet, which for a government endeavor I found more than satisfactory as accommodation. I did bear in mind that black people almost certainly would have been forbidden from staying in these cabins at the time they were built. However almost any public building in this country of any age, including my college, including Harvard itself and any number of government buildings, at some point in its history was closed to black people and others as well, yet because these places are not in Alabama, are not out of the way, and because their racist history somehow does not seem as recent, and certainly not as violently enforced, they do not lend themselves as easily to the kind of haunting associations that it come naturally to one in a lonely place like this.
24. In artistic compositions lifeline are considered to be vertical while deathlines are horizontal. I was 41 at this time. I'm 49 now. I look about the same, I might even look a little better now. However in the last couple of years I have noticed a certain decline in my energy to go on outings and more involved expeditions. While I would still love to go on a trip like this, I don't know if I have it in me to prod everyone else to go along with my style of traveling and put up with (i.e. ignore) all of their objections and complaining anymore.
25. Goodbye Chalet #11. I still have this car. It's a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan and has 265,000 miles on it, and the engine still runs great. Unfortunately I think it is rust that is going to do it in as far as getting another inspection. They barely let it slide the last time.
26. A last short hike in 'Bama. This particular area was really quite nice, and has given me a more positive opinion of this state than northerners are wont to have.
27. More nature. Just to give the album texture
28. Postcard.
29. Good picture of (child #5), who made it to Alabama 41 years earlier in life than I did.
30. Some boiled peanuts for the road as we say good-bye to Alabama...
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