Parked In Beautiful Pinson, AL

Pinson is an industrial area northeast of Birmingham. It's where heavy equipment companies are located. Cat products occupy acres and acres. It's also where Cummins has a service center, one of two in the state. We came up Monday to get in line to have our generator repaired. They expected to diagnosis it Tuesday morning, but that time came and went without any explanation. We later learned that when we left to run errands they thought we were leaving it with them so they could work on it at their leisure.

They did diagnosis it Wednesday and found the control board and carburetor were bad. I believe the first, the second is just an addon to run up the bill, but I have to go along with it.  Hopefully, the carburetor will arrive this morning and we can leave this afternoon - $1,300 dollars lighter.

We have used our time to shop for things not available in Montogomery, visit with friends, drive in familiar neighborhoods to see how they have changed and eat at places we have not been to in years.

Birmingham is still growing, unlike Montogomery. Plenty of new construction and teardowns of homes in desirable neighborhoods being replaced with mega-homes. 

We waited for three months to come up, seeking for a three-day window without rain. We finally got it. Today is the fourth day and we may have to drive through showers to get home. Oh well, it only takes a few hours to wash the vehicles. That will not get done next week tho as it will drop to the 30's here.

Dorothy Is Chomping At The Bit

Summer and fall have come and gone as have Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s.  After a month in physical therapy, I was released to do my therapy at home which I do.  My foot is so much better and although it has been a difficult time, I am so glad that I had the surgery.  I still use the electric chairs available at large stores because I don’t want to push my good fortune as I continue to heal.

Wednesday was a beautiful and warm day.  As we got home, I told Don that I really was ready to get on the road.  We still have stuff to do before that can happen, but I am in the “mentally making a list" stage. Soon I will be making the actual list and packing. 

Things that have gotten accomplished:  Don had the Jeep lifted and it is really high and it is not easy for me to get in, so Don put a handle in so I can pull myself up.  I have to remember to turn around and make sure my left foot goes out first and then bring the right foot down.  It’s not a big deal, just a different way of doing things for a while. 

We‘ve been home since May, which is a long time for us and are looking to leaving in about six weeks are so. We plan to eat our way to Utah on the southern route.