Day 14 June 11, 2011

“Who cares about the clouds when we’re together?”

Hello All,

We decided to stay here in Scottsboro one more night. We are only about 100 miles from my camp site and we have a comfortable room and felt we needed a little extra rest….

We were out early this morning and the town looked deserted... and then realized that we were back in the Central Time zone—it was even earlier than we thought. Driving around town we noticed that Scottsboro, like Alameda, has a Trinity Lutheran Church. I may attend services tomorrow. Most likely we will head out fairly early towards northwestern Alabama to explore the area around Camp McDowell where I am expected to check in at 4 pm. I am still apprehensive about camp. Not knowing anyone else attending camp, I apparently will be expected to find my own roommate.  It’s like the first day of school or summer camp all over again.

We spent another hour at the Lost Baggage Claim store and bought lots of odds and ends: books, music, etc. The place has a fantastic collection of everything from a bizarre dwarf manikin once used in a movie production (see below) to a rack full of hundreds of digital cameras that had been left in airline seat pockets.

We also went by the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center which is dedicated to telling the story of the nine black teen boys falsely accused of the rape of two white girls in 1931. The museum is located in a building that was once a church. Over the course of the two decades following their convictions by all white juries, the struggle to right the injustice of the trials and the system itself played a major part in setting the stage for the civil rights movement in the U.S.

After our morning activities, we stopped at Magnolia House, an old mansion from the 1800’s that is now a restaurant. The food was classic southern cuisine but we decided to take it easy and stuck to sampling their salad offerings. For the rest of the day (which was hot, hot, hot) we lounged around the hotel, did laundry and repacked and reorganized for camp. I can’t believe I’ll be there by this time tomorrow.

While at camp, I will not have access to the internet and blog until at least next Thursday. I will keep a journal, so expect to read the details if I survive. Richard will be met by Robert and Tristan mid-week (we think) so I’m sure he will have details of any adventures on their part.

Until then, “just sing a song and bring the sunny weather…”

Linda and Richard