Birmingham, Alabama

By now everyone has become aware of the international oil crises thanks to Hurricane Katrina that severely crippled the US's capabilities to produce oil for the South.
As usual we can count on all the "intelligent folk" to help the rest of the nation survive through a crisis. Such as freaking every quarter tank just because they are afraid that the rumours might be true. The rumours being that we would be without fuel for more than 2 weeks.
As if the US doesn't have more refineries. Yet, you wonder (quietly as you sit in the gas line at the only gas station with 87 for nearly ten miles) whether they had considered that being gas greedy would not help the supply last either.
Probably not.
We saw a truck with red necks on the back filling six fifty gallon drums (189,5 litres) with gas as well as the truck. Not only is it illegal to fill containers on the back of a truck, but no one was even apprehending them!
We did see a gas station that limited the amount of gas that one person could get. Smart, smart smart! And, radio stations pleading with people to cut down the consumption of gas through not running the Air-Conditioning or speeding and also car-pooling. Not many heeded the warning, though.
Then, on the Monday of Labor Day Weekend, which marks the official end of summer for us, we traveled the four-hour trip North to Birmingham. I had to be at the Immigration office there on Tuesday morning at 8 am.
The further North you go, the more expensive gas is. However, there are no gas lines, and no "Sorry, no gas" signs as you drive by. Maybe the intelligence is more widespread where the air is thinner.

We also noticed almost twenty gas tankers going South, thus, no gas shortage!
Larry has a contact in the Hotel Industry that managed to get a reservation for us at a recently opened Resort and Spa in Hoover, Alabama, being a suburb outside of Birmingham. It is also a 15 minute drive away from my appointment.
Directions to the Ross Bridge Renaissance instruct you to keep an eye out for the Welcome Center and then follow that road straight into the resort. Then, we spotted the Welcome Center!
"What on earth will the Resort look like", you wonder.
As Birmingham is situated in the hills it is extraordinarily beautiful. We traveled over the little hill and came upon what looks like a Scottish Castle with gorgeous lawns and stone walls. They even have a separate convention center.
The room we stayed in usually goes for approximately $170 per night, but we managed to get it for $69 per night. The rooms are huge and the bed is far bigger than the one at home. I never even once had to tell Larry to move up.

Shortly after checking in we caught a glimpse of the pool. It has a slide and, of course, Larry and I felt and acted like five-year olds sliding into the pool. Sadly, it could not last long as we still had to figure out how to get to the appointment the next morning and how long it would take to get there.

Very intelligently, I left the file with all the information in the hotel room and suffered from memory loss as to what order the 5, 2, and 9 were in in the address. First, I thought it was 259, but after half an hour we realized that there is no such address on that street.

I did, however, know that there was a Lodge almost next-door to the appointment but I had never seen it on the internet.

Quick tip: If it's not on the net, don't. Trust me!

Eventually, Larry had a brainstorm and said, "Isn't it 529 Beacon Parkway?" Why, yes! That slots in better with my memory! And, truly, there it was. We had driven past it almost three times. The Immigration office is smack in the middle of Birmingham downtown area and - like any other Downtown area, it is no longer the Mecca of civilisation.

The appointment went rather well and lasted roughly an hour in which I was fingerprinted (digital scanners), photographed and biometrics noted (length, hair colour, eye colour and weight). Then, after Breakfast, we decided to find the Zoo as our pleasure outing for the day.

If the search for the appointment was bad, you should have witnessed this! We drove past the Zoo twice thinking that it would be on our right, but eventually we looked left and there it was in big, capital letters "BIRMINGHAM ZOO" on the wall.

Boy, what a smart vacation! But the Zoo was excellent. I got a taste of home in the "Sahara" section where the have an "Asian" Elephant (this makes sense!) and other African entities.

The most exciting part is definitely the Butterfly Sanctuary, which is almost like a small greenhouse with Butterfly plants and Citrus and a myriad of Butterflies fluttering around you. Truly magnificent. I would love to have one like this in my garden!

Now we are back in Pensacola and the crowds have calmed down. And those New Orleans and Louisiana refugees that aren't somewhere else are now here.

Personally, I would rather move away from the Coast after a hurricane like Katrina. Especially pick somewhere less Hurricane prone like Pensacola. Katrina was, at first aiming for us.

So, nothing too exciting, I don't think. But, now you know who to blame for the spike in your petrol prices!