“Oh Lord, stuck in Lodi (er… Montgomery) again”.
On the 17th, we made the run up to Maxwell AFB in good time without too much hassle except running into some thunderstorms just west of Quincy. There was a lot of stop and go driving up Highway 231 but we just took our time and enjoyed the day.
When we got to Maxwell AFB things changed after going through the main gate. After leaving the gate, I was trying to get into the left lane but was being blocked by a little car next to me. While watching him in the mirror, I hit a speed bump a little too hard. Now, this is not your ordinary speed bump. In the left lane it’s not very high but as it slopes to the right, it gets very big due to the slope of the street. Although I was going less than 10 MPH, we thought that everything in the coach had come loose.
We then drove on to the base’s Famcamp, checked in and found our parking site. After parking, we went back to unhook our tow car and that’s when we saw the damage. The tow bars had bounced up very hard and took out the whole front of the car.
So we started making phone calls. Joyce talked to the Honda dealer who recommended a Capital City Auto Body. I called Good Sam’s to get a tow truck started our way and then called our insurance company.
To make a long story a tad shorter, we got the car into the shop. They told us they would try to expedite the repairs as much as possible and then we picked up a rental car at Enterprise Rental. Our insurance is covering the rental car up to $25 a day or for a total of $750. More later.
Yesterday we made a trip over to Selma, AL to do some sight-seeing. As you probably know, Selma is best known for the 1960s Voting Rights Movement and the Selma to Montgomery marches.
On the way into town we stopped just east of the Edmund Pettus Bridge where “Bloody Sunday” took place on March 7, 1965.
Our next stop was at the Slavery and Civil War Museum but unfortunately it was closed. We then walked back up the street to the Side Porch Restaurant for lunch. I had their Crawfish Po-Boy and Joyce decided on the Catfish Nuggets, both of which were excellent.
Next, we walked up to the National Parks Service’s Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail office. There is a small area in the back that has interactive displays that were interesting. Also, while there the ranger introduced us to an Army veteran named Joanne Bland. Before we left, the ranger gave us more information about Miss Joanne. More on here is below.
Next, we drove a few blocks to the Brown Chapel AME Church and King Monument, the starting point for the marches. Miss Joanne was there giving a tour to a high school class from Los Angeles, CA she asked if we wanted to tag along. Well, yeah!
Our group was led to an cement area at the back of the church and Miss Joanne told us all to pick up a rock from the ground and hold them up above our heads. Three students were asked to come forward with their rocks and Joanne to us that this is where the marchers gathered before leaving for Montgomery on March 7th.
Joanne asked us to keep our rocks and put them in a place where we could look at them everyday. Then, if we every saw see an injustice happening, think about what went happened in Selma and do something positive about that injustice.
Joanne was 11 years old and along with her 13 year old sister Linda, marched to the bridge on Bloody Sunday where they were beaten and gassed buy the state troopers. Joanne was arrested thirteen times, the youngest person jailed during that time. Linda later made the march to Montgomery, the youngest person to do so. To say it was an honor for us to meet Joanne is an understatement.
Read more about Joanne Bland and her sister on these web sites:
http://www.baylor.edu/alumni/magazine/0202/news.php?action=story&story=7595-title=Joanne
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/columnists/norma-adams-wade/20150127-youngest-marcher-at-selmas-bloody-sunday-to-speak-in-dallas.ece
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joanne_Bland
https://cj222.wordpress.com/2015/10/26/civil-rights-activist-shares-her-story-and-calls-students-to-action/
Joanne Bland
Joanne is in the center in the black coat.
March 23, 2016
Looks like we are going to be in Montgomery for longer than we thought. We got word yesterday that our car won’t be ready for at least 12 days, maybe longer. That sure wasn’t good news.
The good news is that the famcamp here on Maxwell was able to get us a parking site for as long as needed. We will have to move on Saturday but that’s OK with us. And, the insurance company will be extending out our rental car for us. Also, we are life members of Good Sams so we have $500 worth of trip interruption insurance that will help us out.
So, when life those lemons at you, make some lemonade and that is exactly what we plan to do. Not sure what just yet but you can bet it we ain’t going to be sitting around here feeling sorry for ourselves.
Nuff for now.
Barry & Joyce
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