We are visiting family in Alabama. We drove down on Thursday, leaving around lunch time and driving 12 hours straight, stopping only for gas or food or bathroom breaks. It is a Logue tradition. All of our extended family lives in the deep south, mostly Alabama, and we make a point to drive down from Ann Arbor at least once a year, sometimes more often if there is a special need--if there is a reunion or a wedding or whatever. The kids, as a result, have become excellent travelers. Very little complaining. Almost no arguing. They settle in for the trip, generally keeping themselves busy with books or computer games or naps or movies. Like everyone who makes regular cross-country trips in a minivan with kids, we have a dvd player, and we make good use of it. Because I am the one who does most of the driving on these trips, there is a long list of family-friendly movies that I have listened to, without watching.
This was Feleke's first drive to Alabama. It has been a series of firsts for him. His first cross-country drive. His first Chick Fil A meal. His first opportunity to use a bathroom in a rural Kentucky truck stop. He has taken it all in stride, though he still expresses some worries about snakes. Apparently, in our explanation for why he didn't need to fear any of the snakes in Michigan (because Michigan snakes tend not to be poisonous), we had drawn a contrast with Alabama, which has quite a few poisonous snakes. That made an impression on Feleke. Snakes are a serious risk in Ethiopia (I guess they sometimes drop on you from the trees), and he assumed the same must be true in Alabama. We told him that, although there were some poisonous snakes in the swamps and woods of Alabama, he would not likely encounter one. And they certainly will not be in the trees. My kids have gone dozens of times and have never seen one. Let's hope that continues.
We've been spending time with Ruth Ann's sisters and their families in the Birmingham area. The kids have played games nonstop for the past two days. Right now they are playing "sardines," which is a variation on "hide and seek" that I don't fully understand. In any event, they seem to be having fun. Tomorrow we head to Auburn, which is where Ruth Ann and I grew up and both sets of grandparents still live. Feleke gets to see our ancestral home before we go to see his.
