I had never expected to go to Birmingham, I didn’t know anyone there, I hadn’t given it any thought really. But that changed when Southwest Airllines sent an email last August, announcing rates ‘as low as $39’, and I decided to investigate, and it turned out that from Tampa Birmingham was the only destination for that price. Birmingham had once come up as a destination for the photo group I belong to, a trip that didn’t come to be, but knowing that made me sure that there were photo opportunities there. I scrolled through to see when exactly that rate came into effect, and it wasn’t until November, and when I shared this discovery with my friend Betty she was onboard. We made our reservations in August, and twice Southwest changed our itinerary, I suspect that the airlines are still reeling from Covid-19 as we all are, but we arrived on the 13th and decided to try to get out and see something of the area even though it was 3:00 PM or so. Ruffner Mountain seemed to be our best choice, with a short-ish hike to an overlook. But it was steep, and full of obstacles as well as fallen leaves, and when we finally checked on what time was sunset in Birmingham, thank goodness for Siri, it turned out to be about 4:45 PM. So we abandoned our destination and hiked back, because, as Betty said, it gets dark quickly in the woods. Tomorrow would be another day.
I haven’t totally conquered my computer issues, there is still an upgrade to 32 GB to do. But it was nice to finally get to work on my pictures and the new computer seemed to do well with them. I usually lose interest in sharing photos if I can’t work with them right away, but looking at the pictures got me excited about the trip again. Seems there is no place you can’t go as long as you have the internet to make a plan and your phone for the GPS.
A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens 