Lunar Eclipse

As you may know we had a total lunar eclipse this week. Beth and I enjoyed the sight from our backyard deck while our friend Chris entertained several neighbors with his new telephoto lens.

He was able to capture this great picture using the new lens.

The Civil War General

Located next to my local train store is the home of the famous Civil War locomotive "The General!"

The Kennesaw Civil War Museum (formerly the Big Shanty Museum) is an information-packed excursion into area Civil War history and one event in particular -- The Great Locomotive Chase. Their web site proclaims "America's favorite locomotive--America's favorite railroad story" and they are right. The story of The General, The Texas and the men that rode each locomotive into history is as compelling today as it was in 1862. Following the chase from its start in Atlanta to its end north of Ringgold, Georgia, the museum provides interesting exhibits into many of the aspects of the event. The centerpiece, however, is The General itself. Restored by the old Louisville and Nashville (L&N) Railroad in time for the 1962 centennial, the huge locomotive dominates all the Civil War exhibits in this former cotton warehouse.

For more visit: http://www.locomotivegeneral.com

Alabama Tornado!

On my drive to Tuscaloosa AL Wednesday I drove through the area that was struck by a tornado Monday afternoon.
The tornado jumped I-20 and knock down all these trees along this hill side.
Glad I changed my plans from a Monday drive!

The Mobile River Delta

On my return trip to Atlanta from Mobile AL I drove across the Mobile River Delta Viaduct.

The Mobile Delta consists of approximately 20,323 acres of water just north of Mobile Bay. Second only to the Mississippi River Delta in size, the Mobile Delta is an environmental showplace that is 30 miles long and 12 miles wide. It covers more than 200,000 acres of swamps, river bottomlands and marshes. Congress named the Mobile Delta a National Natural Landmark in 1974; fewer than 600 sites have received that honor. It is formed by the confluence of the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers. The Mobile Delta is a complex network of tidally influenced rivers, creeks, bays, lakes, wetlands, and bayous.

For more visit: http://www.outdooralabama.com/Fishing/freshwater/where/rivers/delta/

Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama

While returning to Atlanta from Mobile AL I drove by the birth place of Beth's new Hyundai Sonota.

Hyundai's first assembly and manufacturing plant in the United States. This $1.4 billion automotive plant is one of the most advanced assembly plants in North America.HMMA currently employs more than 3,300 Team Members who are building Hyundai's next generation Sonata sedan and the all new Santa Fe sport utility vehicle (SUV) at the Hyundai Alabama plant.

The 2-million square-foot manufacturing plant resides on 1,744 acres of land and includes a stamping facility, paint shop, vehicle assembly shop, a two-mile test track and an engine shop, where the all-new Hyundai 3.3-liter V6 engine is produced. In May 2005, the facility marked the official start of production with its first saleable 2006 Sonata. HMMA will produce 300,000 vehicles per year at full capacity.

For more visit: http://www.hmmausa.com

Tuscaloosa Veterans Park

This week took me to two CVS's located in Tuscaloosa AL and Mobile AL.

Located just west of my hotel was the Tuscaloosa Veterans Park.

The park was established around 1976 with its only feature being the original mast from the U.S.S. Tuscaloosa, which is now the central display in the park. More has been added to the park through the years.
Recently the park has added a jeep, a Purple Heart monument and the four memorial walls, also known as the "Honor Roll of Veterans."
The idea of adding the memorial walls came about in late 1999 when three WWII veterans, Glenn "Bill" Clements, George Welch and Bill Koeppel, talked to the Veterans Committee about making monuments to recognize local soldiers.
The park started with two walls and recently added two more. Each side of the walls hold 190 names and also lists what service the veterans were a part of and what wars they participated in.
There are also symbols on the walls to show if the veterans were killed, wounded or missing in action or if they were prisoners of war.

P.S. USS Tuscaloosa, was a 9975-ton New Orleans class heavy cruiser, was built at Camden, New Jersey, and commissioned in August 1934. After a shakedown cruise to Argentina and Uruguay and post-shakedown overhaul, she went to the Pacific in April 1935, spending nearly four years there taking part in U.S. Fleet exercises and other activities. In January 1939 Tuscaloosa came back to the Atlantic area for Fleet Problem XX, steamed around South America during April-June, and carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt on a cruise off New England and eastern Canada in August. With the outbreak of the European war in September 1939, she began Neutrality Patrol operations.

For more visit: http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-t/ca37.htm

Ah to be a dog!

Somehow we humans just don’t get it but I believe dogs do.
Without all the trapping we humans have dogs live their lives happy, simply and content.
They never worry about how their hair looks or what to wear. Everything on the menu is called food and it’s all good! No bills, no work, no commutes, no cleaning, no chasing after the kids, no after school events and finally any chair or couch is a great place to nap!
I’ve always thought in my next life I’d like to be a cardiologist but as I get older I think my mind is changing!

Snow Terrier!

Janie really enjoys the snow so today we let her go outside for a while to play.

When we went to let her in we were surprised to find that she had built this wonderful "Snow Terrier"!

Yes she is a very smart dog!!!

Second Atlanta Snow 01/19/2008

Here we go again! We have a heavy snow warrning for the Atlanta area for 2 to 4 inches of snow today and then a freeze warning of 18 degrees tonight. We have to fire place going so we're warm and cozy for a weekend of cold snowy weather!

It's a blizzard!!!

It's a blizzard, snow plows are out and we're snowed in, lol!!!

Ah a southern snow fall!!!!

Snow Video!

Ok I don't want to hear a word from my snow bound Canadian family, lol!!! It started to snow this evening around 6 PM and we're still have a sleet/snow mix. I thought you all would enjoy our snow storm, lol!

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Yesterday while driving to CVS 4404 in Griffin, GA I passed by the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Few who saw Atlanta Motor Speedway in its infancy would recognize the track today. A majestic structure situated on 870 acres in Hampton, Ga., just 25 miles south of Atlanta, today's Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of the country's top sports, corporate, family and entertainment facilities.
But it's a far cry from the structure planned in 1958 by Walker Jackson, Lloyd Smith, Garland Bagley, Ralph Sceiano and Ike Supporter. Before construction of the proposed superspeedway had been completed, insufficient funds forced four of the founders to abandon ship. Dr. Warren Gremmel, Bill Boyd, Jack Black and Art Lester joined Bagley in the venture and spent $1.8 million to get the facility ready.

When the 1.5-mile track, then called Atlanta International Raceway, finally made its debut on July 31, 1960, it became the seventh superspeedway,a paved facility of one mile or more, to play host to a Cup race. Only three of the original seven; Darlington Raceway, Daytona International Speedway and Lowe's (then Charlotte) Motor Speedway are still in operation.

For more vist: http://www.atlantamotorspeedway.com/speedway/history

June and Judd's New Back Yard Steps

June and Judd had new rock stairs with wooden hand rails installed down to the lower part of their backyard.

They also had the area landscaped to include several flowering trees, shrubs and ground cover.

Rock Band!

Last night as part of our family New Year's eve celebration the kids spent hours playing Rock Band on their XBox 360. The band members were Isiah on lead guitar, Madalen on bass, Gaberiel on drums and Joseph as band technician!

They begin their national tour next month, lol!!!

NBS Studios Burbank CA.

Also located a few blocks from my hotel was NBC's Burbank studio.

In 2007, NBC reported that the studio will leave "beautiful downtown Burbank", the historic studio where Johnny Carson and Jay Leno taped "The Tonight Show" and Bob Hope taped his annual specials.
NBC is planning to sell the land (34 acres in all) and will reportedly relocate its facilities to a new, state-of-the-art facility planned for Universal City, just north of Universal Studios Hollywood, near the existing Red Line station. (Universal is owned by NBC.) The new headquarters (to be called "The West Coast News Headquarters") won't be finished until 2011, so NBC will probably lease back some of the studio space until their new facilities are ready for prime time.
"The Tonight Show", which will see Conan O'Brian become the new host in 2009, will reportedly move to Stage 1 at Universal Studios Hollywood.

The fortunes of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) have always been closely tied to those of its parent company, Radio Corporation of America (RCA). Unlike CBS, which was formed as an independent programming enterprise, NBC came into existence as the subsidiary of an electronics manufacturer which saw programming as a form of marketing, an enticement to purchase radio and television receivers for the home. The power and influence of a national network aided RCA as it lobbied to see its technology adopted as the industry standard, particularly during the early years of television and in the battle over color television.

For more visit: http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/N/htmlN/nationalbroa/nationalbroa.htm