I woke up, straight away knowing to recognize Rebecca's birthday, and went back to the back room, opening the wooden door and seeing Rebecca in Mom and Dad's bed. They were all asleep. But I stayed in the front and did a little bit of blogging and reading, and then waiting with the dogs on my lap, on me, with my bed out. They moved around and licked my hands. They always come over in the morning when I wake up and go to the restroom, moving back quietly, or at least trying to be. But sadly I'm a very clumsy person. They ran after me, and looked confused at me. Then I went, and came back and had them on me. Long story short, Dad woke up and came out, and told me not to wake up the girls. We quickly walked the dogs and then came back in. I wanted to be the first one to wish Rebecca HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Mom, without waking Rebecca up, got some streamers from one of her cabinets and handed it to me, telling me to cut it out like toilet paper and place it in various places around the R.V. It would probably of been impossible to do it in our real house, based on how big it is. There was white rough streamers with white background and HAPPY BIRTHDAY in blue and pink, all in a roll. Slowly I took out a line, and roughly tore it from it's part, and put it on the water fountain on the fridge, and around the room.
Over the wooden frame that was a little down from the ceiling, on mine and Rebecca's, particularly on hers, and on the knobs of our cabinets, and on the back of the front seats, and on Dad's steering wheel. Those were most of the places I put on, but not all. I tore it, and most of the time there was a few parts of it longer than others. I'm not very good at that kind of stuff. Oh well. I opened the door again, and saw Rebecca moving a little, and rubbing her eyes. I said, "HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FROM ANDREW B. TO YOU! I WISH YOU LOVE YOUR BIRTHDAY, AND LOVE YOUR PRESENTS TOO!" I said it kind of quietly, but not too quiet. She thanked me as she said some things, and Mom informed her to keep sleeping. Mom got her computer sooner or later, and did a thing on FaceBook where she made a big photo album of all of Rebecca's time on the trip, things like that. Now let me say a few things about Rebecca. She is a complicated girl, very complicated. She is pretty nice and funny, and also loves ToyLand. Loves animals, and is a little lazy and matter of fact sometimes, but is dedicated to art and likes games on her phone. She is also a really creative person, and witty. But mean over some things. Honest truth.
I wasn't done with the streamers when Rebecca wanted to go in the front. I finished it and then after that told Rebecca she could come out. Walking up she was delighted in it, and sat down on her couch with the dogs, informing them that it was her birthday. After an hour or two of staying around and being extra extra nice to Rebecca and other things, Rebecca stated the things she wanted to do, that she wanted to go to the beach and build a sandcastle and also do pottery or art at a pottery or art place. This was to be the best birthday ever! And Rebecca made sure of it. We got on our clothes, and Rebecca wore a nice birthday outfit. She was excited to go to the beach, very excited. We road only a good mile or so down the bench stores, large casinos, and also hotels. At a place where there was a little parking area facing the Gulf of Mexico. There was a road with beach houses facing us. There was a shack by the parking lot to the very right of us, and this was bathrooms where life guards stayed. I got my book inside my vest somehow, and got my tennis shoes into the rough sand. There was a wooden walkway we went down. Dad stayed in the jeep, on his iPad, determining where we would be going next on the trip. Rebecca, Mom and I prodded out there. And man was it cold.
The winds blew east, strongly, and it was crazy that we needed like two jackets. And a hat. In the sand, you can never go fast, you have to trod on through grains and grains of it, and if you were running away from a guy with a gun or weapon, or a car, chances are you won't make it. But you already know all that; you've been to the beach or sand and understand what I'm talking about. Unless you live in Iceland or Antarctica, which probably, and I say probably, none of my readers are living. But anyway, we went down the little hill of sand, and saw all these seagulls and birds on the sand, as still as a portrait, in military formation, with their wings tilted up, preparing their escape fly if someone persuaded them. I ran up to them, as boys do, and they ran on their legs as they lifted up into the air, and came down farther away. It was so funny. Meanwhile, Mom got her small G-10 out and took some pictures by the water, as it came up and down, with seashells and parts of the ocean, seaweed and things. Dad came out, as I amused myself by staying at one place close to the water, then doing a moonwalk, running backward to avoid it, because there was no place to sit down and read my Ben Franklin bio (didn't finish it on the yesterday).
This worked right up until the point that I misstepped, and actually got my tennis shoes soaking wet by the cold salty waters of the Gulf. Dad scolded me, as I went back up. Rebecca was making a mound of sand, and Dad went back into the car, on account of the cold. She (meaning Rebecca) told Mom and I to go collect seashells by the gulf shore, and we got some nice pretty ones. I took her a few sharp striped ones, with all the wonderful blending colors. She refuted it, saying she only liked the circle ones. All that hard work for...., well, it was her birthday. She made a moat, with all the seashells in, and I got a fork I found and a feather, and we made a flag and drawbridge. Although, when I put a little chunk of a stick onto this "drawbridge", part of the castle that it was onto fell. Okay, so it wasn't the best castle. But Rebecca got her fun and her wish, and that's all that mattered to us. You know me, Rebecca and a few people at Lake Oconee in GA, who we knew as the doctor's daughters, of Dr. Rhona, who helped us out in making one of the best sandcastles I've seen. Gardens, a pool, a real squeaky toy dragon, flags, sticks, an army, man, it was awesome. A huge tower, a mighty moat. But even it didn't surpass my Uncle Jeff's, with a Shrek toy, and a huge moat that you could put your feet in, and tunnels, towers, and a maze of sand. But, Rebecca's one got an A, for effort. (even though effort starts with an e?)
We drove around a little, as Dad told us we were going to Gulfport the next day. Rebecca still had one more wish, pottery. Oh yes she wished it. I was dreading it though. Not a fan. Dad also informed us that there was a restaurant where they throw rolls at you. We stopped at this place, which was flat roofed and had four sides of a square, with cartoons and pictures of times of old, people with overalls and things, throwing rolls at the patrons. Hilarious. There was a concrete floor under an outdoor place with roof, and Dad and Mom told me to go inside and take the menu back out. I unlocked the door as we pulled up, facing it in a parking lot. The background for these cartoons was a good beige, and there was Lambert's Cafe, Home of the Famous Throwed Rolls. I went through the glass door, to face a lot of pictures and animal heads, some music, and an Indian statue and one of a black dog. There were restrooms to my right. In front was a small counter, with an area going up into an office, by stairs. A lady took some people with a menu to a table, saying she would be right with me. But a young guy was right there too. He gave me a menu when I told him if I could have one; my parents wanted to look at it. And he handed it to me. Soft paper one with the plastic outward, only one page, front and back. Pretty long.
Mom and Dad inspected, and said we would come back at like five. I took it back inside and simply placed it there, and saw some special needs kids going into the restroom, with some teachers helping them out. So sad, bless their hearts. I went back outside and we drove around a little. It was about lunch time but with Rebecca, lunch time would be very different than sandwiches and left overs, oh, this would be an interesting one. As we went down into a town full of restaurants, we came along a Krispy Creme, which is a doughnut place. We have one in Atlanta. By a cemetery across from a church. Singing and praising, visiting the dead, and then after that you get a doughnut! Sorry, a little humor. There was a place close by with pastries, but alas, it was closed. So Krispy Kreme, a favorite of Rebecca's, was the place we went to, and parked. Just if you don't know, it's white with a big paper hat of whitenes, kind of like the aviator sign but not exactly. The colors are white, green, and red, primarily. We walked in, to a few chairs before a counter with one of those computer type in thingys, and a kitchen behind the girl at the counter. Beside her, of course, was a big fridge, showing all the various items and a menu behind her, very high up. We walked up after putting down the camera and iPad, plus my books.
We picked three glazed, two chocolate glazed, two chocolate regular, two patriot sprinkled (red, white, blue) and three regular ones. I think that's what we got, but I'm not sure, one does not remember these things. Service without no smile. The teenager was less than helpful, pretty rude and matter a fact. I got bottled O.J., and we sat down when she gave us the green and white cardboard box. We sat down at a table by the window. I put my book down. I was on the outside and Mom was seated at the window by me on one side, with Rebecca and Dad on the other. Dad was on the outside. Guess where Rebecca was, the inside! Can you believe that? But anyway, we ate as Dad looked at his iPad and Mom at her phone. Rebecca wanted people to talk to her on her birthday. And we did, as I drank the OK OJ, (WE GOT A PUN FROM ANDREW!), although not the richest. I tried to pulp it down. Maybe if I concentrate..... Nobody? Come, on it was a good joke. No? Well then. How about this one.... well, we should get to the blog.
We talked a little about Rebecca's birthday, but not too much as Mom, Dad and Rebecca stuffed their faces with doughnuts and getting their hands sticky. I had one. Mom and I went into the car to get Rebecca's presents, as she wanted to open them now. I asked her about mine, and she informed me she didn't bring it, but that it would be the grand finale. It's not the biggest or best one though. Oh well. Rebecca opened the bags with the paper on the top shielding them, and got a magnet map of the U.S., in which we would put all the states we've been to on there (I wish that was mine, I confess) and a book about drawing called Look-Book. Also a question book to ask your friends called Coke or Pepsi, and a lot of questions like that, and one that was a DK Eyewitness book about Rocks and Minerals. Money too, fifty dollars. You know what I got on my birthday? Three books, a movie, and a bike! The movie I only saw at a movie theater, the books are at home, and the bike....for another blog. No use pouting. Won't change anything. After a while, Dad went to the restroom, which was down a corridor on the right, to the right, to the right. In other words, you go all the way to the right to get there, turn right, and when you turn right thrice you get in the bathroom. She said you could see doughnuts being made, and Mom went over as I was reading and Rebecca inspecting her various presents. After they sat down, guarding our valuables, we went over to see this thing that had been talked about.
It was a large sheet of glass with a tall metal tank, which had constant conveyor belts with unglazed doughnuts on it, going up and down and around, dipping in the brown hot liquid and coming out to tell the tale. It was a very slow process, but when that was over, they would come on an assembly line, where they would thaw it out and go through a process. Then things would poke a hole in them, coming from the top, and then they would go to the front with the counter girl and then go around, where people would pack them, with gloves, into the boxes. Cool process to watch, but rather long, as they were on the little conveyor belts. There was a guy, like 30, with sideburns, in a hairnet, with gloves. We, for the purpose of not being bored and just for the fun of it, made a funny face and waved to the guy, like making our lips move or our tongues out. A little humor goes a long way. Surprisingly to us, he actually made funny faces back, and did the unthinkable to our child minds. It all happened so fast. He actually picked up a doughnut and threw it at us, a glazed one. Right at the glass. At least it separated us. It was so hilarious, we burst out laughing, and talked about it for the rest of the day. But he did funny faces too, and even came right in front of us and took the hose that was rolled up, and sprayed the thing off. For the rest of the time we looked out for him, and Mom asked the lady in charge if he was bothering us.
"Oh no, he's just goofy." she said. She had gone to the restroom, which was at the end of the small hall, and talked to us and said the same thing. Well, we eventually had to leave and Mom and Dad told us. There was only fifteen minutes until the doughnuts went through the whole process. But alas, they were unmovable. We drove around a little, and Dad said that there was a place in Fair Hope, Alabama, and we would go there. We typed it in on the GPS. And drove a long way in the small jeep, our feet touching things and so much little room. The food, the odor, oh, readers, it is unbearable even for a skunk of mass virtue! Very much so. There were a few old homes we saw, from the 1900's, with nice columns and porches. Then we came into that town, and into a kind of artsy area, with brick buildings against each other. We parked a little ways down from our destination, and then saw a store that sold rare and old books, and one in the same building that did music. We got the camera, my book, and walked up the hill. I wasn't too happy about doing pottery, I'm not really into that stuff, as loyal readers who have read many of my posts have found out. Rebecca stated we all had to paint one thing, and we had to be happy for the sake of her. The place was called Painting Parrot, and had artistic stuff on the walls of the outside of it, with different colors all around. We walked in. This would be a lot more than just a painting pottery place, after all.
TO BE CONTINUED....(SEE "JANUARY 18TH, 2012: REBECCA'S BIRTHDAY!!! PART TWO" FOR REST OF STORY.)
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