Back from Alabama

So this week I managed to "visit" a couple of states I haven't been to before.  It was interim week for school, which means trips with the students.  Since my advisees are freshman I went on the freshman trip, which is also the biology trip.  We loaded up a tour bus a drove 13 hours through Tennessee, (new state # 1) and then through Alabama (new state #2) until we crossed a bridge into the Gulf of Mexico leading to a barrier island just outside of Mobile Bay.  The kids spent the week learning ab out basic oceanography, estuaries, and barrier islands.  There was some classroom stuff and some field work.  We spent some time one afternoon in mud that you would sink into past your knees.  We also took a boat trip out into the bay to see some dolphins and sea birds as well as trawl for fish and rays. 

It was a fun trip, despite the fact that one night my legs got eaten by bugs while playing cards.  I still have angry red bumps on them.  I also found out that I need a new head for the banjo.  I took it with me, and whether it was already cracked or not I'm not sure.  When I took it outside into the humidity the tension really decreased due to the hide absorbing moisture.  At that point I noticed that one area of the head wasn't quite right, and when I loosened it to check I saw a crack, so I've ordered a new head.  That may have been the original head.

Being near the ocean was nice.  I knew before leaving California that I would miss it.  Of course there wasn't any surf, and the shallowness of the bay makes the wave shape very choppy instead of large rollers, but still, it's salt water with birds and dolphins and expanses of blue and white sand at the edges.