Almost Home!

I thought sharing a blog about our trip would be a fun project to work on while sitting at the airport. Plus, sharing the photos we took with the world will provide some motivation for me to organize the pictures and present them in a logical manner, as opposed to leaving the files sitting in a directory on my computer or on a memory stick, never to be touched again. Please let me know what you think of my first blog, I would like to improve.

Sometimes traveling can be a bit tiring and tedious. However, traveling with my love made it much more enjoyable. Whenever I felt bored or uninterested in my surroundings, I had a very interesting friend to talk with. If I was sore or tired, Kate would rub my neck and show me kindness and love. It was great!

Right now, Kate and I are sitting in the Montgomery, Alabama airport waiting for our flight to Houston, Texas. From Texas, we will change plane and then continue on to Albuquerque. Kate is reading a novel, and I am working on a blog; we both are very attentive to the numerous announcements about security, boarding time and other air port announcements.

I wanted to travel to Auburn Alabama to visit the university. My favorite professor from New Mexico Tech, Dr. Xiao Qin, accepted a faculty position at Auburn and has been very interested in recruiting me for the computer science Ph.D. program there. Right now, I am still not sure if I want to get a Ph.D. However, I am sure that if I do, I would like to work with Dr. Qin.


This image is of the
beautiful pharmacy building on campus at Auburn. It was an interesting blend of modern and what I imagine is traditional Southern architecture. Like most buildings on campus, it was constructed from red brick and had very tall white columns. Kate was able to meet with Charles Woosley, Pharm. D, Director of Recruitment. Dr. Woosley was extremely nice! He spent almost an hour meeting with Kate to go over what she would need to accomplish before she would be admitted to the pharmacy program at Auburn. Auburn has a few different requirements than the University of New Mexico, but Kate could accomplish them.

Kate, Dr. Qin and I were walking along the building and we happened upon the pharmacy receptionist. Dr. Qin took the lead and asked her if there was anyone to talk with about admission to the pharmacy program. The friendly receptionist introduced Kate to Dr. Woosley, and then they started talking. We didn't have an appointment, or any prior communication. 45 minutes later, Kate and Dr. Woosley finished talking and we began our tour of the pharmacy building. I was extremely surprised by how friendly everyone was and how much time we were able to take without any kind of appointment. From my short visit, Auburn seems like a very friendly big school.

Exciting Day

Today was jam-packed full of activity. We woke up after sleeping for around 10 hours. Kate and I began the day by eating breakfast or lunch at Toomers Drugs, the oldest building in Auburn. I managed to grab a photo of their menu, and of my beautiful girlfriend sitting at the counter. The drinks from the soda fountain were extremely good! I doubt they were very good for us, since they were likely around 1000 calories each, but nice. The food was all right, but not as noteworthy as the soda fountain.




After eating, Kate and I thought it would be interesting to drive to Atlanta and check out the big city. Atlanta was a little bit over an hour away, but luckily my professor gave us TomTom to keep us on track! This GPS unit is awesome, it had a bunch of Auburn and Atlanta maps downloaded to it, a mock 3D view of the car and all the roads as well as a very friendly voice. Unfortunately TomTom did sometimes give slightly confusing directions such as "Turn right, but stay left then left" which were on occasion a cause for turmoil between me and my girlfriend. Katie was a very patient and skillful driver, even with TomTom's sometimes confusing directions.

We were planning on seeing the world headquarters of Coka-Cola, but due to the 'surprise' time change between Alabama and Georgia, we didn't make it in time. Kate was somewhat discouraged, but we didn't let it bring us down much. Instead we explored the city, starting with the CNN headquarters.

This is us in front of the CNN building. Unfortunately, we did not have many additional people to take pictures of us together. However, Kate was able to solve that problem by asking a homeless man to take our picture when we were inside the building. Luckily, he did not run away with Kate's disposable camera, but I did feel as though I had to give him a dollar.

Kate inside the CNN Building

The CNN building was HUGE. An entire mall food court was housed on the ground level, as well as a hotel and about 15 miscellaneous shops. The upper portion of the building appeared to be all offices and other space devoted to running CNN.

My favorite portion of the building was the large collection of different flags. The combination of light and color with the architecture was very pleasant.

After finishing with CNN, we decided to explore "The Underground" which is a converted subway station into a mall. As we started to walk toward "The Underground" a homeless guy started talking with us. Amazingly, this homeless guy was nonthreatening and not disgusting.
He spoke with us about the history of Atlanta, their New Year's celebration, all the stores in the underground, all the while leading us there in a very cheerful way. Dave was this fellows name, and he was a life-long Atlanta resident. Once he made sure we had arrived safely at "The Underground" complete with numerous tourist pamphlets, he asked for money. In an uncharacteristic move, I gave him a couple of bucks. At least this homeless dude had a pitch, and tour pamphlets ready.

Dave - Our Homeless Tour Guide - Camera Phone with no Flash

"The Underground" had many nice stores. While in a candy shop, the store attendant gave us some pecan pralines to try. I ended up buying a handful and Kate purchased some candied nuts. I don't believe we purchased anything else.

The drive home only had one small hiccup, due to TomTom, but we made it back to the hotel to enjoy a nice dinner and a few drinks before we went to sleep.

Arrival!

Kate in the "University Hotel" Lobby in Auburn Alabama

Kate and I arrived at the hotel after quite a bit of traveling and we were amazed by how attractive everything was. The lobby had a number of extremely comfortable leather couches. The lighting was nicely done, but not too bright. Everything reminded me of an area that one could chill out and drink whiskey with the good old boys. While we were waiting for our room, the desk attendant informed me of the fact that the hotel was actually owned by the university. I was a bit surprised by this; never before had I heard of a university owning and operating a hotel. It is likely that the actual operation is contracted out, but I still thought it was still an interesting arrangement.

Really Cool Clock Tower

After settling a bit into the hotel, Kate and I decided to walk around the town of Auburn. The first building we noticed was their beautiful clock tower. A bright spotlight illuminated the clock, letting everyone know what time it is. Unfortunately, my cell phone camera does not due justice to this beautiful piece of architecture.

Kate eating at Jimmy John's Sub Shop

I was originally attracted to Jimmy John's in an attempt to eat at the most Southern sounding restaurant possible. The subs were really good! Unfortunately, I did not take a picture of my actual sub, but it was tasty. At $5.94 I think it was comparable to Subway's non-daily special. I was particularly amused by a sign they had up.

Sign at Jimmy John's in Auburn Alabama

Kate in front of the Clock Tower

Other than Jimmy John's and many bars, everything else was closed by the time we arrived (about 10:00 p.m.) Most of Auburn's buildings were brick and very old looking, but well kept. The lack of nightclubs was a little odd to me; I saw about seven bars and no place to dance. Perhaps in such a college town bars are preferred to most people, or perhaps I just missed it if one was present.