Time for a Throw Down!

Gulf Shores, AL      High:   70   Low:  57

Lambert's Cafe, "home of the THROWN rolls" OK, "THROWED rolls", their words and HUGE portions...That was the highlight of our day today. That and meeting George and Suzi Yates of Our Awesome Travels for lunch. Sparky knew she had met a kindred photographer spirit because immediately entering the restaurant, George whipped out his camera and started firing away with photo flash shots, and Suzie started rolling her eyes. We had a good laugh several times about that because George photographs EVERYTHING, including his food, and so does Sparky. Eldo can't dig in until Sparky has taken a photo. (Yep, it's true...) Sparky forgot to put her camera card in the camera, so today's not-so-hot photos are from the cell phone.

We had a great time with them and really enjoyed their company.

Here's a little review of the restaurant and some info about the FAMOUS Lambert's rolls.....

Sorghum!

On Lambert's homemade "Throwed" rolls last year, we used 23,760 - 44 oz. cans of sorghum molasses. Last year we averaged baking 520 dozen rolls per day, for a grand total of 2,246,400 individual rolls.

Will ya look at the SIZE of these rolls? It's like a half a loaf of bread. See Sparky's fork next to the roll for comparison? WOW! And, they were delicious! A guy walks around yelling, "HOT FRESH ROLLS!"  You want one? Raise your hand and they THROW the roll to ya. It could be a clear across the room throw, or one close by. Sometimes they miss their target, or rather, the person CATCHING the roll misses, and somebody gets bonked. Eldo got a roll in between his back and the wooden seat because two little cuties behind us were trying to catch the roll and missed! Sometimes you have to duck!

After the rolls, the food came....You get BIG portions and extra sides called "pass arounds" keep coming around like fried okra, black eyed peas, macaroni and tomatoes and more. The entrees are interesting, like this one:

"Something Southern

All the white beans a body can eat with your choice of ham or bologna and 2 vegetables served with a King Edwards cigar or Big Red chewing gum."  

Uh, no thanks. But the pot pie was the best chicken pot pie Sparky's ever had...

Here's Eldo's fried chicken...He said the chicken leg was the size of a turkey leg. The drinks were served in HUGE cups, everything they served were large portions. Prices were moderate...Mine was 11.99, Eldy's was 12.99.

And then, there is some surprise entertainment....Our waitress really pulled a fast one on Eldo and Sparky. She came by with a big glass pitcher of Coke for a refill for us, and proceeded to toss the contents of the jug at Eldo and Sparky. Sparky jumped a mile to the right on the bench to avoid getting splashed, and Eldo jumped a mile to the left. Only to discover the jug of pop was a FAKE! Too bad George didn't have his camera out for the look of shock on our faces!

A little while later, she was back and squirted French's mustard at us---only a long, yellow string came popping out, which looked like the real thing! And finally, she shoved a pot full of what looked like a huge, hairy grey dust ball in Sparky's face, and it was a fake animal of some sort!  EW-W-W-W-W!  

Lambert's Cafe is FULL of vintage decor, signs totally covering the walls, license plates, it's decor is EXTREMELY busy and an assault to the eye, although a friendly one. It's a VERY visually stimulating environment, noisy and loud. It's a family destination and has been a tradition for tourists for YEARS. People drive for hours from miles around and neighboring states just to come to Lambert's. Very fun atmosphere at Lambert's even if they are throwing stuff at you. Lambert's was all the more fun with the great company of Suzi and George today....   

Tomorrow, there might not be much of a blog, it's a TRAVEL DAY! We're heading to Florida......

Sparky Can Be Kinda Crafty, heh, heh, heh

Gulf Shores, AL      High:   62    Low:  50

Take that blog title however you want to...But today, we are talking CRAFTS, as in MAKING STUFF, COLLECTING STUFF FOR CRAFTS and things of that nature. A short blog today and it's for WOMEN! Sorry, guys, but you will find this boring. And unless our female followers do crafts, they will probably skip it, too! Not much happened today...except craft class.

Of COURSE Sparky had to go and see what everybody was making....There are some talented people here in the park...It's fun to see what everybody does...Sparky enjoyed checking out what people are making..She is till trying to figure out what she can make to SELL and make a little "fun" money on the side...(So she can turn around and support the local Michael's and Hobby Lobby! explains E.)   Yep, I try to do my part......The local Michael's and Hobby Lobby (and JoAnn Fabrics) sales probably dip noticeably after we leave each locale. :-)

How about these crocheted tote bags made from Walmart and other store bags? Sparky likes eco-friendly crafts...

Like these beads made from paper--ordinary magazine pages....Sparky was on a roll a couple of months ago and probably made over 150 beads...(Ask her if she made any jewelry from them...) Uh, not yet...

But she's working on ideas for them! -- after she tires of making pine needle baskets...Here it is, folks, her very first handmade pine needle basket! Not too shabby......it's 6" in diameter, made with LOVE and a LOT of pricked fingers from Alabama's long needle pines from Gulf State Park...And now, it's on to Florida soon, in search of MORE pine needles! And Eldy, bless his heart, is going 65 miles out of his way from his original travel plan to get to Sarasota, just so Sparky can visit the long needle pines Sherry (In the Direction of Our Dreams)  spoke of on Pat's Island near Juniper Springs. Sherry says they were as long as her arm! Hey, Sherry! Do you have short arms? That might be a deal breaker. At any rate, Sparky HAS to go there! (We're going, we're going! But just for an overnight stop.) That's my guy......XXXXXOOOO. See Sparky is crafty!

My first pine needle basket

Sparky talked to a gal who does lots of craft shows and makes money making her jewelry and crocheted skinny scarves, so she's going to try and find out more about what sells and what doesn't. (Sigh!) That's from my man, who thinks the motorhome is going to burst at the seams now that pine needles are filling up the bays. But---supplies are already on board for jewelry making, so we'll see what happens. Now Sparky just needs some sea glass which is not easy to find these days, so she can make some pretty pendants.

(And is there anything else you need, my sweet? asks an exasperated E.)  Well... let's see......Let me get back to you on that, honey......I'm sure there is! Oh, yeah--Sparky needs some cedar log sections of about 2" in diameter or some other cool wood for basket bottoms....And some agates......And some.... ????????  (I'm sure she will think of more STUFF!)

One more day here at Gulf State Park, and the only thing we have going on tomorrow besides packing up is a visit with George and Suzi Yates, Our Awesome Travels, for lunch.  We're looking forward to meeting them at Lambert's Cafe--"Home of the Throwed Rolls". (Sparky cringes when she sees that sign. It should say "home of the THROWN rolls" !)       Bye for now.......

Zipping Right Along

Gulf Shores, AL       High:  62      Low:  43

Sparky forgot to mention yesterday, that there is an APP for the Naval Aviation Museum. It's a 1.99 and the proceeds go to support the museum which is FREE to the public. The app has an interactive map of the museum, photos, videos and descriptions of exhibits and aircrafts, museum tours, museum news and updates and the Blue Angels practice schedule. Sounds like a winner to me! Available for iphone and Android.

Speaking of apps, there's an app for everything, as we all know. There's one for Gulf Shores/Orange Beach. It lists accommodations, events, attractions, restaurants, shopping, fishing, golf, beaches, cruises and waterspouts, nightlife and entertainment--wait--I'm not done yet! Spas, transportation, and specialty rentals. It's FREE! Available to both iphone and Android systems.

Gulf State Park is putting up an Adventure Park..They are gonna have zip lines. It's gonna be cool! It will be a 2 1/2 hour adventure with about seven or eight lines set up. You will walk a swinging bridge from the origin point at the store to a deck 15-18 feet high. You'll climb two sets of stairs and head out for your first zip line. It's an educational zip line where you'll learn all about the Gulf, the habitat, the plants and animals such as the Alabama beach mouse, which is endangered. While putting up the zip line, they had to move a tower and redesign the zip line schematics due to getting too close to the little beach mouse habitat. Who knew a little mouse could be so important?

Not only are they having a zip line course, there will be a central spot in the park for canoe/kayak rentals and stand up paddle board rentals. Sparky wants to try that! But we'll have to wait till next time around at Gulf State Park....


While out driving around today, Sparky saw a hot pink tow truck. It was so bright you couldn't miss it!

The sign on the truck says, "Ta Ta Towing". The company is out of Orange Beach, AL. You just don't see burly truck drivers driving a hot pink truck every day. You would think the owner/operator might get a lot of ribbing from driving such a hot item. Sparky checked out the website and they donate 10% of every tow to breast cancer research. How wonderful is that? Bet there's a story behind this truck...

That's all for now, folks!

Up, Up, and Away....

Gulf Shores, AL     High:  66    Low:  48

Off to see what's new at the Pensacola Naval Aviation Museum....Two years ago, we were there and thought it was one of the most fantastic aviation museums in the country that we had ever seen. We still think that. It's FREE, and not to be missed. So many cool planes, BIG, HUMONGOUS planes, with their engines displayed right next to them. Aircraft hanging everywhere! Wonderful exhibits to learn and videos to watch. Sparky especially enjoyed sitting in one little theater section and learning about how some of the ace pilots in Viet Nam outwitted the fighter jets chasing them.

There are some new things in the museum since our visit in 2010 that we were looking forward to seeing.

Hangar One as you walk in the door....

One was the Hangar One addition to the museum...You have to take a brief walk from the main building to Hanger One...Lots of cool stuff to see in the new addition.....The Presidential helicopter from the Nixon and Ford era...

There's an aviation building called the "Ambition" on the grounds. It's part of the Navy Aviation Academy. It has 102,000 square feet of space devoted to a hands on approach for middle to high school students to teach science, technology, math and engineering. It's an immersive, role playing, serious game environment to help foster a superior learning environment in the sciences. Each "deck" or story replicates each deck on a modern aircraft carrier. We don't know if tours are offered, but it would be really cool to see the inside of this structure!

We saw the very moving exhibit of the Viet Nam prisoner of war camp...Sparky had really very little knowledge of the intimate details of the suffering and torture that happened to our servicemen...It was very sad and upsetting to view the exhibit, but she felt it was important to learn about it. So she and Eldy spent quite a bit of time in this part of the museum at this particular exhibit....There were very graphic drawings that a serviceman P.O.W. drew to reveal the terrible tortures that many American prisoners suffered at the hands of the enemy. The treatment of our servicemen was atrocious.

There were lots of interesting things to learn about how the POW's coped....

Remember the P.O.W. bracelets? These were started as part of a young student campaign back in 1970.

After seeing all the fabulous aircraft in both sections of the museum...

And reading lots of stories behind the servicemen, their tours of duty, the planes' years of service, the amazing qualities of each aircraft and performance stats, seeing the navy's dedication to their flying machines, we decided to take a FREE trolley tour of the "boneyard", where more aircraft are displayed.

Personalized aircraft signs

And we were glad we did! An old codger, by the name of Dave, we're thinkin' he was about 71, gave us a 45 minute tour of the aviation parking lot behind the museum that holds yet more aviation history and relics of the past, with all kinds of planes in all kinds of conditions, waiting to be restored.

Dave was a HOOT! He was hilarious! Hard to understand, he talked so fast and slurred his words together, but after awhile, we figured out pretty much what he was telling us.

Dave saw Sparky trying to take some photos. So he proceeded to remind us about picture taking rules the museum has...(Uh-oh..Here's where Sparky gets into trouble, explains E.) Not exactly..The rules were:

1) You can take pictures anywhere you want, but don't take them off the walls.
2.) You are not allowed to take any Stealth bomber photos. Dave made a big deal of telling us there was a new prototype of Stealth bomber out in the field right beyond the trolley bus and under no circumstances were we to take a photo. ;-)  Of course, there wasn't any Stealth bomber but he had a few people going for a minute. A couple of people actually did the swivel neck thing to see where the bomber was. And no, Sparky was not one of them! (Yes, she was, don't let her fool you for a minute. Sparky is VERY gullible, offers Eldo.) Geesh! Didja have to tell them that? (Sure! Sparky has told LOTS of stuff about me, turnabout is fair play, dontcha think?)   Sigh......

He had another story about the PT-2 aircraft on an endurance flight from Perth, Australia to Washington, D.C. with a baby kangaroo on board. The kangaroo was a gift from the Australians for the D.C. zoo. The flight took 55 hours, and needless to say, the kangaroo wasn't potty trained. Dave made a crack about how "gamey" the flight must have been! Thanks, Dave, for a terrific tour! We will definitely go again on the trolley tour is Dave is running it.

The museum is an awesome place to spend hours to learn, watch, eat, shop, and appreciate our navy's aviation history...We love it and will go back each time we are here in the area.

Gulf State Park Pier a.k.a. "Pelican Point"

Gulf Shores AL    High:   69   Low:  60

We didn't have anything special in mind today, so Sparky said, "Let's go to the pier and see what's happening.." Four dollars--2.00 each-- is cheap entertainment to watch pelicans wait for the perfect opportunity to grab a fish, get grabbed by annoyed fishermen (we've seen that happen), snooze, or pose for the camera....Doesn't this one look like a turkey?

"I resemble that remark!"

"Do ya like this angle?"

"EXCU_U_U_S_E ME! I have something in my feathers. This will just take a minute. Don't go away."

"I'm here for the long haul. They will eventually feed me. Ask me how I know..."

"Don't get too close or we'll ruffle our feathers and charge ya! Like we did those last 3 crazy dames." They went after three young women that got a little too close. We heard them screaming and saw them run. The pelicans just took off the deck with their big wings spreading and the girls thought they were gonna attack. They didn't.....

It was a gray day with a few sprinkles. There were about as many pelicans hanging out at the pier as there were people. (Evidently! says E.) This couple was well prepared to spend the whole afternoon hoping to catch something.

A young family staying at a nearby hotel was crabbing at the pier. They had outfitted themselves with simple nets and bait. They heard raw chicken was good bait, but they weren't catching any crabs.

Another fisherman accidentally hooked a stingray, but a pelican swooped in for the grab as he started to reel in the ray to let it go. The pelican flew into the line and snapped it, freeing the ray for him.

As we walked to the end of the pier and back out to the parking lot, we heard "CHEE-E-E-SE!" about three times. This young couple had their kids very well trained for photos...They just kept saying "CHEE-E-E-S-E" while Mom snapped away...They were really cute!

Well, Sparky and Eldo were not to be outdone.... "CHEE-E-E-S-E!"

And "CHEE-E-E-S-E" again!

We enjoyed ourselves at the pier today...We don't have to always be at a tourist attractions to enjoy ourselves, we like the simple things, too!  See you later......

Needle in a Haystack...

Gulf Shores, AL      High:  62    Low:  47

The days are coming to an end here at Gulf Shores State Park...We have five more days before we leave for Sarasota, FL...Eldy is getting the hitch itch to get hitched up and move on...Sparky is getting there, too. We are just doing the mundane things each day now, since we've been just about everywhere we wanted to explore since we got here...

Yesterday, Sparky went to Foley's Graham Creek Nature Preserve....484 acres of natural habitat, pitcher plant bogs and forest. Sparky saw only ONE tired pitcher plant in the bog section. But it was pretty.

The park is very pretty and it has LOTS of BIG long needle pine trees. Hot dog! More long needles for her baskets! (The bay is starting to fill up, warns Eldo.) There's a canoe and kayak launch there, too. Sparky was in seventh heaven as we pulled in. And, she saw disc golf baskets! There's a disc golf course here!

Well, yes, and no....the baskets are in place, but no launch pads for throwing or any idea where to stand to throw and no maps available to figure out how the course is laid out. The baskets looked very new, so maybe it's still under construction. She gave up trying to play today and instead gathered needles, a back breaking job for sure...Sparky isn't as limber as she used to be. She needs to be doing stretches every day! Looking for the nicest, longest needles for basket making is like looking for a needle in a haystack! After awhile, it drives Sparky crazy looking...She thinks she spots a nice long one, pulls it out, it's broken or moldy. But they are here for the taking, you just gotta look carefully.

Eldy went off to try and find copies of the national issue of Sports Illustrated with Notre Dame on the front cover while Sparky explored the park...He didn't have any luck, but Sparky found a couple online  on Ebay. Where else? Woo-hoo! Sparky is NOT a big football fan at all, (GASP! says a shocked E. Just kidding, no surprise there) but she tolerates the games that Eldy likes to watch, and nothing makes her happier than when Eldy is excited about a football game, especially his beloved Notre Dame team. It's fun to watch HIM watch the game. He gets all excited like a little kid, but only when they are doing well. So it's a good thing they are doing well. Eldo is one happy camper! Sparky spent 26 years in South Bend, IN and never went to a Notre Dame game until she met Eldy. It's quite something to see the fans' spirit during the game, but she still doesn't have the fire for college football like Eldy does.....(Sigh!)

After the park, we were hungry...Time for a Rotolo's pizza. They are in Orange Beach off Perdido Blvd. We think this is the best pizza in Gulf Shores, but we have only tried one other one....But hey--doesn't this look terrific? It was!

Because the Notre Dame game was on this evening, Eldy had fears they were going to get beat by Southern Cal. He REALLY gets upset when they are losing, and he thought he'd distract himself by taking Sparky out for a movie. We went to see "Lincoln"...It was very well done...Daniel Day-Lewis did an awesome job of researching and capturing the essence of Lincoln the lawyer, the story teller, the statesman. Boy, does he look like Abe!  If you are into historical movies, you might enjoy this one...

We got home, and Eldy couldn't stand it any longer, he turned on the TV and watched the last 12 minutes of the Notre Dame game. They won! They are going to the national football championship in the Orange Bowl in Miami. Tickets start at 300.00 plus a 25.00 application fee, at least that's the word so far. Yikes! Sparky thinks he'll just be watching it on TV.....(I can dream, can't I?) Yep, honey, dream on! :-) Actually, if Sparky had the money, she'd buy two tickets so Eldy could go with another football loving nut. :-)

We'll see what tomorrow brings.....

Attacked by Fire Ants! and Other Mundane Things

Gulf Shores, AL      High:  73    Low:   44

When we came to Gulf State Park, we asked a neighbor who had been there awhile, if they had any trouble with fire ants. He said, no, but that's because people on the site previously were apparently treating the area for them. He recommended a granular product by Ortho, said you could get it at Walmart very inexpensively and so we did. We watched for them, saw some activity on our site, sprinkled the granules, and no further problems since we've been here.

But TODAY, Sparky headed out on some errands and stopped by the dumpsters to unload the trash. She stepped out of the car, stood by the dumpsters, opening up the lid. All of a sudden, her feet were on FIRE, and she means burning hot-- hot, hot, stinging hot, as in fire ants attacking her sandaled feet hot! She started jumping up and down, hollerin' "Oh, SHIT! Shit, SHIT!" Sorry, when Sparky is under duress, she cusses. She cussed when her firstborn came into the world, she cusses when hitting her hand with a hammer, when burning herself with a glue gun, when somebody hits her car or she hits something with it, (Uh, Sparky, do you have something you want to tell me?) Uh, that dent happened before I met you, sweetie....and when fire ants attack. And really, Sparky never cusses other than dire situations like that. (She does not cuss, I can vouch for that, says E. I have NEVER heard her cuss!) Well, she was jumping up and down, swatting at her feet, the sandals came flying off first one, then the other, and she was acting like a madwoman. Luckily, no one else was around. It probably looked rather comical, Sparky dancing around, hopping first on one foot, then the other. You know how when you hear about kids having head lice or your own kids get them you start scratching your head immediately because it itches? For the next 15 minutes, Sparky was slapping her feet, slapping her arms, she felt like the ants had been all over her arms and legs instead of just her feet and still were!  Thank heavens only a couple of bites, but man, they STING!

On to other mundane things.....How about Sparky thinking about joining a "polar bear club"? You know those guys and gals who take a plunge in a lake in the dead of winter? Well, today, Sparky FINALLY took the plunge and went for a swim in the UNHEATED Gulf State Park pool, which was an official 60 degrees but felt like about 50. How cold was it? It was so cold that Sparky's teeth went numb. Sparky had to run around in the shallow end of the pool to warm up her body enough to swim a few laps. She lasted about four laps and then had to get out, teeth chattering, feet and toes numb. They are closing the pool tomorrow. But hey--Sparky's ready to join the Polar Bear Club---NOT! No photos to document, ya wouldn't want to see Sparky in a bathing suit anyway. Eldo was back at the rig.

Earlier today a gentleman with the most charming southern accent stopped by to chat with Eldy. Hello, Roger Davis! He and Eldy chatted about all kinds of cool places to go in northern Georgia and North Carolina where the ruby mines are...He had done some "mining" on his travels and found several rubies of multiple carats. Sparky is ready to go gem mining! Then again, he probably just got lucky....Eldo learned a lot more about places we haven't seen in the southeast. We really enjoyed chatting with him, he was really funny and charming. Sparky was sorry to miss the conversation, but had to leave to run some errands.

Off to the Blue Girl Beading Company on E. 2nd St. in Gulf Shores, to get some beads for pine needle basket decorating and jewelry making...Very nice shop, tremendous selection, LOTS of beautiful, handcrafted jewelry for sale, and cool classes are offered.....

Checked out Tallulah's Treasures in Orange Beach...Sparky just HAD to have a garden crab ornament that wiggles all its appendages at the slightest breeze like it's crawling like mad  (that's her astrological sign, and boy, does it fit! explains E.) and some shells, and a little felted purse. Beautiful place--some items are expensive, like the clothing, but there are LOTS of cute, smaller items that would make great gifts. Wonderful jewelry, artwork, clothing, home decor, seashore items, personal accessories you don't see anywhere else--a little bit of everything!

Finally, off to the Gulf State Pier for a beautiful sunset...almost missed it trying to fill out the form and pay 2.00 a person to go out on the pier.

You are on the honor system after 5:00 PM. It's a 24 hour fishing pier. Sparky saw lots of people head out onto the pier without paying. Tch, tch, tch!

Saw a great blue heron and a pelican have a little spat over fishing rights for leftovers on the pier. Several pelicans waited for fish scraps...

The pelicans and one lone heron walked among the fishermen and sightseers easily, patiently waiting for the opportune time to strike....

It was a beautiful evening...After watching the birds and the sunset, it was time to go home....We'll be seeing you later.......

Nuttin' Much to Write About Today!

Gulf Shores, AL      High:  70     Low:   49

Well, this is getting close to a first...Sparky is just about SPEECHLESS..(WHOA! Say it ain't so, Sparky!)  And for no particular reason except we didn't do much of anything today...So the blog is going to be super short for the next couple of days until something excitin' happens, which ain't likely for the next couple of days...(Sparky, why are you talking like that? wonders Eldo.) Because she just got done reading Billy Bob, a blog that Sparky reads to Eldy every day in her very best red neck, hillbilly accent using the same one that Billy Bob uses to write in his blog. Eldy gets a kick out of hearin' Sparky talk like an ole Southern gal so Sparky hams it up with the accent and all, and Eldy gets a good laugh for the day. And then Sparky has to ease back out of the good ole Southern boy accent that Billy Bob uses, and get back to normal.

Sparky rode the trails today looking for L-O-O-N-G pine needles, above and below ground....No snakes, whew!

Eldy washed the coach a bit and polished the wheels and found out that the front wheel hubs have an oil reservoir that needs to be checked every so often. He had seen a little oil on the ground and was worried we might be leaking oil from the engine, but it wasn't in the right spot. After checking manuals and talking to Freightliner, Eldy found out where the reservoir is in the hub and will keep an eye on it from now on, something new we learned today! Current levels appear to be where they should be...Here's a diagram of the wheel hub reservoir/cavity behind the hub cap. So those of you with Freightliner chassis, another place to check for oil levels, in case you didn't know.

Sparky cleaned the inside of the rig with the central vacuum system. Amazing to Sparky that an RV has a central vac--nice touch, Tiffin! and that it actually does a decent job. It's a Red Devil brand vacuum.  Sparky keeps forgetting the check the bag contents. It empties into a bag/canister/box outside in one of the bays.

Sparky worked on her pine needle basket.....It's coming along....

Eldy researched a good place to eat for supper....DeSoto's Seafood Kitchen in Gulf Shores...They have senior specials which helps the budget, so we had a nice dinner there this evening....Nothing spectacular, just good average food with reasonable prices for a restaurant near the beach. Grilled shrimp on rice, baked potato, cole slaw...It was delicious! Eldy was hoping for some raw oysters, but they said they had been "bad" lately, so they didn't have any! Phooey! So he had fried fish, french fries and coleslaw. Here's Sparky's grilled shrimp, cole slaw and baked potato.

Came home, thought about what to write for a long time, couldn't think of much of anything, but still felt the need to report in, haven't missed a blog yet in 2 1/2 years!...Time to watch NCIS , the NCIS LA, then "Vegas", our faves on the Tuesday night lineup. Gotta love that NCIS. After an episode about post traumatic stress disorder, "Agent Gibbs" (Mark Harmon)  and "Abby" (Pauley Perrette) promoted a help number for vets suffering from PTSD and needing help. Awesome!    See ya later......