How do you spell Bama?

Finally, I was able to hit the road for some football, and officially kick off my 2009 season!! Packed a bag full of Razorbacks shirts, and dusted off the flags for the 550-mile trip to see my Hogs battle the Bloody Water (Crimson Tide).

If you know me, you know I'm all about organization (It's kind of what I do for a living). So, of course, we didn't leave the house without our Neat, Essential Road trip Data (N.E.R.D) Packet. Tickets, campus maps, directions, hotel confirmation, etc. Trust me, i'm prepared before I turn the key!

We arrived in Birmingham with just enough time left in the night to get some wings. Of course, I took the opportunity to goad the locals by suiting up in Razorback gear for the trip.

Then is was back to the hotel for some rest. (This is a perfect spot to throw in my unsolicited advertisement for Hotwire. We got this awesome room for $56 a night. $56 a night is supposed to get you a room with plastered-over bullet holes, but this place is awesome. If you're not using Hotwire for your hotels, do it!! Call that my travel tip of the day!)

Saturday would start just as the forecasters said it would, with a slight deluge. We decided it wouldn't ruin our day, and hit up the sporting goods store for some extra gear.

That being said, you would not believe our excitment when we saw THIS:

About 10,000 of the 92,000 seats were covered, and we happened to have two of them!! Perfect start to the game.

The rain let up just in time for Alabama's traditional pre-game spelling lesson, mandated by the legislature to improve literacy. (Seriously. I wouldn't make that up!)

The band cleared the way for the Hogs to run out, and we didn't know at this point it was the fastest we'd get to see the Hogs run that day.

As the game wore on, we noticed some odd scenery just beyond the end zone.

All we could come up with is that this is where "Bear" is buried. It's an effort to help Alabama fans cope with the fact he's actually gone, something that is obviously lost on most of them!

Before the mid-way point in the 4th quarter, I could see things weren't looking good... and we started the long trek down.

We took the long way home to take in some history in Montgomery...

... and make one important stop!!

Now we sit at home and watch TV for a couple of weeks, before heading up "The Swamp" in a couple of weeks. Hope you enjoyed, feel free to comment.