Daniel and Wilona eventually become so frustrated with their inability to "straighten out" Byron that they decide to send him to Birmingham, Alabama to live with Grandma Gloria Sands (Wilona's mother) for at least the summer and possibly an entire year. As soon as the school year concludes, the Watsons ready their car ("the Brown Bomber") and embark on a road trip from Flint to Birmingham to deliver Byron to his grandma. Kenny had been looking forward to the "battle royal" between his grandma and Byron, but is disappointed when just a few sharp words from the "old, old lady" have Byron speaking respectfully and generally behaving himself, causing Kenny to seek out his own "adventures". Grandma Sands warns the children to avoid a particular local swimming hole because of a dangerous whirlpool, which Kenny misheard as "Wool Pooh" due to her thick Alabama accent. Kenny wants to swim there anyway, and is frustrated when Byron and Joetta refuse to go along. Ignoring the warnings of both Grandma Sands and Byron, Kenny jumps into the seemingly tranquil pool and edges deeper and deeper water until the whirlpool catches him and almost pulls him down, but Byron saves him. Remembering his grandmother's words, he imagines that a strange monster he thinks is the mysterious Wool Pooh swam up from below to grab his ankle and pull him under. Byron later insists that there was nothing else in the water, but Kenny is convinced that the Wool Pooh actually exists.