Alabama Sights

First, let me say that we very much enjoyed our stay at the Hidden Cove RV "Resort" in Arley, Alabama, a Thousand Trails park. The sites are spacious and most have full service-- that is, water, sewer, and 50 amp electric. The park is situated by a lake, but all the lakeside sites are occupied by long-term tenants. Still, the spot we found had a bit of a lake view through the trees, and was pleasant and comfortable. It's too early for swimming pools and such, so we can't speak to those things.

Arley is situated in the northern third of Alabama, about twenty miles north of Jasper. Besides the Space Center, we visited two other places of interest-- the Natural Bridge Park, and the Ave Maria Grotto.

The Natural Bridge is a stone arch. Alabama is very proud of it. So proud, in fact, that they charge visitors $3.50 each to look at it. Since we made the effort to drive all the way from Arley to see it, we reluctantly paid the money. It was interesting, without a doubt, but really not worthy of admission. Still, it was better than sitting at home.

The Ave Maria Grotto is the work of a Catholic monk, Brother Joseph, whose hobby it was to build miniature replicas of famous places and, more to the point, significant Catholic sites. But you don't have to be a Catholic to appreciate it. This hidden gem is located in Cullman, which is about halfway between Birmingham and Huntsville on I-65. Disney's Pinocchio ride through the whale's mouth has nothing on this place. His work is quite amazing. And spring is a great time to see it because all the flowering bushes are flowering. There is an admission for this also, but it was well worth the money.

Today we're on the road again. Our next stop is Diamond Caves RV Park in Kentucky where we'll be for three weeks. 

Have a great weekend. God bless & safe travels!

Pictures below...

Sitting by the lake at Hidden Cove

Steps down to the water

Ave Maria Grotto

Natural Bridge rock formation

Rockets and Space

I've always been enamored by the stars and space, and space travel. As a kid I took a class trip to a planetarium and there and then fell in love with stars. Later I pinned a star map to my wall. Somewhere along the way I fell in love with science fiction, an interest I've carried my entire life. 

I still have newspaper clippings of the moon landing tucked away in my keepsake box. 

One might think it strange who knows me, since I don't believe life exists anywhere else in the universe. Nevertheless, exploring the vast beauty of God's creation is a noble venture-- so long as one doesn't lose sight of the Creator in the process. 

And fiction, science or otherwise, is just fiction.

But I digress. 

Our first excursion in Alabama was to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, about 75 miles north of our campground. The Saturn V Hall has an authentic Saturn V rocket-- one of only three in the world, and the Center claims the largest collection of rockets and space memorabilia in the whole wide world. Unfortunately, what they didn't have was ... refrigerator magnets. Nope. No refrigerator magnets at all. I was sad about that. I almost bought a mug, but I didn't want to pay $15 for a coffee cup, so we left with no memorabilia of our own to show we'd been there. Still, it was a fun visit. We walked around the facility for about an hour plus the time it took to eat lunch at the Mars Grill.

Admission set us back $60, which would have been much more acceptable had there been no other charges. But every other museum "experience" has an additional admission charge of $10 or more per person. So if you're thinking of taking in everything the place has to offer, expect to drop a couple hundred bucks for two people. We decided to pass on the extras.

Here are a few more pictures...

Neil Armstrong statue

How would you like to have to wear one of these?

Space food. No, thank you.

International Space Station replica

This monster takes the Shuttle into space

On the moon?

Skylab, the first space station

Skylab-- not very big, is it?

In the beginning...

Saturn V in sections

Claustrophobic?

Lunar module

Moon rover

Bye Bye South Carolina -- Next Stop Alabama

The lake at Carolina Landing

We enjoyed our stay at Carolina Landing RV Park. The Park is set on a lake, and we made the long walk down to it three times over the three weeks we stayed there. It's a nice walk down but a very steep climb back up again. Lots of good exercise!

There's not too much else to do in the Fair Play, South Carolina, vicinity in April. The towns of Anderson and Seneca are nearby and have all the stores-- all the important ones anyway:  Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, Sam's Club.

So we mostly hung around home for the duration, enjoyed the mild weather and built a fire or two. 

Consequently, there's not much to talk about this time around. We still have a mouse problem. This guy is a wily critter and has managed to avoid all our many traps we've put out for him. Mark plugged up the hole between the space under the fridge and the space under the stove with steel wool. We're pretty sure that's the entry point into the house, though I'm not clear on how the thing is getting up into that spot to begin with. Hopefully that small change will confine the mouse problem to the basement. We'll see how it goes.

That's about it.

Tonight we're spending the night in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel in Pell City Alabama, on our way to Arley (also Alabama). It was here or the Walmart, and I don't like the Walmart parking lots. They're too busy and too bright, and often it's hard to find a suitable spot to put out our slides. Besides, if I really don't feel like cooking, Cracker Barrel will do it for us! And tonight they did.

Have a wonderful week. Spring is springing. Trees are greening. Plants are growing. Life is stirring. Summer is on the way!

God bless, and safe travels!

Our lake walk destination. Getting there was easy--
getting home, not so much

Nothing like a good fire when you're camping

Chillin' in our outside rockers-- a gift from Paul and Amy

Our boondock stop for the night. We're up against a grassy
patch and have our slides out. Yay!

We are THAT close...but we're parked
at the Cracker Barrel

Finished up a few baby blankets over the weeks we were here. I'm making hats with them now...