Week 4 - Alabama

I've gotten way behind due to lack of WiFi, so two weeks are coming at you quickly.  The weather is finally hot and sunny, and Alabama has been great.  Unfortunately for those that live here, the tornadoes have been devastating.  We drove through 2 different towns and couldn't believe the disaster.  It is one thing seeing it on TV, but another witnessing it.

We arrived in Double Springs, Alabama to a fabulous campsite along a lake and enjoyed our traditional Friday night martini.

Our goal here was to spend 5 days hiking through Bankhead National Park.  Unfortunately a tornado had gone through the Park and many of the trails were closed.  We found enough to satisfy us, but the experience was definitely a little different than we expected.  It seems that natural disasters are following us.

Dismals Canyon, was a gorgeous area where we hiked.



Crazy bridge we had to cross built on fallen tree



We then went to another area with a great waterfall and then to the Natural Bridge.  This Bridge is the longest natural bridge east of the Rockies and was pretty cool.  There was a really nice nature trail along a babbling brook.

Natural Bridge - maybe hard to tell that it's natural



View from directly underneath

















We stumbled upon the Ava Maria Grotto, which is a site where a Monk named Joseph built miniature buildings, mostly religious, but some just whimsical.  They are in a park like setting, with natural rock all around..  It was amazing and beautiful.  Here a few samples of his work.

Everyone here has been so friendly and it's making us miss home less.  Alabama is beautiful and definitely a place to return as bluegrass is plentiful.  Our next week will be spent at a different location, and we will be attending several festivals. 

We had to see the latest super heroes movie -Thor, and found a funky little theatre in a neighboring town.  It's fun to do normal every day living in towns and not pass through as a tourist.

A month has passed way too quickly.  I miss my dishwasher as the one named Greg is often not available!