Kathleen is here

[Rufflesgurl]

Loved the pix of those beautiful trees. Thanks

Linda

[Liz]

What a beautiful time to be in Alabama with the trees all abloom. I love that poem too. Enjoy your time with Sarah, and continued safe travels.

[bluepinecones]

Am going to try to post part one of Sunday's (yesterday) outing before storms pop up again. Maybe more if time permits.

Kathleen mentioned we went to the little town of Grant first


Grant is home to only one or two of the remaining DAR schools in the nation (privately funded public school k-12).
Imagine a campus with this view out the window (think I would have a hard time studying)

(missing photo) Cannot get the overlook photo to load

Here's Kathleen exploring part of the campus


My favorite building is the vertical log Becker Hall constructed in 1937. All the logs were cut from Gunter Mountain..



Another favorite for me is the log cabin which was Built in 1935 by local folks in two days during an old fashioned "house raising", the Pennsylvania Log Cabin served as the school library. Furnished with antiques donated by DAR from around the country, the log building also contains memorabilia and pictures from school days past.

(missing photo) Cannot get photo of front to load; you can see the backside of the cabin in background of shot with Kathleen.

Most of the structures on campus are log or stone. There is a great bell tower of stacked stone (think Kathleen get some good shots of it, I did not).

After touring Grant and the school, we went down the other side of Gunter Mt toward Woodville to see what Cathedral Caverns State Park might have to offer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_Caverns_State_Park
http://www.alapark.com/cathedralcaverns/Cave%20Tour
This cave was not discovered (by modern man) until the 1950s and was private until just a few years ago. Even tho the walk is only about 1.5 miles inside the cave, I was not up to trying it with this bronchitis. I have not been in the cave since the state bought it and made many improvements on the walkway, but I do recommend it if you are ever in the area.
We also checked out a nearby campground. Will let Kathleen comment as she is more the campground expert; I was not at all impressed.

Storm coming in big time now; will have to finish this when it passes. Am submitting with a couple of photos missing because photobucket is not cooperating at the moment and I do not want to loose the entire post waiting.

Next we drove back to Huntsville to explore a bit. After showing her an easy route thru town for her departure, we stopped briefly at the Space & Rocket Center , Big Spring Park and a fraction of historic homes in downtown area (Kathleen has photos). Before heading back to the campground, we had a fish dinner and our photo taken


We had severe thunderstorms forecast for Monday afternoon. Much of the day was beautiful so Nicky and I went back to the campground for a short visit. When we arrived, Kathleen had just finished washing her motor home. Shadow and Nicky had a doggie gtg while Kathleen and I gabbed for about an hour.



Tuesday morning brought great weather back and Kathleen left mid-day to continue her journey north.

[Liz]

Looks like you gave Kathleen a great tour. Look forward to the rest of the pictures.

[cpatinjones]

A great GTG! Enjoying the pics.

[AlmostThere]

Loving the pictures of your GTG. Nice looking CG, but then Sarah said to wait and see what Kathleen has to say about it.

[bluepinecones]

The Honeycomb Campground where Kathleen is staying is really great.
The campground we checked out near Cathedral Caverns on Sunday is the one I wasn't fond of - at least from what we saw.
Photobucket still giving me problem. Will finish adding them when working better.

[sharon]

Looks like a great GTG, wish I had had more time to sightsee while I was there. Maybe next time. I really need to plan more time on my jaunts around the country.

[Carolinagal]

Sharon, you really need to see Huntsville, Sarah is great on stories and loads of local history of which there is so much of. She is a wonderful tour guide. I was so surprised at the old buildings , whole areas of residentual housing, just fasinating. So much history, I loved my tour, and ready for another one It was freezing when I was there, so I need a spring or fall tour next time

Huntsville, is not just another big city with a couple of really nice CG's that some of us have stayed at, its a most interesting place to visit, surprises around many corners. And Sarah knows all of these corners and then some.

I'm so glad that you have had the opportunity, Kathleen to really enjoy that area too, and of course, the company is great too.

Looking forward to those missing pictures, Sarah you do a good job, with pictures and narratives on the forum too.

Enjoy your GTG, to bad, Wendy had other plans.

Safe travels when you hit the road Kathleen.

CArol

[bluepinecones]

Yes, Sharon you need to plan a spring or fall season on this side of the country to do more sight seeing.

[sharon]

Yes, Sharon you need to plan a spring or fall season on this side of the country to do more sight seeing.

I know, I know!!!! So many places, so many girlfriends, so little time! I think I need to try fulltiming for a year just to get caught up!

[dayspring39]

More from Sunday April 10th... we got to Grant and the DAR (daughters of the American revolution) school this school now goes through college... amazing...





The old stone bell tower:



The original buildings were all constructed from local materials be they wood, bricks, stones or blocks...





Sarah by the old bell tower...



This is one of Sarah's favorite buildings the pine pole...





This is an original church on the property...



We could not figure out what these stones were for but thought maybe they were sort of a place to hold assemblies...



Before going down the mountain these shots were taken of the majestic foot hills







The camping park did not warrant pictures... it was old and rundown but there was evidence that at one time much care had been taken as there were places where domestic plants still bloomed...

I am not up on history but this was so very interesting to see the past melded with the present... Sarah is an awesome tour guide...

[dayspring39]

Sunday April 10th continued:
In Huntsville we saw the grounds of the space and rocket center as well as a number of groups in the space camp:









this is where the students at space camp stay...



First Bank in AL





Big Spring Park



carp swim free.... the spring is in a cave under the stones seen here...





As a child Sarah roamed these caves... the one where the spring is goes completely under the mountain... how fun that must have been...

The historic homes in Huntsville are simply awesome... I am overwhelmed with the beauty of the homes there... well manicured lawns and enormous houses... of course the beautiful trees and bushes were simply awesome...



This house is under restoration it is the Steamboat



There were so very many homes that we saw... I was overwhelmed!
We had dinner then it was over the mountain again to my little home on wheels...
This is the sunsetting behind the some mountains...

[dayspring39]

Monday April 11...
Though storms were predicted Sarah and Nicky came over the mountain once more to visit Shadow and me before we left... I think she needed to be in bed but she is such a gracious hostess that she came anyway... what a nice time visiting we had!



The storms were very bad Monday night but Tuesday dawned with wind and some dark clouds still visible...



Shadow and I packed up and left the foothills in AL for the foothills in TN and fought the wind all day but arrived in Camden TN at my friend Janie's home...

Next adventure to write about is the MINI GTG at Mitch's 'ranch' see you there...
Kathleen

[Liz]

Great pictures, Kathleen. Enjoyed the tour!