Alabama

My first impressions of Huntsville, Alabama were good ones. As we came off the plane it is apparent by the décor of the airport that this city has lots of defense, government, military, and engineering companies. It’s called the “rocket city” because of the work done with rockets and Grant enjoyed driving past the rockets (where space camp it held). It is a very clean and pretty city. I think they pride themselves on all the “beautification” awards we saw around. Huntsville is located in the Tennessee Valley (foothills to the Appalachians) so it was rolling hills with many trees; I can’t wait to see it in the fall. It is a diverse city and we saw people from all over. At church the bishop’s wife said she was one of the few native Alabamians (is that a word?)—it’s a diverse city and because of all the big companies they bring people from all over the nation and world for that matter. So, no not everyone we met had that fun southern accent. The city we will be living in, Madison is basically just housing developments and I was disappointed in the lack of “city center charm” that Sumner has. There basically is no city center, so we will be driving to get places (and the fact that they really don’t have a contiguous sidewalk system). I guess no kids walk to school; they are all bussed or driven. The elementary school that Grant would attend is just a few blocks away. That would be my only negative comment about it at this point and time (and being so far from family). The cotton fields were plentiful and I wanted so bad to get out of the car and touch the cotton it looked so white and fluffy, but I don’t know if there is a law forbidding that—plus I didn’t want to look silly getting out of the car on the highway touching the cotton. We are excited about this adventure we will have living in Alabama!