AL Status

The drive to Alabama wasn't so bad. It took 21 hours over 3 days. Cooper did great! The first day went by quickly, considering it was our longest day of 12 hours. We stopped in Wamego, Kansas to visit with Cameron's brother and his family. The second day was the most scenic. The drive thru Kansas City, St. Louis and Memphis was so beautiful and green. It rained most of the time. We drove thru a thunder storm and lighting struck about 50 ft to the right of us in someone's front yard. It was bright orange and smokin'....literally. It was super scary. It was at the same time we found out a class 3 tornado hit Cameron's hometown (check out the tornado pics posted on Amy and Jeff's blog). All the crazy weather took us for a whirl. The third day, friday, was the shortest....only 4 hours. We stopped by Cameron's work to meet some of his co-workers and they showed us the condo we'd be staying in. It's really nice and has a great waterfront view. That evening we get a call from my brother Ryan wondering if we would like to join them at Grannie Annie's house in Florida for Memorial Day weekend. So at 6:30pm we get back into the car and drive 5 more hours to grandma's house. She lives near Destin Beach for anyone who knows the geography of Florida. It was so much fun! Cooper got to meet his cousin Poppy for the first time, and had his first day at the beautiful white sand beaches of the Gulf. We went to dinner at a really nice seafood restraunt and Ryan and I had the chicken pasta, of course. We also went to a concert in the park for Memorial Day. There were a lot of old people dressed in patriotic colors. Because I had Cooper dressed in a camo outfit, a woman came up to me and in the biggest southern drawl asked, "Is he pre-parin ta go of ta war? Is his father in the military?" I said, no...he's right there.

So far we have noticed that it is really rainy and green, it is hard to understand people, there are a lot of small towns that look abandoned, people drive slower, and the humidity isn't so bad...yet.