A Story About Life and Living It

Our trip through Alabama was very brief since, after leaving Atlanta, we decided that we were about vacationed out and ready to return home. The highpoint, Cheaha Mountain, is about an hour west of the border with Georgia, just off the freeway and really close to the Talladega Speedway. The top of the mountain has a tower and, of course, a USGS marker.

Climbing up the stairs...


With a wonderful view of Lanis from the top.


There was another Lani here, too.


We hopped in the car that afternoon with the intent of making it as far as we could. However, we got sidetracked by the Jesse Owens Museum in Danville, AL. Ever since I ran track in high school I've loved the story of Jesse Owens, so we left the main road to go investigate. The museum was closed, but a friendly note on the door instructed us to call a local number after hours. We did and a very kind elderly lady came and unlocked the museum for us.


Apparently Jesse was born in Alabama and then moved to Ohio when he was 10 years old. We enjoyed the picture chronicles of his rise to the top of the track and field world, including his astounding performance at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin where he demolished Hitler's display of Aryan dominance with a five gold medal performance. It's so neat the things you find in the middle of nowhere in America.


The next morning, Sunday, we went to church in the Florence, Alabama ward. I don't know that I've found myself in a friendlier ward at any point in my life. We were very kindly accosted by just about everyone in the building who wanted to know, in the most polite, kind, southern hospitality sort of way, who we were, where we were from, and where we were headed. Note to self: if the University of North Alabama ever offers me a job, take it.

On the way out we saw one of those really confusing signs that makes you wonder what the civil engineers were thinking. Really? This same road goes both east and west?