Alabama Surprise

The kids and I went to Nashville a couple of weekends ago for a video game competition. We had a great time. Nashville is a very nice city. The competition was great and my son did well. We also used the trip as a mini scouting session for potential future relocation. The kids seamed to really like Nashville but we also wanted to check out middle Tennessee area, near Arnold AFB. We drove down highway 24 and found the base but there really wasn't much going on there. Although the area was kind of pretty it was very remote feeling and turned out to be a disappointment. The towns around the area, Manchester, seemed to a bit run down and depressed.

On the way home we drove from Chattanooga to Birmingham on highway 59. It's really a long stretch of nothing but by the time we got to Fort Payne I'd decided to get a hotel. The stay over revealed a jewel of a small town with a surprisingly beautiful landscape. I had no idea that Alabama had such beautiful terrain. The next morning the kids and I drove to Little River Canyon, just a few miles outside of town. It was absolutely stunning. We walked down to the canyon. It looked more like something you'd find out west. We walked along the top of the waterfall and had ourselves a great time. On the way back into town we decided to check out Desoto Falls. I'd seen it in pictures so I thought it was no big deal and when we first arrived at the falls we didn't immediately see it so I didn't expect much. Let me tell you, the pictures of Desoto Falls do not do it justice. These falls are at least a hundred feet high and spectacular, especially for Alabama. We also got the added benefit of watching people repelling into to water next to the waterfall. It looked like so much fun! Fort Payne and northeast Alabama was a really pleasant surprise. The best part was that the whole thing was totally FREE! I think we'll go back again to check it out for possible homestead locations.

The following images are from flicker.com.