Huntsville, Alabama

On the drive to Huntsville, we stopped at the Unclaimed Baggage Center- the home for all of the airlines unclaimed baggage (and for store’s lost merchandise). It was filled with clothing, electronics, books, tools, toiletries—everything imaginable. The deals were pretty amazing- if you shopped hard enough. We stayed at the US Space and Rocket Center Campground in the overflow area. Mija was having some skin problems, so we tracked down a local vet and arranged for some tests (and grooming) and picked up some wine and beer. John invited our “neighbors” in overflow over for drinks. They came over at 6:00 and stayed until 10:00—2 huge bottles of wine and lots of beers later and we were best friends. Chet and Lupe were from Alexandria, Minnesota and were quite a strange pair. She was a hot blooded Mexican and he was a cold blooded Norwegian. They owned over 50 apartment buildings in Alexandria and had their son and daughter-in-law managing their operation while they traveled in their motorhome. We had a great time laughing and talking with them.

Mija went in for a day of tests and grooming and we took off to the west of Huntville to visit a cotton gin. It was quite an operation and hard to imagine working in the cotton dust all day long. With Mija occupied for the day, we went to the US Space and Rocket Center (right next to “Space Camp”). (Photo courtesy of Flickr.com) It was another NASA hardware focused presentation of the space program and filled with kids attending Space Camp. The space program and the US Army have brought a lot of money to the Huntsville area and the road network is amazing and the city is beautiful. The old neighborhoods in the downtown Historic District were charming. They houses were originally built by wealthy merchants and planters and many of them are still there today- in great condition. And- with the space program- came a host of ethnic restaurants. We had another great Korean lunch- with take home galore.