In early October we departed Atlanta, still looking for fall weather! Unfortunately, we didn’t find it in northern Alabama with temps hitting 100 several days during our trip west.
First stop was Huntsville to visit the Rocket Center. It was way more than we expected! Lots of things to see from the early space race up to Apollo including….lots of rockets!
Saturn V – too long to see the other end! 
The front end…
There were lots of other interesting artifacts too:
Even astronauts spent time in RV’s!!! Airstream quarantine unit used to isolate after return from the moon. Didn’t want to pass along any moon bugs! 
Lunar Rover
We also learned that there is a huge german influence around the Huntsville area since Werner Von Braun and many other scientists were brought over to the US after the end of WW II from Germany to help with our rocket development. One result is some of the best German food you can get! We enjoyed schnitzel and bratwurst that was the best!
Greetings from the Moon!
Soon, it was time to leave Huntsville and head further west.
Blasting out of Huntsville!
Our next stop was just to break up our journey between Huntsville and Memphis which meant stopping in Tuscumbia, Alabama. But we discovered that a very famous lady was from this town and we were able to tour her home, called Ivy Green. Specifically, Helen Keller was born and raised in Tuscumbia. For those not aware of her story, Helen was stricken soon after being born with an illness that caused her to go completely blind and deaf. Thus, she had no way to communicate with her parents or anyone else. Luckily, her family brought in Anne Sullivan as her teacher. Ann was able to break thru the darkness and silence and very quickly Helen was able to learn to communicate and later went on the be a global advocate for helping the blind and deaf. It was really amazing to think of how much she had to overcome to become such an influential woman.
Ivy Green 
The Cottage where Helen stayed while being taught by Ann
The well pump where Ann first communicated with Helen
Time to get back on the road and turn west towards Memphis. We’d have a week of exploring, connecting with friends, and hopefully finally finding some fall weather.
