Annie Tour 2007

Get your t-shirts now.

I just got back from visiting brother-in-law, SIL, and CIL (cat-in-law) in Huntsville. We had a great time (three words: "Space Ice Cream.") I also was able to indulge my guilty history pleasure and take a day trip to beautiful Jackson County, Alabama, where a couple of my dead folks are buried. I was pleasantly surprised at the beauty of the area, and to find that my guy (Archibald) and his wife were early pioneers in the area. Which means, of course, that they took Cherokee land. Sad. They came from Kentucky to northern Alabama by packhorse. Yikes. I can't imagine how many arguments Todd and I would get into traversing the mountains of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama by packhorse, with two kids, much less 6 or more. There was a wealth of information on the family and the area they settled (Crow Creek Valley). The cemetery where they were buried was remote, just plain beautiful, and a little scary (lots of crows), just like I like'em. My only disappointment was a dearth of snake handlers. (See National Book Award finalist: Salvation on Sand Mountain.) I guess they only do that on Sunday. I don't know what I expected - People walking around the cornfields carrying rattlers?

I arrived back yesterday afternoon, and now I am off this morning to Hilton Head with the Georgia Hotties. That's what we call our Mom's group - It used to be called Georgia Mamas, but one of us thought we were way too hot for that. I agree. I have written about how my brother-in-law snidely calls us "Girls Gone Mild." He obviously doesn't understand the hurricane of maternal drunkeness that is about to beset Hilton Head Island.