Huntsville, Alabama: Southern Hospitality and Community Gardens.

1:23am: I arrive at one of our site leader's, Lisa's, apartment.  After a long weekend of dog-sitting in Kansas City, I've agreed to be chauffeur for the other lovely ladies of our group--Jenny, Kassy, Meghan, and Caroline, so that our fearless drivers--Kassy and Lisa--can be well rested for our four a.m. departure.  A two hour nap on Lisa's futon and I'm off, and before I know it, we're watching the sunrise as we make our way through Missouri.
7:33am: In Columbia, MO (home of Mizzou) we find a pleasant surprise amongst the bewildered stares in McDonald's:  A Jayhawk, my guess would be around 80 years old, is enduring the friendly jests of his Missouri friends as we eat quietly one booth over.  We were so excited when he introduced himself, and, with faces full of love and pride, we gathered for a group photo (in which, I might add, our new Jayhawk friend looked quite studly with three ladies on each arm).
12:42pm: We are still in Missouri! Goodness, this state goes on and on forever.
1:24pm: It is my pleasure to say we are finally out of Missouri, and in Tennessee, and the our first dose of Southern accents is an absolutely delightful experience. Everywhere we stop, people are curious to know what we are doing "So far from home?" and we always smile and say "We've been given the opportunity to help people in Alabama through a wonderful Service Learning program at the University of Kansas. We are so excited." And of course, we are.
3:12pm: We've hit Tennessee and Missippi, and are nearing Alabama.  The long day seems to go on forever, and I'm hoping that Huntsville looks a little happier than the backwoods neighborhoods of Mississippi.

4:00pm: We've made it to the border!  As you can tell from such a candid photo, we've had quite a ride in "Earnest Bruce the Third," or "EB3," as we have dubbed our mighty vehicle of transportation.
5:35pm: We FINALLY roll into Huntsville, AL.  We've passed a lot of water (a first time sighting of the Mississippi river for me) and, since I'm no good with geography, I have no idea how far from the coast we are, but it feels like a water state. The air here is nice and fresh, and the breeze is beautiful; nothing like the Kansas gusts of May, June, and July.  Our residence contact greets us at the United First Methodist Church, which has been so gracious as to offer us housing until the end of our trip. The "Give Kids the World" group, destined for Kissimmee, FL, is staying with us this first night. Unfortunately since they have an early start the next day, we only have time for friendly hugs and hellos before they head off to bed to get a good nights rest before another day of travel. We, on the other hand, have decided to take in our first dose of Huntsville.  We start with some of the most delicious pizza I've ever had at Sam & Greg's Pizzeria--a block from our church-home, and "The best in Huntsville" according to the locals we meet.

 It's this great little restaurant, lots of atmosphere, and totally awesome southern accents (according to Lisa, I apparently turned apple red when one of the server boys said "Excuse me" in a deep southern accent. What can I say? He said it with such suave.) Then we are off to explore the rest of downtown. We quickly come across a lovely little park, and it has such beautiful views we decide we must explore it again when we have more time, but for now we must get back to unload and shop for groceries. It has been a long day and a long journey, (for me, basically two days meshed into one continuous) but we are so happy to be here and experience this. We've already made about a gazillion inside jokes (#yahtzee #dinglehopper!) and we know it can only get better from here.
10:32pm: We are showered, and lights are going out. We have an early morning for college students tomorrow--7:30am in the CASA garden, but we are so excited.

-Tasha Cerny, CASA Summer Alternative Break, 2012