I have long cherished that time of day when I drive the roads less traveled, on the way to a school to conduct a program on the science of meteorology. While the schools near the station in the Birmingham metro area are wonderful, there is something special getting out into the Alabama countryside. On Monday and Tuesday of this week, I traveled deep into Alabama’s Black Belt to speak with the fine students at Uniontown Elementary in Perry County, and Greensboro West Elementary in Hale County.
On the way down to Uniontown on Monday, I drove down I-65, and headed west on Alabama Highway 25, which is a fascinating drive (the road runs from Leeds all the way into southwest Alabama to the community of Sunny South in Wilcox County). I drove through Calera, Montevallo, Wilton, and Brierfield before reaching Centreville, in Bibb County. From there, it was onto Alabama Highway 5 (another favorite Alabama highway of mine), which took me down into Perry County, through Heiberger and into Marion. From Marion it was a quick turn onto Alabama 183 and into Uniontown. I spoke to the 5th and 6th graders at Uniontown Elementary, and they were a great audience. This school is across the street from R.C. Hatch high school, which has historically had some of the best high school basketball teams in Alabama history.
On the way back, I chose to drive north up Alabama Highway 61, which runs through the small community of Newbern. I could not resist the temptation to take some digital pictures while I was there…
I know J.B. Elliott, the great Alabama weather legend, knows where I took these pictures below (it was somewhere between Newbern and Tuscaloosa)
There is just something about a long drive in the Alabama countryside that is good for the soul!
