Walking for a Cure...In Memory of Riley Corbitt

So the whole reason we went to Alabama was to attend the Walking for a Cure event. In past years they have walked from Woodville to Scottsboro, which is 18 miles!! I was happy to hear that they shortened the walk to 10 miles. Because believe me I was hurting at the end of the 10 miles. It is hard work pushing that wheelchair. I tried to get Tylor to switch me places but he wouldn't. It was a good thing I had Amber with me!

The walk started at 10am on Saturday October 16th from the Woodville High School. Upon entering the school we were surprised with a banner that read "Welcome Tylor". I started to cry...how thought of Haley and Paula!! Before the walk Haley let off a bouquet of balloons for Riley!

I was so happy we went there and participated in the walk. I learned so much about Riley! She always had a smile on her face and she loved butterflies. She had to nicknames...Riley Bug and Boo. Thank you Paula, Haley and all there friends for making us feel welcome. See you again next year!

Riley Corbitt

Sweet Home Alabama

We I first decided to make the trip to Alabama for the walk I didn't think there was going to be much to do there. Boy was I wrong. The Scottsboro area is in the mountains and it was a beautiful time of year with the leaves changing. There is so much to do from fishing, hiking, boating, and many other outdoor activities to shopping, dining, and bed and breakfasts.

We didn't have a lot of time with the walk on Saturday but we were able to hit Cathedral Caverns and U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

Amber and Ty outside the cave

Me and Ty

The huge opening!

Looking out from the start of the cave

When we got to the Cathedral Caverns we learned that there are only guided tours but we had to be at the school for a meeting about the walk so we wouldn't be able to go on the tour. But the guy that worked there was nice enough to take us on a private tour. The cave is beautiful! The entrance measures 126 feet wide and 25 feet high. Soon after we entered the cave Guy, our guide, pointed out a shark tooth embedded in the ceiling. He explained that the ceiling of the cave was once the bottom of the ocean. Our last spot before having to turn back was the largest stalagmite in the cave. It was huge! After the meeting we wanted to go through the entire cave but there was another person in a wheelchair on the tour so I wouldn't have been able to ride with Tylor. But as least we got a private tour through some of it.

Check out this huge stalagmite

Since we couldn't go through the cave we decided to hit the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville. There we were able to see what the inside of space ship and see how they are launched. It was neat to see how the astronauts sleep, use the restroom, store food, and grow plants while in space.

This is how they sleep...weird huh?

Look how big this is compared to Ty's head

And of course we had to go shopping! We found a store called Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro. They buy unclaimed baggage by the truckloads! So it is like going to Goodwill but better! The store was huge and we found some great buys...Ty slept most of the time.

Friday Night Lights

 Tonight we went to see Ty's friend, Grant, play football. We met Grant in Seattle too...he came as Spider Man!! The game was an hour and a half away so it was a late night for all of us but we had a great time.

Grant is the Quarterback and is very passionate about the game....just like Brett Favre Ty said. He had so much fun watching the game and cheering for Grant or was that watching the cheerleaders? I caught him looking at them a couple of times. But Haley and Abby kept him in line. Haley is Riley's sister and Grant's girlfriend. Abby wanted to steal Ty from us and told him not to be flirting with any other girls. Ty just laughed and got all red in the face. Ok ok ok back the football game. Ty got to see Grant score a touchdown but unfortunately the Woodville Panthers weren't doing so hot. During the forth quarter a young man, Jason, got injured and was taken in the ambulance to the hospital...our prayers go out to him and his family.

#10 is Grant...Ty's friend

Doesn't he look like George Washington!!

The players take a knee to pray for their injured teammate

Grant and the team drink some pickle juice to relieve craps

Ty with the Woodville mascot...The Panther

Soon after Jason was loaded in the ambulance and the crowd applauded we hit the road back to Scottsboro because Ty was very tired and we have another big day ahead of us tomorrow.

We Made It!

A few days ago I blogged about us taking a trip to visit a NPC family we met in Seattle at the NNPDF family conference. Today we left at 6am to make the 11 hour trip to Scottsboro, Alabama. The trip went pretty well even though every gas station we stopped at was not really handicap accessible. I made suggestions on how to improve the accessibility which were not taken real well. If only they had to deal with someone in a wheelchair for a day maybe they would realize how difficult it is to get them around.

Coming down into Scottsboro there is a steep grade hill and Tylor got to see the run away ramps for the semis. He was able to see tracks from trucks that had to use them, he thought was pretty cool. I am sure it wasn't too cool for the truck drivers.

After getting checked into the hotel we were going to grab a bit to eat....well there was a problem with our room. The people didn't check out that morning and rented the room for another night. What??? I reserved this room for Thursday through Saturday but they told me sense they were there first there was nothing they could do about it. They offered us another handicap room but it was smoking...no thanks. But they kindly told me the room would be available tomorrow night and what are we suppose to do tonight, I asked?? So back on the road we went to find a hotel. We found a Hampton down the road, they staff was getting and got us into a handicap room right away.

Tylor is now sleeping snug as a bug in a rug....