The Final Week in Paradise

Last Sunday we decided to take a ride down to Perdido Pass to see the boats coming and going and to watch the fishermen.  We arrived at the parking lot at 10am where there were only a few people in the parking lot.  Little did we know, the "Thunder on the Gulf" boats would be coming out where we were parked, for the noon race.  Soon the parking lot was jammed, but we had a great front row, plus our chairs were in the back of the truck.

After sitting nearly two hours (with no suntan lotion, or anything to drink), the 10 boats finally came out.  We weren't impressed, but Butch enjoyed being outside with lots to look at.

Starting last Monday, the City of Gulf Shores started setting up for the 40th Annual Shrimpfest which is always a four day celebration. 

Until Wednesday, we could still bike through the area while they were setting up.

They set up where we always park to go to the beach so we've had to drive a few miles down the road to a different beach.  The beach was almost empty until Saturday.

Mark watching me while I waded out to get a picture of the large area of tar.

At noon on Thursday, the Shrimpfest opened to the public.

 
We reported to the Souvenir tent at 2:00 for our four hours of volunteer duty.  The time flew by.  The four of us worked great together.  Mark and Dennis ran the cash registers while Pam and I filled orders and kept the piles of tee shirts in the proper stacks.  We were extremely tired at 6:00pm and couldn't wait to get out of there.

We were too tired to listen to any bands on Thursday night, but Friday night we stood up against the stage to listen to Dr. Zarr's Amazing Funk Monster play for two hours.  They wowed the audience with their crazy costumes (80's funk) and all the great dance hits from the 70s and 80s. 

During the four day festival, we walked/rode to the fair at least 10 times, ate 3 funnel cakes, bought 6 tee shirts, 1 hat, ate 3 Cajun Pistols, 2 ears of roasted corn, a tray of lobster rolls, an order of coconut shrimp, several bottles of water and soda, and one beer, and 3 helpings of homemade peach ice cream.  In addition, we collected 12 free Chevrolet bags, 3 Geico bags and a tee shirt, more coolie cups than we can count, and several fans.  Hopefully all of these places will not try mailing or calling the names and phone numbers we submitted to get all this "free" stuff!

Mark and Dennis modeling their new kangaroo hide hats.

Tomorrow it's pack up and clean up day in preparation of our early morning trip home starting on Tuesday.  It's time to get back to our best Cardinal fan:

Matthew in his game day outside.  He knows the Cardinals are gonna win tonight and head to the World Series. 

Only Nine Beach Days Left

Thanks to my sister, this week we purchased coupon books for the Gulf Shores/Orange Beach area.  Most restaurant bargains are buy one get one free (or at least up to $12 off).  The first day we used them for lunch paid for the book.  Unfortunately, we now feel the need to eat out a lot more often than we were before we bought them.  We're now running out of time with just over a week left before we go home.

Last Sunday Pam and Dennis made us dinner - grilled pork tenderloin with green beans, Auburn University pasta salad (Auburn logo noodles), and dessert.

Not really sure why we're all in long pants - I don't remember it being cold.

Tuesday the four of us went to "Cash Register/Credit Card Training."  The 40th Annual Shrimpfest is going to be held on the beach next weekend.  We all signed up to volunteer for four hours on Thursday from 2-6pm.  Since we will be working in the souvenir tent, we had to go to training.  That was quite a joke - we got about 2 minutes of training.  It should be interesting.

Most nights after dinner, the four of us walk down to the Hangout to see what's happening.  We've listened to several good bands, and a few not so good. 

On our way back to the campground, we usually look for a new "my sister would do it" picture.  We're found quite a few and even got Dennis to pose for one. 

Pam - the pirate.

Dennis with the alligator - after our dinner at The Oyster House (1/2 off with the coupon)

I'm on the turtle at the fishing pier.  Note who NEVER appears in these pictures (Mark).

The waves have been very big the last couple of days.  Yesterday Mark and I headed down to the beach in the 30mph winds.  Even though the water has really cooled off in the last two weeks, we couldn't resist getting in the 4' waves.  Unfortunately, I didn't really feel safe going in more than calf-high water.  Mark went out a bit further, and got caught up in one wave - he did something to his elbow and arm now.  Hopefully all will be well before long.

On the pier this week.

Yesterday Chris and Bubba showed up to once again wash and wax the trailer and then seal the roof.

Chris (the owner) washing a spot that Bubba had missed.

Mark in the really big waves (7') on the beach since it was so windy. 

Tonight we once again went to the Hangout and were really enjoying the band.  Unfortunately the winds picked up and it started raining.  We had to walk/run the half mile back to the RVs. 

The Fall Trip Continues

Remember the oil spill last year?  Until this week, we haven't seen any remnants of the great spill of '10.  This week there have been people walking on the beach with small nets picking up tar balls - actually one lady was doing the picking, the other two guys were just mozying down the beach. 

Then a day or two later we found this on the beach:

Tar balls on the beach. 

Fortunately, that was the only tar we've seen.  The local TV station had a story about a "tar pad" being dug up about 1/2 miles west of the beach where we swim. 

On Monday, our niece Stephanie showed up to stay with Pam and Dennis for four days.  We were very excited to see her. 

Dennis, Pam, and Stephanie enjoying the fabulous weather. 

Stephanie is a dog groomer at a PetSmart in Georgia where she lives; she was kind enough to bring her grooming supplies to give Butch a much-needed haircut.  Butch stood perfectly still while Stephanie turned him into a very handsome dog. 

Butch watching as Steph carefully trims his belly.

We made a few trips to the fishing pier last week. 

These rays were right by the shore line.  A couple of weeks ago, a school of them swam inbetween the four of us when we were standing out in the Gulf.  They definitely startled us.

Butch loves to harrass Pam's cats when she puts them outside in their crate.

After eating at restaurants the last two nights, we decided that we had to walk a bit longer this morning instead of our usual 45 minutes to an hour.  We started on the road and then headed to the beach to walk by the water.  An hour after starting, we ended up at the fishing pier.  It looked a lot closer than it really was. 

We decided that we walked almost six miles this morning.  My toes are still killing me.

Except for this past Wednesday, the weather has been perfect.  Wednesday it stormed all day long.

Butch hates storms.  The only way he would settle down was for Mark to wrap him up in a blanket and hold him - he's such a weenie!

 The cold front came in yesterday.  Even though it gets to the low 70s, it gets down to the low 50s at night.  Unfortunately, we have no heavy blankets with us on this trip.  Tonight it's going to be 48!  This just confirms our suspicions that it's too cold to spend a winter in Gulf Shores.