Here We Go Again

We are back on the road. After spending last winter at home enjoying time with our families and especially our grandson Matthew, we are spending this winter in our RV. We left St. Louis yesterday and drove to Atlanta to spend an evening with Diane's sister and family. It was a very enjoyable visit and we headed for Gulf Shores, Al. about 4:30 this morning. No problems on the road, the truck ran great and Diane drove a lot so I could snooze.

We are staying at Johnny's RV Resort in Foley, Alabama this year. This is the farthest north we have stayed since spending our winters on the road. We usually stay on the gulf in the fall and our biggest problem is listening to the A/C run. I'm sure we will have great days but right now the furnace is running and we are concerned that the water line might freeze tonight.

Hopefully a new start at a different resort and a different part of the country will lead to some interesting blogging. Diane already has one picture for her first blog in a couple of days from now.

The Final Days

Tuesday we golfed at the Rock Creek Golf Club about 45 minutes north of where we stayed.  We played this course about 11 or 12 years ago.  It was in great shape, but we didn't play very well.

Since we weren't taking our RV home with us, we quit buying groceries over a week ago.  This meant that we had to eat out for most dinners.  After we had Happy Hour while Pam and Dennis' friends staying in the State Park, we all headed to Waffle House for dinner.  We all stuffed ourselves with the "AllStar" breakfast (two eggs, bacon, grits or hashbrowns, waffle, and toast).  We were the only people there for dinner on Tuesday evening.  That didn't stop one of the employees who started taking down the ceiling while we were eating.

Biking the trail with Pam and Dennis.

Wednesday we left to drive 15 miles north to where we would spend the night, and then will be staying in January through March next week.  Pam and Dennis drove up to pick us up for dinner once again.  This time we ended up at The Gift Horse restaurant about 3 miles from our new campground.  I was secretly hoping that it would be bad since we would be so close all winter.  Sadly, the food was wonderful.  We all used a buy one, get one free for the buffet; when we paid, they gave us another one for future use.  All they have is a buffet, for both dinner and lunch.  Again, we were the only ones in this place.

At 3:03am on Thursday, we left Johnny's RV Resort and headed home.  The drive was uneventful and not bad at all, especially since we swapped drivers every two hours. In just over 13 hours, we arrived safe and sound.

Lastly, we got to see this little guy, who is now walking and giving kisses!

More blogs this winter from Foley, Alabama.

Getting Ready To Head North

We're winding down to our last few days in Gulf Shores.  The beach has still continued to be perfect.  The water, unfortunately, is cooling off fast.  Mark says that today was probably his last day to get in;  I'll keep getting in until we leave.  Except for the one day when the wind blew 40mph, we have not seen a single jelly fish!  We have also been seaweed-free the whole month. 

Sunrise with the fog taken from inside the trailer.

Earlier in the week we golfed at the Gulf Shores Golf Club where we had never played before.  It was very nice, and pricey, but fortunately we had a coupon that covered one greens fee. 

We biked on this very cool trail.  It's all paved with picnic benches and tables scattered every couple hundred yards. 

Even though the recent hurricanes killed all the trees, I still thought it was beautiful.

Tomorrow we're headed back to this trail, but are dragging Pam and Dennis with us.  They prefer to walk everywhere while we prefer biking. 

Friday I went kayaking with Pam and Dennis.  They rented a longer one for a day, so I was able to use one of the ones they own. 

Dennis launching the 14 footer.

Pam checking for alligators.  (No, we did not see any.)

Pam and Dennis have been kind enough to let us borrow their Ipads so we can keep in touch with Matthew.  We really miss him, and can't wait until next weekend when we get him overnight!



Our final blog will come some time after we get back home next week.

Christmas Comes Early in Gulf Shores

Monday afternoon our niece, Stephanie, showed up from the Atlanta area to spend a few days with her parents.  Pam made dinner while I provided fudge cake for dessert.  Since I used Pam's cookie sheet, she was stuck with the leftovers (which she has since frozen, and then shared with us).

Mark and Stephanie digging in.

We saw this in Walmart. 

Very disturbing for September 25.

Stephanie was once again kind enough to bring her dog grooming tools with her to give Butch (and Darla) a haircut.  She convinced us to let her cut all the hair off Butch's tail.  We love it!

I found this guy while walking on the walkway over the swamp right next to the RV park.

We finally got to the fishing pier early enough to see some fish.  There was a very large school of "blues" and also quite a few sharks.  Unfortunately, we only saw the little ones (2-3 ft.).  One fisherman told us that a 5 ft. one was playing in the water that morning, jumping out like a dolphin.  I would have liked to see that, but only on the pier; not on the beach where we swim.

Mark thought this was funny.

Thursday we saw lots of smoke coming from the State Park a couple of miles away.  It turned out they were doing a "controlled burn" but it got out of control after dark. 

There was no wind today, so Dennis and Mark decided to put the new decals on the front of the trailer.  It turned out perfect. 

To celebrate, we all headed to Tacky Jacks for lunch.  None of us had ever been there, but the food was delicious.  Now its nap time since the rain has arrived, and will most likely be here until Tuesday. 

Stripping and A Little Head banging!

Yesterday we headed off on the bikes to try out the bike trail that goes to the golf course we played on Wednesday.  The whole state of Alabama is flat; this bike trail was not!  By the time we finished, we had gone 15 miles.  My legs are still killing me today, especially after walking 4 miles with Pam and Dennis the day before.

Found this guy on the sidewalk up the road.

Everybody wants to hold Darla (except Butch).  Too bad she doesn't really like to be held - she always wants to chew on things.  We just spoil her and send her back to her parents next door.

Yesterday as we gathered for Happy Hour at Pam and Dennis' trailer, Mark forgot to duck underneath the whole width of the trailer:

Ouch!

This morning Mark removed yet another decal from the trailer.

An hour later we had this:

Next step will be putting on the new decals.

Earlier this evening we headed down to the fishing pier.  We only saw two fish being caught, but a whole lot of people on the pier.  We watched one guy reel in this fish, while the pelican watched and even tried to get the fish before the hook was out of its mouth.  Once the guy threw the fish to the bird, he wouldn't eat it, and he just flew off.  Guess it wasn't what he wanted for dinner tonight.

A New Cousin For Butch

We've been away from the beach for a few days.  It was very crowded on Saturday so we just hung out at the pool.  No one in this RV park uses the pool except us.  We biked down to the Hangout to check out the band Saturday night.  I think the name was "Cornbread" and they were very good.  Hopefully they will be back this coming weekend.

There's a "bubble machine" on the outside of the Hangout.  It's always fun to watch the kids play in it.  First they are all rolling around in the sand, or climbing the sand mountain, then they all head to the bubble machine.

Since it was a rainy day on Monday, we headed over to the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola.  This is the first time I've been there, and Mark hadn't been in at least 30 years.  It was very impressive.  We arrived in time for a two-hour tour led by a former Navy person who also teaches History at the local college.  Unfortunately, the only planes he talked about in his two hours were World War I and World War II planes.

My favorites are the Blue Angels.  On Tuesdays and Wednesdays the public is welcome to watch them practice.  Hopefully we can get back there before leaving here.

On Tuesday, Pam, Dennis, and the new puppy Darla finally arrived.

Darla is a 6 lb. ball of puff.  She's part Australian Shepherd, and part poodle, and very, very cute!

Butch doesn't know what to make of Darla.  She lunges at him because she wants to play, and he just hops backwards to get away. 

Today Mark and I golfed at the Peninsula Golf Club.  It was a gorgeous day and one of us played very well.  The other one got their money's worth (me).

We've been playing corn hole with the group in the two motorhomes next to us.  Sadly, we are not very good, but enjoy playing.  Hopefully next time I will get some decent pictures to post.

Gulf Shores 2012

It's been quite a while, but we're finally back traveling again - at least for a month.  We left home on Sunday morning with the trailer to get to Gulf Shores, Alabama.  We stopped for the night in Canton, Mississippi and headed out early Monday to arrive just after lunch time to our favorite campground. 

After a couple of trips to Walmart, we finally got to the beach on Tuesday.  It seems that the word is out about being here in September.  While not jammed like in August, we notice more and more people here, especially in the campground. 

Wednesday before the rain arrived.

We headed 15 miles north to check out the campground where we will be wintering (Jan-March).  We are very excited about being in this park.  Everyone was very friendly and even inquired if we golf, because they get a group of 20 or so people together once a week to golf.  Hopefully this place will work out for us because it's close enough to home that if we really missed everyone, we could drive back in one day.

Yesterday we headed down the beach road to just over the border in Florida to meet up with my Aunts and Uncles who are vacationing in a condo.  We all live within an hour of each other at home, but never see each other (other than funerals).  It was great to visit, and they made us lunch.

Uncle Jim and Aunt Carol, Uncle Dave and Aunt Jeanne

Three different flavored pork tenderloins along with french fries and veggies made for a perfect lunch.

The view from their very large deck. 

Mark has been working on the trailer since we arrived. He is still removing decals that have failed and cleaning the fiberglass to get ready for a coat of wax. Apparently our fifth wheel is now at an age (four) where certain plastic or vinyl parts start to break or just look so weathered that you need to replace them. We have been to Camping World for several items even though we brought stuff with us from home.

Butch has settled in just fine and is getting along with the other dogs in the park. Hopefully he will write a blog entry while we are here.



Our Last Day of vacation

It finally cooled off - it was in the low 40s overnight, but warmed up nicely for our last day in Michigan.  We once again headed back to Mackinac Island.  This time we rented bicycles so we could ride the perimeter of the island.  It's eight miles around, and only took us a little over two hours when we stopped at least ten times.

Lake Huron reminds me of the Caribbean - bright blues and greens and very clean water.

We found these all around the shoreline.  They are rock cairns - small mounds of stones and pebbles built to mark biking and hiking trails.  It's traditional for each person passing by to add a stone.  We only added a few stones to a few cairns - too many to stop and look.

This was a natural spring coming off one of the hillsides.  We stopped for a very cold drink.  Unfortunately, 30 seconds after we drank, we noticed this:

Our next stop was St. Anne's Catholic Church.  They have baptismal records dating back to 1659.

The church was originally located in Mackinaw City, but in 1780 it was moved across the ice to Mackinac Island where it still stands.  Mass is still held on Sunday mornings.

After we turned in the bicycles we headed to lunch and then stopped for dessert.

We each had a gigantic white chocolate covered strawberry!

Tomorrow morning we start our travels towards home.  We're going to miss the fabulous view, sunlight until 10:00pm, and the very overpriced everything!  It's been a great trip and we can't wait to some day return.

A Few Pics From the Last week on the Road

It turns out we had a few musicians at the rally in Goshen last week. 

Carol playing her fiddle while Steve watches. She and Mark agreed to learn their instruments (Mark-banjo) so they could play at the Goshen rally.  Mark left the banjo at home. Carol is still in the early learning stage. Maybe next year in Tunica.

The "newbie" from Alabama.  He played the bagpipes beautifully and he's played for a number of Presidents!

We headed to the RV Hall of Fame Museum in Elkhart.  The best part was the room with all the old RVs dating back to the early 1900s.

Saturday afternoon we had a Belmont Stakes party at Pam and Windsor's new motorhome.

Windsor and Pam were the bookies.  Sadly, I won nothing.  I think Mark won back the $4 he put in.

Saturday night we said goodbye to everyone because Sunday morning we headed up to Mackinaw City, Michigan.  We always wanted to see this part of the country, and Goshen, IN was more than halfway so there was no reason not to just go.

We arrived mid-afternoon at the Mackinaw Mill Creek Campground.  This is a gigantic park with over 700 spots.  We don't have a view of Lake Huron from our campsite, but 100 steps away is this view:

Monday we took a ferry across to Mackinac Island.  It's a short 18 minute ride to a fabulous little island.  We paid for a 2-hour carriage ride to get the highlights of the island.

This is Salt Arch on the island.

Today we drove up to Sault Ste. Marie on the Canadian border.  First we had to pay to cross the Mackinac Bridge.  It's the 3rd longest suspension bridge in the world.

The Soo Locks were very impressive.  We were lucky enough to see two ships go through from Lake Superior to Lake Huron.

When we got here on Sunday, the temperature was in the low 90s which is unseasonably warm.  Yesterday was the same. Fortunately we golfed early yesterday (7:30a).  It was hot on the island but we had to ride the ferry inside because it was raining the whole way back.  Today we have a high of 59.  Mark had to buy a jacket up in Sault St. Marie.  Tonight - freeze warning!  Just got the electric blanket out from under the bed.  Tomorrow we plan to go back to Mackinac Island to rent bikes and pedal around the perimeter of the island before heading south on Thursday towards home.