Catching Up With Friends

Saturday our friends Jim and Betty from Ohio stopped by for a few hours.  They were coming through the area on their way to Florida for a couple of months.  It was so good to catch up with them.  We met them in Florida five years ago, and last saw them in Branson two years ago.

What's funny about this picture of them, is that Mark and I each had on t-shirts and shorts, and they were freezing.  They made it look like it was cold here, when it was really in the 70's.  Since they are only 80 miles away from us, we are planning to get together to golf somewhere in the middle before they head farther south in March.

After Jim and Betty left, we headed out for pizza.  There are lots of pizza places, but the Mellow Mushroom place caught Mark's eye so we checked it out.  The pizza was good, but certainly not worth the $25 it cost us.  

The Buffalo Chicken Pizza (with a ton of onions and bacon and very hot sauce) doesn't look very appetizing, but it was good.

Sunday we tried to bike at a new trail close by.  Unfortunately, it was marked as "rough terrain" instead of the nice level flat trails that we prefer, so we headed back down to the State Park and beach.  I can't wait until we get down there next winter.  Way too much driving.

We did find some interesting things in the State Park campground.  One guy was sitting out on his picnic table with a big gigantic mirror - trimming his nose hairs!  There were also lots of people out in their jammies at 11:00am.  What's up with that??

This cute little car and trailer were in the park.  Not sure I could even get inside that little thing.

On Monday we had to change spots in the park.  We were very sad to leave the friends we made on the other side, but we knew before we got here that  a move was going to be made.  While Mark was at the chiropractor early, I got most everything put away and Joe and I loaded up the chairs and BBQ into his truck.  Once Mark returned we hooked on and moved. 

Now we have a nice "lake view" site but the ducks now can get to us.  Butch is still confused because it always wants to walk in the old neighborhood.  We still visit Patty and George at least once a day.  Funny how you get so attached to someone in just a month.

Monday afternoon we met up with our friends and semi-neighbors from home, Jim and Bonnie.  They were coming through on their way home from south Florida.  We met them at their beach-front hotel and then went to dinner at Tacky Jacks.  Again, fun to catch up.

We were hanging out at the RV this morning waiting for the mobile repair guys to show to adjust the bedroom slide, but they called to say they weren't going to make it today.  Sure glad we emptied out the underneath of the bed and removed all the linens for nothing.  Next time I'll just wait until they arrive to do that.  

We are in the midst of a tornado watch for a couple more hours.  We've had 40 mph winds for most of the night and morning, but the temperature is 74 and the A/C is running because of the humidity.  Mark just got back from riding his bike and said that it's almost impossible to ride - too much flying stuff hitting him in the face.  There's a line of severe thunderstorms that are close by, and then the cold front.  The furnace will be on tonight and back to normals in the 60s.  We can live with that!

Green Egg and Pork

This post is for my friend Sally who has been anxiously awaiting a picture of our neighbor George's green egg.  George and Patty cook almost every day on their Big Green Egg, even though it's the small model ($360).  He uses only lump charcoal in it, and everything smells and tastes delicious.

The Boston Butt is in the egg.

The butt was big enough to feed the six of us with leftovers and only took about 3 hours to smoke. 

I made corn casserole, Peggy made apple pie in the crock pot, and mashed potatoes, and Patty made cornbread and broccoli salad.  Everything was delicious, the weather was fabulous, and we spent all afternoon outside.

I forgot to mention a different kind of "apple pie" that Peggy and Steve brought to our first meal a couple of weeks ago.  They brought a jug of apple pie moonshine! Straight from the hills in Tennessee.   I only had a small taste, but it was quite tasty.  

Strange sights in the park yesterday morning.  Why is this woman in her nightgown at 10:00 am in the morning talking to George and George?

Another strange happening this week - On Wednesday while Mark was golfing with the guys I ran errands - picked up meds at CVS, laundry, WalMart, and finally Winn-Dixie.  The laundromat was almost completely empty when I arrived.  After I got my clothes all loaded into machines, some lady walks in and sits right next to me, even though there are 25 chairs scattered throughout this very large laundromat.  Then she proceeds to cough all over me.  What is wrong with these people?  I got up and moved away from her.  She even had the nerve to put her laundry basket on the table I was using to fold my clothes - I moved it to the floor! 

Sadie, George and Patty's beagle.  She's a bigger chicken than Butch, but such a cutie.  She won't let us pet her unless we are inside of her RV - never outside.

We were going to bike ride today, but the back spasms are keeping Mark laying low today.  After golf on Wednesday, yesterday's repairs on the RV, and today's caulking - the back is protesting loudly! It is probably time to start looking for a chiropractor.

Mark and Matthew Modeling Hats

For the first time ever since we've been wintering away from home, I've had to seek medical advice from a doctor's office.  This is not easy with our insurance - there aren't a lot of "network" doctors in Foley, AL.  In fact, there are only 2!  Since my cough refused to get better (had it since the beginning of October), I got an appointment last week with a Physician's Assistant.  She was very nice, did a breathing test, and yes, I failed it.  Hard to blow out air, and then suck it back in while coughing.  She prescribed 15 days worth of prednisone, a week of antibiotics, and a new inhaler.  I am very happy to report that after 24 hours of visiting her, the cough went away!  Now the waiting begins to see how much all of that will cost me when the insurance company gets the bills.

Mark has been golfing with the guys on Saturday mornings and is enjoying it a lot.  He was on the winning team this past Saturday, but no money changes hands anymore so it's just for fun.  Tomorrow they are headed to a course over in Florida.  It's too bad none of the women in the park golf.  I'm not even sure what any of them do.  You never see them.  

Our neighbors Patty and George got back Sunday with their new RV.  They found a 2013 one they liked better than their 2012 one.  Yikes!

One day last week we drove up about an hour to the new Wind Creek Casino for lunch.  The food was wonderful, and we cut our losses at $10 on the penny slots. On the way back we stopped at the mall for a jacket for Mark.  How do you lose a jacket in a 38' RV?  We stopped at Belks for a new jacket and Mark managed to find a hat he liked also.  Remind you of anyone?

  

We found a new decoration for the RV site:

Mark had to call home to our former doctor's office today to get a prescription refilled.  Our doctor quit the practice, and no one in the office is taking his patients so we were told we had to find a new doctor elsewhere.  He did get a 90 day prescription called in, but now the pleasure of finding a new doc is all ours!

All We Do Is Eat!

Pictures that should have been in the last blog:

The State of Alabama has been working to get their sand out of the Gulf and back onto the beach where it belongs.  This was taken just a week ago, but all the equipment is now gone.

Golfing at the Foley Golf Club.  

We headed down to our favorite lunch joint earlier in the week - King Neptunes!  

Mark had the shepherds pie and I had the talapia.  Oh so good, and still $5.95.

After lunch we headed back to ride bikes through the State Park.  Lots more RVers in the park now.

Two of the six or seven towers for the upcoming zipline adventure.  No, I won't be trying this, but I'm very sure my sister will.

Even though Butch got sick last week, he still thinks he needs to get some "people" food from Mark.  

Saturday Mark golfed with the guys for their two-man scramble.  They no longer play for money because the same guy (scratch golfer) was winning every week so now they just do it for fun.  Mark shot poorly, but had a great time, and already signed up for next Saturday.  While he golfed, I went to the outlet mall down the road - didn't find anything for me but a couple of things for Matthew.

George and Patty hosted a fish fry yesterday.  Even though we knew we would be going out for dinner for our 39th anniversary, we told them we would each try a piece of fish.  The crappie was good, but my Dad's breading is a hundred times better.  

Patty did all the cooking - corn bread, salad, macaroni & cheese, and of course, the fish.  Penny on the other side made two crockpots full of dessert.  All was good, but I only had a small bite of everything.  I again requested that they let us know a day in advance for the next group meal, so we would bring something to eat.  (Of course, I've told her a couple of time that I hate to cook, so maybe she's doesn't want to bother me.)  She loves to cook, and is good at it.

This is looking at the youngest people in the entire park, and we are all right next to each other.

Last night we had a fabulous dinner at Cosmos for our anniversary.  Thank you Michael and Angela!!!!  

Today was laundry day.  I tried putting it off until Monday, but the basket was too full.

Thanks to sick Butch, I had the comforter and both sets of sheets, as well as the mattress pad.  

Butch chillin out while we read the paper this morning.  That just doesn't look comfortable, but obviously he was.

The Big Green Egg

Our neighbors from Virginia, Patty and George, love to use the Big Green Egg so they invited us to lunch last week for pork tenderloin.  The meat, as well as the salad, potato salad, and lima beans were all delicious. (yes, I did say lima beans - haven't had those since my Mom forced them on me)  George even sent home some of the pork so I could have with breakfast and also a few lunches.  Next up - Boston Butt.

One day we drove up to the nearest Sam's Club which was about 30 miles away.  We were able to stock up on meat, water, and fill up the truck for the low, low, price of $3.74. 

We drove back down to the beach on Saturday to check out the beach renovations.  While down on the beach we called John and Donna back home so they could log onto the Pink Pony webcab and see us walking on the boardwalk.  Love the technology!
Sunday we loaded up the bikes and headed back down to Gulf Shores (a growing trend) to ride through the State Park.  We bundled up with gloves, heavy jackets, scarves, and parked at the fishing pier to ride along the beach road and into the State Park campground.  It was only 50 degrees out, but still chilly on the bikes.  One new sight since we were here in October - the State Park leased out space to some company to put in a zipline.  Right now there are 6 large towers built and one more going up.  Signs say they will be ready for Spring Break this year.  I guess we'll see.

Our ride through the park surprised us.  We were told the park would be full for the whole winter, yet at least of third of the spots were empty.  We found out that the park doesn't really fill up until February 1 as everyone wants to be here for Mardi Gras.  Lots of parades are scheduled for the area.

We stopped in at Luxury RV Park (our fall RV park) to book a spot for next winter.  It seems a lot of their regulars are now too old to travel so they had lots of openings.  (Wish we would have known that in October.)  Next stop - Tacky Jacks for yummy blackened fish tacos!  That was our first meal out since we got here. 

Yesterday we tried out the Foley Golf Club.  It's the cheapest course down here, and we weren't sure how Mark's back would hold up.  The weather was great, and our games just sucked!  Mark says he's not ready for prime time with the guys in the park.  Maybe by next week.

Our little black dog, Butch, has not been feeling well.  While we were out golfing he threw up 3 times in the trailer and then proceeded to puke more outside along with raging diarrhea.  Joy!  He is acting ok today, but not eating.  We finally went to the store to get some rice to cook for him.  No more people food (except for the rice).

(The blogspot won't let us load pictures so text only this time.)

Scenes from our trip from home to Foley, AL:

SuperMark at a rest area in Illinois.

(This is how I see him !)

My sister's dog, Darla Grace in Georgia.  I can't believe how much she's grown since we saw her in October.

Self-portraits on the beach on Sunday.

We celebrated New Year's Eve at the Potluck Dinner that the park hosted last night.  The own provided the burgers, veggies, and soft drinks while everyone else brought a side dish or desssert.  There were about 250 people gathered.  The food was delicious and I'm sure no one left hungry. 

I'd like to say we were up to bring in the new year, but that would be a colossal lie.  We sat with our park neighbors, George and Patty from West Virginia.  When they got up to leave at 7:30p, so did we.  The owner shot off a very nice fireworks display at 9:00 which lasted at least 45 minutes.  I watched from inside the RV, while Mark and George watched outside.  I was trying to console Butch who is scared to death of any noise, but especially fireworks shot from less than 100 yards away.  We were sound asleep by 10:00pm - very sad, since we're the youngest people in the park by far!

Today we headed back to the beach for the annual New Year's Day Polar Bear Dip.  A slide was set up for the kids to go down, into a pool of cold water.  They didn't seem to mind.

At noon, everyone headed to the water's edge for the dip.  There's a contest for those who dress up.  Quite a few interesting folks.

And they're off:

Free chili was provided at The Hangout after the Polar Dip.  It was kind of nice getting something free from that bar/restaurant, especially since they charged $8 for a bloody mary when we were there in October.