A stay home kind of day.....

We are currently in Foley, Alabama but we were without internet connections for a couple of weeks. I will post the blog posts in order over the next few days. 

Our Location: Blackwater River State Park, Holt, Florida

(Jan 19, 2017 Post)

(Pictures taken with my phone)

Fantastic night for sleeping again. I’m telling you folks, I could get used to this. ~laugh~ It’s almost like summer time here and it’s January!!! Hard to believe! Morning dawned with fog once again and of course the moisture dripping from the trees sounded almost like rain. 

A quick view of the walking trail we took today.

After breakfast we kind of just lazed around for a bit, reading and puttering, well Riley did, I worked. ~laugh~ I had added some shims to the pots/pans drawer but took them out  as they seemed to be making it just too difficult to slide in and out. It also seemed to effect the silverware drawer, so dealt with those things right after breakfast. 

Fungus

Holey Tree

We headed out to the dumpster with the garbage and off for our walk around the Juniper Loop trail. The trail is a combination of hardtop, boardwalk, sand, and firm ground covered in pine straw. We picked the trail up from Pavilion 23, it has steps leading down to the path. For the most part along the river the trail is full of white sand and tree roots with small palm fronds shooting up everywhere. Here in Florida the White Cedar grows in various places and seems to be common here in this area. They call it the Champion Tree of Florida. Numerous white cedars grow along this path, some have pretty twisted trunks, or branches, or twists in the bark as it goes up the tree. A definite tree of interest. ~laugh~ Cypress of course are abundant here as well. Also Live Oaks and a version of pine that is similar to the Georgia Pines. A lot of undergrowth here in Florida making it almost impossible to walk anywhere but on the path. Which of course I’m happy to do since I’m not too keen on meeting a gator or a snake while out walking. Lots of poisonous  snakes here in the Panhandle. 

 

We found a nicer beach during our walk along the Juniper Trail, the sand was pure white and made a squeaking noise when we walked on it. It sounded just like sneaker on a waxed hardwood floor making that squeaking noise. We didn’t hear it at any of the other beach areas or on the path, just at this one beach. I’ve never had that happen before so it was a totally new experience, one that I can’t explain. 

This White Cedar had ONE trunk but suddenly split into two trees.

The walk was short, about a half hour but we opted to call it a done deal for today. Humidity makes it tough here, causes things to ache, plus I’m lazy and so there you have it. ~laugh~ Home by 10 am we packed up the outside except for utilities and solar lights as there was rain in the forecast for afternoon and evening. We wanted to keep things dry if possible. Tomorrow we’ll pack up the other things in quick order. Won’t take but about 30 minutes complete to finish the outside. 

White Cedar tree, the branch has curled around to grow over top of it's self.

We watched a movie after that, Fast and Furious, we’ve both seen it before but thought it was a pretty good movie without too many bombs and guns cutting people in half. ~laugh~ Just a few guns and only a couple of dead folks due to those guns. So all in all, not bad. ~laugh~ 

The moisture in the air kept the webs visible all day

My best friend Linda called today to check on us, with no internet connection for the past few weeks she hasn’t heard anything from us or about us and thought she better check in. ~laugh~ Always a treat to talk to her, known

her for a very long time, and we just pick up where we left off no matter how long it’s been since we’ve chatted. I’ll talk to her again in the next few days and we’ll get caught up again. 

Sandy walking in this part of the path

Lunch was a quiet affair, while reading and just relaxing. We purchased two bags of whole pecans before leaving Gunter Hill area and today we shelled a few more. I’ve found using a pair of pliers works well. If you crack them in a certain way you can pretty much just pop the inside out without too much trouble. So far we’ve shelled about half a quart bag. We have another bag and a half to go. ~laugh~

I headed back down to Bob and Sherry’s to ask a couple more questions about his solar set up and to clarify some things in my mind that he said yesterday. He was working on it when I arrived and was more than happy to stop and answer my questions. Sherry and I chatted for a bit about campgrounds, storage of 5’ers for holidays, and camping clubs. Like us they are full timers and like us just figuring out a number of things as well. Always nice to compare notes with folks, learn new things and help out when you can. 

Cypress swamp

Home to read, finished my book, Heat Lightning by John Sanford. It was pretty good. I like John’s writing style and his stories are usually pretty good and I know I can pretty much always be assured of a good read.

After that I played with Phoebe for a while again today, ensuring we’ve got a good route for tomorrow.  It’s not a far drive and we shouldn’t be more than a couple of hours on the road. I called today to ensure they had a spot for us a few days early, although I had a contingency plan if they didn’t. The plan at this point is to be hooked up and on the road by 9 am, arrive there before noon, set up and get three chores handled quickly, laundry, groceries, and a propane tank fill. After that we can settle in for the rest of the day, maybe get in a quick walk too. 

Dinner tonight was pasta with meatballs, tomatoes and green chilies. Of course I added the shredded cheddar and Parmesan cheese as well. We cooked inside due to the rain falling outside. As I write this the rain is still falling, a bit harder than before and it doesn’t sound as if it’s going to let up for a while.

We played two games of Yahtzee after dinner clean up. I’m pretty certain Riley cheated, she won both games. ~laugh~ She also rolled a Yahtzee in EACH game. Is that talent or luck? She claims talent but I wonder if she’s somehow loading the dice. ~laugh~

Another great day here, nothing exciting or earth shattering but we enjoyed it. Thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment. Tomorrow I will be back once again to the land of internet and will post the last couple of weeks worth of posts that I’ve been writing and saving a few at a time.

Until next time…be safe…take care…..