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…..

Busy, yet relaxing kind of day.....

We are currently in Foley, Alabama but we were without internet connection 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 18, 2017 Post)

Almost too humid over night but we managed. No complaints, this is the first really ‘sticky’ night we’ve encountered on our travels so far. Florida is much more moist than Alabama or Georgia. Temps over night were in the 60’s and we slept with all the windows and vents open. Today was also a fantastic day with some clouds, fog, and sun all in the course of a few hours. 

B-52 Stratofortress

After breakfast we took our trash and headed for the dumpsters off in the day use area of the park. They actually pick up garbage here in the park every morning but we opted to take it on our walk. We headed off to the river walking on first a paved pathway then on to the boardwalks. A nice short walk to the Blackwater River. It is aptly named as the water appears to be black, but not dirty, or muddy. In fact there is a great deal of whitish sand everywhere but in the pictures the water truly does look black. We wandered around at the river for a few minutes checking out the pavilions and beach area. Don’t think we’ll be swimming here though. 

Stealth Bomber

Home, laundry in the truck, headed out to Milton to find the 6 Flags laundromat. We found it but we still have dirty laundry. ~laugh~ I think the clothes would have come out dirtier than when they went in. ~shudder~ So we looked for the next one on the list which took us to into a subdivision that perhaps runs a cleaning service out of the house but no signs or indications of any kind or of course perhaps Phoebe was just messin’ with us. ~laugh~ We made an executive decision to hold off on the laundry until Friday when we will be in Foley, Alabama and I know an excellent laundromat there. 

Pave Low 1V Helicopter

As we are only in the area for a couple of days I thought we’d do a bit sight seeing since we were out and about anyway. We found the Air Force Armament Museum attached to Elgin Air Force Base right where it was the last time I was here about 4 or 5 years ago. An amazing place to visit, admission is free but donations welcome. The planes on display are amazing to see. Massive in size and amazing in agility and flexibility. The stats for each plane is usually on a plaque near the plane and the information is mind numbing. We viewed planes and helicopters ranging from B-52 bombers known as B-52 Stratofortress, with 4 engines per wing, 160 ft 11 in long, 40 ft 8 in high, 185 ft wing span, weighs just under 169,000 lbs empty, and 489,000 at max capacity, cruise speed of 523 mph to an 02 Skywalker Cessna airplane with 2 small engines, 29 ft 9 inches long, 9 ft 4 in high, a wingspan of 32 ft 8 inches, weighing just over 2800 lbs empty and  at 5400 lbs max, cruising the skies at 144 mph. Numerous bombs, missiles, and guns were also available for viewing. Most of the planes are outside with smaller detailed things inside the big hanger. Truly an enjoyable museum for all to see. As we were climbing into the Dogsled we heard a jet breaking the sound barrier on take off, and soon saw him overhead doing barrel rolls across the blue skies above us.

Quite the gun, don't ya think?

Heading home took us a bit longer than expected as we went out of our way simply because well, we went out of our way. ~laugh~ We weren’t lost, we just missed a turn. ~laugh~ Good thing we have some GPS aid or we might still be on the white sand beaches near Fort Walton. ~laugh~ 

Blackwater River.
Home with our still dirty laundry in the Dogsled, we settled into have some lunch and read for a bit. I took a walk around the campground to the other loop to see if I could chat with a fella with about 8 or 9 solar panels on his roof. He has an elaborate system that he is still hooking up but will be able to run his A/C for about an hour which means he’s making a lot of power up there. ~laugh~ We chatted about his system and his set up and I have a few ideas of what I want to add to  my own system and a couple of things I’d like to do to tweak it. That’s for another time though. 

Back home I sat outside in the sun to read my book and enjoy the warmth. Headed inside about 4:30 pm as the cool evening air drove me inside around that time but not cool enough to shut the big door. Nope, just to go inside. ~laugh~ 

Around 5:30 pm I started prepping dinner, headed outside to start cooking shortly after 6 pm. BBQ lit for about 15 seconds and went out. Tried it again a couple of times, out of fuel. ~laugh~ Can you believe that? We just had one of the big ones filled before we left Gunter Hill and now the little one is out. I knew it was getting close but thought we’d be good for another couple of days. So I took the big one out of the Igloo and attached it to the BBQ to cook dinner. During my outside clean up after dinner I put it back and left the small one disconnected, we will have to get it filled or exchanged tomorrow. 

Dinner tonight was Long Grain Wild Rice with garlic veggies, and chicken breast with a homemade BBQ sauce courtesy of our good friend Roger. It was excellent. 

Outside clean up and then inside to clean up as well. Have a little project with the silverware drawer tomorrow. 

As another day draws to a close we are once again happily snug in our Igloo enjoying our time in the warmth. Thanks for following along, I hope you enjoyed your visit. Until next time…be safe, take care…….
 

Travel day, overcast, warm and humid....

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

Our Location: Blackwater River State Park, Holt, Florida

(Jan 17, 2017 Post)

(Pictures taken with my phone)

Excellent night for sleeping again in Montgomery and the day was warm with overcast skies but not threatening skies. The high today reached just under the 80F/26 C mark. High humidity though, the kind that pretty much makes you sweat just thinking about moving. ~laugh~ You know the kind I mean.

Site # 11 at Blackwater River State Park

Up and at ‘em around 7 am this morning. Packed up the inside of the Igloo, had some breakfast and then moved outside to finish up. Disconnect everything, pull in the slides and hook up. We were pulling out of our spot #55 at 8:30 am exactly. We took our time and cruised the park as we left, it was pretty much empty. I would think less than a dozen campers and some were leaving today, and I know a couple more tomorrow.

Welcome to Blackwater River State Park.

The drive was uneventful unless of course you count the cat getting sick all over the seat. I think she was sick from all the up and down roller coaster type roads we travelled today. Truly it was just like being on a coaster with big drops and big climbs and no flat spots in between. We managed to pull off in the town of Brewton, Alabama at a Wally’s World to clean up that little gift. After that though she settled right down. Can’t blame it on the cook because she didn’t have anything I cooked. ~laugh~  Back on the road our new friend Phoebe (RV GPS) took us down some back roads that I would have preferred to miss. ~laugh~ Going to have a serious chat with her and tell her to smarten up and fly right or she’ll be sorry. ~laugh~  We arrived here in Blackwater River State Park near Holt, Florida around the noon hour. Our original plan and reservation was for 7 nights but the spot they wanted to put us in wasn’t going to work. Two big trees said we weren’t getting into THAT spot. We instead took site number 11 for three days, so we’re out of here on Friday. We will be heading to Foley, Al a couple of days early. Which suits us fine anyway. No wifi here either.

Our walking path today

After an aborted attempt to get into the original spot #8, we went back to the ranger station and explained it was a no go and either we get a different site or we’d have to move on. I asked for this one as we’d seen it on our drive around the loop and as I said, we’re here until Friday instead of our original Tuesday departure. Backing in here wasn’t too difficult but Riley and I had a difference of opinion as to where  the Igloo should sit so it took us a couple of tries to get on the same page. ~laugh~ Next time I think we’ll do better.

After hooking up the utilities Riley headed inside to put the inside in order while I finished the outside. Within a half hour we were both pretty much finished setting up. Time for lunch. It was close to 1:15 pm or so by this time, lucky we had already made our lunches thinking we might be eating on the road. So it was time to change into shorts, t’s and have some lunch in the sunshine. About 2:15 pm or so we headed out for a walk to stretch and get the kinks out. We followed a path that lead us for about 20 minutes in one direction and ended in a loop that then ensured we would come back the same way we went in. We’ll look for better trails on Thursday.

Sun reflecting off the water

Home by 3 pm and once again I sat outside reading my book until just about 5 pm here, which is 6 pm Ontario time. Moved inside but left the big door open as it was still quite warm at that time. Prepped dinner and called my dad. Talked to him for a little bit, says it’s warm there but I’m betting not as warm as here. Not even INSIDE his house, for anyone that knows my dad, it’s always HOT, HOT in his house. ~laugh~


Outside to start cooking dinner around 6 pm, no outside lights at this park either so we’re going with our own little lights trying to cook. ~laugh~ However I managed, I’ll get a better set up tomorrow. Dinner was Onion-Dill Potatoes, Basil-Parsley Veggies, and turkey burgers. Excellent if I do say so myself. ~grin~

Biggest one yet.

Clean up and off to do our own thing tonight. I think we’re both ready for a good nights sleep. We will be sleeping with windows and vents open tonight, it’s that warm.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my son in law Mattew (no it's not a spelling mistake, that's how it's written on his birth certificate) who turns 30 today!!! Matt and Courtney are living in Lausanne, Switzerland where Matt is currently employed in research at the University there. Matt is a wonderful young man that will do well in his chosen field. Once again, Happy Birthday Matt. I hope you’ve enjoyed your day!!

Yep, this is dinner.

 
So there you have it, not an over exciting day but interesting for us, and tomorrow will be an adventure as well. We need to find a laundromat or we’ll be going naked soon. ~laugh~ A sight no one wants to see, I assure you!!!! ~laugh~






Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit. Feel free to leave a comment. Until next time…be safe, take care…….