St. Marys

From sunny Florida, we made our way to hot and steamy St. Marys (Really, there's no apostrophe!), on the south Georgia coast. Our comfortable spot at A Big Wheel RV Park was nice and shady. But, with the mosquitos out in full force we didn't spend much time outside.

We didn't need to set an alarm clock during our stay. The last two mornings we've been awakened long before it was bright and early by the resident roosters. This is one of the several little cluckers.

Our site was on the not-exactly-what-you'd-call-flight path of the yardbirds' coop. Twice a day we had a front row seat to their comings and goings. Our boy kitty kept a keen eye on it all.

The friendly owner of the park explained that these are no ordinary chickens. She referred to them as "Martha Stewart Chickens". Apparently, they are the same breed (or breeds) the domestic diva raises on her Connecticut farm. That might be a good thing. But, we wouldn't know.

Between chicken runs, we managed to get out and enjoy some of the local sites. After poking in and around the quaint shops in historic St. Marys, we enjoyed a stroll along the serene St. Marys River. Cumberland Island is down river just a bit. We had planned to visit, but with the sticky weather we opted to save that for next time.

It's doubtful there will be a "next time" for this dingy dinghy. 

Next time we visit St. Marys, we'll stay at Crooked River State Park. We took time to walk the palmetto-lined sandy trails to see what the park had to offer. 

This lovely 500-acre park sits on its namesake river, which is crooked indeed!

We scouted out the 62 campsites and there were many that would be just fine for our big ol' moose. Number 27 was one of our favorites. These shady sites offer water and electric hookups only. But, most importantly, there wasn't a chicken to be found in the entire place!

Now that we've found a quiet place to stay in St. Marys, we are looking forward to our next visit. Meanwhile, we don't need to set an alarm before we hit the road tomorrow for Hilton Head. We'll be up with the chickens. Guaranteed.

Bonifay

Less than an hour after leaving our beautiful spot in Lower Alabama, Bullwinkle was in a new state. Florida had been one of the few blank states on our "states visited" map (see right). We were thrilled to finally "color in" the Sunshine State.

We made our first travel day in a couple of months a short one, landing in this cozy and perfectly shaded spot at Florida Springs RV Resort in Bonifay. Located just off I-10, this park is a convenient yet tucked away spot for folks traveling across the panhandle to spend a night or two, or in our case three. Our timing was perfect to see the brilliant pink azaleas in bloom.

We weren't the only creatures admiring the lovely flowers. The butterflies and bees were abundant.

We chose this park to see more than just the flowers. Virtual friends Terry and Randy are camp hosting here this winter. Our paths have come close to passing a few times over the last couple of years. We were happy that we were finally able to connect. We really enjoyed getting to know this wonderful couple. We so appreciate them taking some of their very precious free time to spend some time with us. With these good folks hard at work during much of our stay, we felt not quite so bad for holing up and watching wall-to-wall NCAA basketball during our stay. Our beloved Jayhawks played a couple of exciting tournament games that had us shouting late into the night. Thankfully, Terry and Randy didn't get any complaints!

  

Between basketball games, we got out and about on a very sunny and warm Saturday to take in the Bonifay Down Home Street Fair. The highlight of this annual affair is the Black Eyed Pea and Cornbread "Samplin'".  We enjoyed tasty portions of these Southern favorites by a lovely and good-spirited princess.

The Street Fair included a classic car show. This bright-eyed Lady Bug was especially cute.

Bullwinkle's first stay in Florida will be short and sweet. Tomorrow, we're scooting across the state toward southern Georgia.

More Fun in Lower Alabama

Our second month in Lower Alabama has flown by. And, by the looks of the virtual stack of photos that are slated to be inserted into this post, it's obvious we had lots more fun. We kicked off the "second half" of our stay on Fat Tuesday by attending three of the last of the Mardi Gras parades in downtown Mobile. 

When it comes to Mardi Gras celebrations, New Orleans may have the most famous. But, Mobile hosts the "original". They've been celebrating Fat Tuesday here since 1703. That was more than 15 years before The Big Easy was founded. The festivities in Mobile are very family friendly. But, like New Orleans, the day is all about the beads here, too. As Mardi Gras "newbies", we joined fellow Bella Terra guests in spending much of the day reaching for the sky and took home a bunch of beads. It was all very festive!

Between activities, Paul found time to complete a moose-sized waxing job. (My job, of course, was to be the official photographer!) With this annual job wrapped up, Bullwinkle is one super shiny moose! 

A highlight of our stay here in Lower Alabama was a day trip to the nearby Naval air station at Pensacola, Florida, to visit the Naval Aviation Museum. We spent a morning here, and it really wasn't enough time. 

Our visit began with a trip out to the "flight line" to view the planes on display outside. Our tour guide was this retired Naval aviator who added so much to the experience with his very personal perspective. His flight jacket alone told many stories.

Inside, in nearly 300,000 square-feet of exhibit space, the museum houses a most impressive display of more than 150 aircraft and spacecraft from the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Coast Guard. 

NAS Pensacola is home to the Navy's Blue Angels. The squadron conducts practices here twice a week, but we were a couple of weeks early. These retired A-4E Skyhawks on display in the museum's atrium were as close as we got to this elite aerobatic team. (One of many reasons to come back!)

Can you guess what makes this helicopter famous?

This VH-3A Sea King helicopter was part of the Marine One fleet during the Nixon and Ford administrations. Doesn't Paul look presidential?

As a couple of kids who came of age in the 70s,  we found the display saluting those who served in Vietnam particularly poignant. This replica of a typical Vietnam-era Navy stateroom was a reflection of that "groovy" time. 

It had been years since either of us had seen a POW/MIA bracelet. But, this simple and powerful display rekindled vivid memories of wearing a simple metal band engraved with the name of a captured or missing member of the military whom we hoped and prayed would make it home safely. 

The museum is definitely the type of place you can visit again and again. We look forward to making a return visit the next time we're in the area. It's a very interesting and special place, indeed.

We topped off our day in Pensacola with a wonderful lunch with fellow travelers. Marti and Paul (center) are new fulltime travelers whom we had yet to meet in person. And, we hadn't seen Chuck and Anneka since we tracked each other down at Winnebago's Grand National Rally in 2010. It was a real treat to see these good people and spend time getting to know each other. 

Lower Alabama is a popular spot for winter travelers, which has made it a wonderful place to reconnect with friends. We enjoyed catching up with Darrell and Judy and Mike and Peggy over a delicious lunch in Gulf Shores. 

We also had the great pleasure of meeting Loralie and Lee, with whom we lunched in nearby Summerdale. These two fine folks are members of our fulltime RVing "Class of 2009", but it took the four of us a few years to cross paths. We're so glad we finally did. 

We met lots of wonderful people during our stay at Bella Terra. A couple of our favorites are neighbors and new friends Christi and Kim. We thank all of our traveling friends for the great fun we've had together during our time in LA. We wish them all safe travels and look forward to seeing them down the road. As exciting as it is to visit so many amazing places, it's the people we meet that make this journey so satisfying. (Thanks, y'all!)

We marked off another stop on our "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" list and paid a visit to Panini Pete's in nearby Fairhope. The Muffaletta panini was a tasty reminder of our recent visit to New Orleans. And the handmade chips were worth every calorie. (And, of course, we washed it all down with some sweet tea!)

With all that food-oriented socializing, we made sure to make extra time to get out and exercise. We particularly enjoyed the trails in nearby Gulf Shores State Park. We spent enough time on these trails to log some much-needed miles and pick up a few geocaches, too.

Speaking of geocaches, we went back to the scene of our record-breaking caching day to break another record! This map shows more than 200 caches that have been hidden along a 30-mile stretch of a highway between Bay Minette, AL and the Florida state line. This is how our map looked before our return trip. The yellow "smiley faces" are the 67 caches we found on our first record-breaking day. (Click to enlarge and actually see those smiling faces.)

On our return trip, we picked up 100 caches! Here's the map after we logged all those finds. A "century day" is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for these geocachers! The little green icons are caches we left for next time. (We will be back!)

The highlight of our record-breaking caching day was making our 1000th find. With that, it's official: We are geocaching geeks!

Between the parades, motorhome maintenance, tours, food, friends, exercise and geocaching, we have managed to make time to kick back, relax and just chill.

We're just following the lead of our boy kitty. When it comes to chilling, he's a champ!

As the sun sets tonight on the last night of our stay at lovely Bella Terra, we're looking forward to getting back on the road tomorrow. It's always a bit tough to leave a place after you've fallen in love. We will take with us many wonderful memories, and we look forward to returning to this lovely spot again.

Our First Month in Foley

Greetings from LA! (That's "Lower Alabama" in these parts.) We reluctantly left Louisiana and headed east through Mississippi to that little part of Alabama that touches the Gulf of Mexico. After spending a couple of nights catching up with fellow traveling friends in nearby Summerdale, we traveled a few miles south to Bella Terra Resort in Foley. We've enjoyed this spacious, beautiful site for just over a month...already!

Bella Terra is a lovely park with a staff of professionals who are committed to ensuring that every guest enjoys their experience here. We sure have!

With around 100 sites, Bella Terra is a nice size for us. It's small enough that you have the opportunity to meet all of the great people who are staying here, yet large enough to have nice amenities like this hot tub, infinity swimming pool and beautiful pond. The resort is just over halfway completed. When it is, this beautiful park will have about 175 sites. As much as we love staying in more rustic settings, like state parks, every so often it's fun to park our moose in a swanky place.

With views of beautiful sunsets like this through our "Imax" window, we're resisting the temptation to buy one of the lots that are currently for sale.

We're not the only ones who are enjoying those sunsets. This is our boy kitty's favorite spot at the end of each day.

The first couple of weeks of our stay were pretty much a blur. We were both knocked out with a big, bad nasty bug that made all of this stuff a daily necessity for awhile.

As soon as we could emerge from our sick beds, we headed straight to Gulf Shores and checked out the beautiful white sand beach, which is just a short drive from the resort. We look forward to spending more time exploring this area.

By the time Super Bowl Sunday rolled around, we were fully recovered from our bugs and ready to participate in the resort's viewing party and chili cookoff. Paul's very tasty batch was there in the lineup. It was the first time he's ever entered his chili in a "competition", and he tied for second place!

As avid geocachers, we were delighted to discover there's a noteworthy swarm of geocaches placed not far from here. North of I-10 between Bay Minette, AL and Muscogee, FL is a 50-mile stretch of US highway and county roads that is home to some 200 caches. (That's a lot of caches!) We took advantage of a beautiful February day to take a run at this run. About half of the caches were these little tubes hanging in trees and bushes. The other half were a bit easier to find.

By the end of the day, our finely tuned geocaching eyes were spotting those little tubes from across the road! (So, I didn't even get out of the Jeep!)

Our total number of geocaching "finds" for the day was 67, which is a personal best. This second to the last find of the day turned out to be a milestone, marking our 900th since we started our geocaching escapades in 2006.

We are definitely seeing a promise of Spring here in Lower Alabama. The weather has been generally mild, and since our arrival there's been more than enough rain to bring these beautiful Tulip Magnolias into bloom.

With all of that rain, we've managed to keep ourselves busy with inside activities. Determined not to take on another hobby, I went to a bracelet making class in the clubhouse and came home with a new addiction: crochet. (How did that happen?) My first completed crochet project was a little basket to hold kitty toys. So far it's serving its purpose and hasn't become a toy itself, yet.

Paul took advantage of a sunny afternoon this week to start the process of washing and waxing the moose. It's a big job, which he quite wisely spreads over a few days.

Of course, what happened after he finished his first phase of this big washing job? More rains came! However, the forecast calls for sunny days in the future. (We're keeping our fingers crossed!)

After 24 hours or so of soaking rain, thunderstorms and wind, Mother Nature treated us to another stunning sunset yesterday.

With less than a month left in our stay, we're looking forward to more fun in LA. And, it all starts tomorrow. That's when these Mardi Gras "newbies" are boarding a bus to Mobile to spend what promises to be a fun-filled day at America's oldest Mardi Gras party.

Let the good times roll!