January 25, 2015. Home via Arkansas.

 

 

January 25, 2015.  Home via Arkansas.  We are home.  We spent 29 days on the road, traveled 2500 miles and enjoyed the trip.  Check back in May for daily reports of the next trip.  Who knows, we may shake things up a bit and head west. 

Take care. 

January 23, 2015. Goodbye Gulf Shores and Gulf State Park.

January 23, 2015.  Goodbye Gulf Shores and Gulf State Park.  Our time here expires tomorrow.  We will start back home in the morning.  Unless we get distracted along the way, we will be home in 2-3 days.  Distractions happen, however.  We didn't plan to be home until the the first of February, so a distraction or two would not delay our return.

This will likely be the final blog on this trip.  See you soon.

January 22, 2015. Bonus Quiz Edition.

January 22, 2015.  Bonus Quiz Edition.  Here are the quiz photographs and the responses from the grandchildren:

The Thurmonds were the first to respond.  Angie sorta got mixed up on the numbering but cleared up the errors toward the end.  Here is Emory and Miles' submission:

1. 222 (upside down) spray painted on asphalt
2. A taxidermy coyote or wolf proudly holding a taxidermy rabbit
    That was 3 not 2
2. A taxidermy coyote or wolf holding a taxidermy rabbit
3. A taxidermy coyote or wolf holding a taxidermy rabbit
4. A snake. Hopefully not alive!
5. Beetles or cockroaches on a log
6. A cute opossum
Oops. 4. Piles of snakeskins. 5. Snake. 6. Beetles on a log
7. Cute opossum being held by John
8. Zebra fish 9. Toad 10. Baby croc 2. Squirrel.

The Cobbles were next.  Here are their answers:

1.  upside down 2's, which is your campsite address

2.  great horned owl (they were very specific)

3.  coyote eating rabbit

4.  snake skins

5.  diamondback rattlesnake skin (again very specific)

6.  hissing beetles

7.  possum

8.  fish

9.  bullfrog

10.  alligator (NOT crocodile)

The Tourtillotts submitted their guesses this evening.  Here they are:

Here are the correct descriptions of the pictures, in order:

1. The number 222, upside-down.  This is the number of our campsite.  

2.  Eyes of a stuffed great horned owl.

3.  Stuffed coyote carrying a rabbit in its mouth.  

4.  Numerous shedded snake skins.

5.  Diamondback rattlesnake skin.  

6.  Madagascar cockroach.

7.  Polly the possum.

8.  Sheepshead fish.

9.  Toad.

10.  Baby alligator.

Annie and I have carefully reviewed the answers and have thoughtfully considered that some of the responses are partially correct and some are exactly what we had in mind when the picture was taken.  For example, the upside-down 222 is our campsite and that's why we took the picture.  So, the Cobble answer is more correct that the other two answers.  Likewise, a coyote is different than a wolf.  The Thurmonds answer, "coyote or wolf" is closer than the Tourtillotts "wolf".  The Cobbles' "Coyote" is the best answer of the three and is entitled to full credit.  The Thurmonds were given partial credit and the Tourtillotts were given no credit.  

Finally, a beetle is different than a cockroach.  One of the differences is that beetles have wings, whereas cockroaches do not.  However, I am not sure it is a fair question.  I didn't know the difference until I looked it up.  It probably isn't fair to expect kids to know something most adults don't know. The same can be said for the sheepshead fish.  

Using these principles, Annie and I have decided that The Cobb Boys have the best overall submission, the Thurmonds finished second and the Tourtillottts finished third.  The Cobbles get $15, the Thurmonds $10 and the Tourtillotts get $5.

That completes this trip's special quiz for the grandchildren.  Thanks for playing.  If you liked it, maybe we'll do another on our next trip.  

We love you all.  

January 21, 2015. You Always Learn Something Here.

January 21, 2015.  You Always Learn Something Here.  Annie keeps losing her orange peelers.  She has several, but no matter how many she has, the loss of one is a major disaster.  I say to her, "Why don't you buy a dozen so when you lose one or more, you don't panic?"

"I'll find it," she says.  And, she nearly always does.  But, not until she has turned the house upside down.

Yesterday, we were in a kitchen store and I found a new kind of orange peeler.  It is the finger peeler shown in the second picture, above.  I tried to get Annie to buy it.  She wouldn't because it isn't the one she is accustomed to.

The one she is accustomed to is shown in the first picture.  It was invented by a 19 year-old Wilbur Blank in 1938.  He invented it because he loved oranges but disliked peeling them by hand.  He married, had seven children and finally found a company to manufacture the peeler in the 1970s.  He sent a peeler to Andy Rooney who misplaced it for three more years before finding it on his desk and featuring the peeler on 60 Minutes as the invention that "changed my life."  That endorsement was followed by an in-home interview between Andy and Wilbur.  Wilbur died in 1997 and I discovered on the Internet that you can still buy his Qwik Orange Peeler on a website of that name.  Evidently, some of his seven children are still in the business.

The same store had the stick peelers that Annie likes.  So, I also bought four of those.  It will take us a while to lose all four.  This morning she peeled an orange with her peeler and I peeled another with the finger peeler.  They both did what they are designed to do.  Although, mine peeled the orange faster.

Ouch!

January 20, 2015. Whooah! I Am Nearly Eaten by an Alligator.

January 20, 2015.  Whooah!  I Am Nearly Eaten by an Alligator.  Before I get to the big story of the day, I should report that Emory and Miles have offered the first response to the Quiz.  Their score; 8/10.  As of now, they are the leaders.

Twice before, I have shown you pictures of Annie's leg scars.  She maintains she was attacked by an alligator.  I know for a fact that she fell off her bike and scraped her leg on the metal teeth on the pedal of her bike.

I, on the other hand, was actually attacked by a gator, leaving the teeth marks shown above.  Well, yes, I did fall off my bike, but these near-lethal scars could not have happened then.  I did not even notice the ugly wounds until two days afterwards.  So, there, a fortiori, the wounds must have been caused by a gator.

But, I have not wined and complained about my injuries.  Big boys don't do that.  I just thought I'd show you how big boys tough it through their injuries - not like some sissy-bikers I know.

Ow!  

January 19, 2015. The Quiz.

 

 

January 19, 2015.  The Quiz.  There is a nature center here at Gulf State Park.  Annie thought it would be fun for the grandchildren if we photographed some of the animals, some alive, some preserved, and invited the kids to identify them.  The prize money will be the same as last time:  $15 for the family which correctly identifies the most pictures, $10 for second place and $5 for third place.

Also, the same rules as last time apply.  Adults can play, but cannot win.  The team will divide the prize money among themselves as they decide.  The deadline for responding is Thursday evening at bedtime.

Good luck.

January 18, 2015. Biking in Camp - Walking on the Beach.

 

 

January 18, 2015.  Biking in Camp - Walking on the Beach.  A nice day it was at Gulf State Park today.  The sun was bright and the temperature reached the high 60s.  We biked to the Gulf then walked a mile to the pier.  It was a two-hour outing.

I like "under-the-pier" shots such as those above.  I also like the jellyfish on the beach and the Sandman.  I don't know who built the Sandman.  It looks a lot like a snowman, doesn't it?  The mouth and buttons are sea shells.  The hat is a piece of electric tape.  I don't know how that got on the beach.

Tomorrow, we will look into moving to a waterfront campsite.  None were available when we arrived yesterday.  In fact, there were no unused campsites at all.  And, there are just under 500 sites here.  This is a three-day weekend because of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday.  The lady at the registration office thought some campsites would become available as campers moved out on Monday.  As I have said before, we will see.

January 17, 2015. Back Home at Gulf State Park.

 

 January 17, 2015.  Back Home at Gulf State Park.  We drove today from Grayton, FL to Gulf Shores, AL where Gulf State Park is located.  En route, we stopped by a restaurant in Destin where we had eaten before.  It is a seafood place on the harbor.  I recall the fish being fresh and that it tasted good.  As we approached the restaurant, I noticed that the road in was pretty much trashed.  I guess it looked the same way when we were there before and I just didn't notice.  What called my attention to it this time was the three large ugly birds (egrets, herons or mile-or-mores) waiting for leavings by the fish handlers.  Look carefully at the second picture above.  Can you fine all three birds?

When we got to the restaurant, it had not opened yet.  Another time, we might have waited for it to open.  For some reason, neither of us was interested in waiting.  So, we moved on.

We rode the bikes after getting settled in the campground.  I couldn't help but notice that Saturday at a campground with more than 1000 occupants, most of which are here for the entire winter, is like Saturday in any small town in America.  Saturday is garage sale day, right?  Well, Saturday here is campsite sale day.  We found a boat and motor for sale.  We found a tent and leveling blocks for sale at a different site.  That same site had a truck with a "for sale" sign on it.  You could have easily spent $30,000-35,000 without leaving the campground.

We have come to think of Gulf State Park as our home park down south.  It is good to be back.

January 16, 2015. Eureka! Sunshine and Seaside, FL, and I Can't Stop Taking Pictures.

January 16, 2015.  Eureka! Sunshine and Seaside, FL, and I Can't Stop Taking Pictures.   Believe it or not, I am showing you less than half the pictures I took today.  I hope they are the best half, though.

We have tried to get into the Red Bar, a bar and grill in Grayton, three times before and could not find a parking place for either Harvey.  So, today, we left T-Harvey in the campground and biked into Grayton.  We did find parking space for the bikes and had lunch.  BJ originally passed on a recommendation from a friend that we visit the Red Bar.  The food was average, but the decor was different.  I had the impression that the Red Bar is a favorite of locals.  There simply isn't room for tourists.

Grayton seems to be an arts community.  The painting of the cow and crab was on a fence at the edge of town.  There were another ten paintings on the fence, but, well, I just had too many other pictures.

All the other pictures were taken at Seaside, FL.  Seaside is a tourist community on 80 acres.  On the west side of Seaside is another small community, Watercolor.  On the east side is Seagrove Beach.  The three communities together represent a formidable display of tourist accommodations.  

Miles, the menu from The Melt Down on 30A is for you.  I'll bet they have a grilled cheese sandwich there for you.

Tomorrow, we will be back at Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, AL.  We will be there at least 7 days.  We might extend our stay a few more days, or we may start back home.  We'll see.