January 16, 2013, St. Andrews, Still.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 16, 2013.  We are still at St. Andrews State Park, outside of Panama City.  We decided to enjoy another nice day here and drive in the bad weather tomorrow.   Today was much like yesterday without the laundry detail.  Biking, reading by the water, a short walk on the beach and bird watching.  There was a net fisherman on the pier netting mullet.  In one of today's photos, you'll see the fisherman and an egret competing for the same food source.  Egrets and pelicans had the fisherman surrounded.  After each cast of the net, the birds swarmed the water to the place where the net was withdrawn.  There, they'd wait on the hope the net contained something other than mullet.  If so, the fisherman would throw back the unwanted fish with the pelicans in hot pursuit.  

 

We also happened upon a couple from western Pennsylvania.  They and their dog, Scooter, a miniature schnauzer, were playing Frisbee.  When they finished, Scooter was placed in a carpet lined basket on the man's bicycle and away he rode with Scooter sniffing the wind with his nose.  You will notice that some of the pictures have a reddish tint.  That's because I was trying for an artsy look by tinkering with the settings on the camera. 

 

Finally, we met two couples from Raytown and Lee's Summit.  They were friends because the two men had worked together framing houses.  They have vacationed together for the last five years.  It turns out that one of the men is the cousin of Dale Yelton, who was in our class at Raytown High.  I ran around with Dale.  He was on the football team and excelled academically.  Small world, isn't it.

 

There's nothing new on the injury front.  We have avoided other biking accidents.  Annie's leg is healing and there's no sign of infection.  That's the news from the Gulf, where the women are all brave and the men are above average.



January 15, 2013, Just Another Day in Paradise

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 15, 2013.  After a morning of clouds - during which we did the laundry, yes, I did say we - I pulled out our big, fluffy chairs and we sat on the shore of the lagoon reading and enjoying nature.  An enormous egret of some kind or other sat in a tree beside our campsite.  Annie suggested that it might be a Blue-footed Booby bird.  I don't think so, but Granddaughter Emory would know for sure.  I would think a Blue-footed Booby bird would have blue feet.  This one didn't, I don't think.  I can't be sure.  I only saw one foot because it had the other leg tucked under his body.  Maybe the other foot was blue. 

In any event, the bird eyed me fearlessly as I circled under his perch and snapped photos.  Actually, it was as though he was posing for me.  When I finished and returned to my seat, he flew away.  It was as if to say, "If you're through, I'll go somewhere else where I can be the focus of attention."

There's also a photo of the Loch Ness Duck.  I have never seen a duck do what this duck was doing.  It was a diver.  After one of his dives, he emerged with a fish in his mouth.  He then played with the fish for about fifteen minutes.  He would dive under the water with it in his mouth, surface, release the fish, then stab at it with his beak.  He would catch the fish in his mouth, then release it again.  At times, it appeared that he was pushing the fish through the water with his beak.  It reminded me of a trained seal at the zoo pushing a ball through the water with his snout. 

I didn't tell you this:  Yesterday, Annie steered her bike off the road and into the sand again.  The last time she did that, she scraped up her leg.  This time, it was less eventful.  Now, understand this, the road is twenty-feet wide.  How can you miss a road that's that wide?  I asked her how that happened.  She said that she got close to the edge, leaned toward the shoulder and had to steer in that direction to avoid falling off the bike.  Okay, but the road is TWENTY-FEET WIDE!  What was she doing so close to the edge?  She had no answer for that question.  I am going to enroll her in a basic course of bike riding.  That, or equip her bike with duel air bags, one on either side of the seat.

After relaxing until late afternoon, we mounted the bikes and road to the beach.  I instructed Annie to ride in the middle of the road.  Not surprisingly, she didn't drive off the road on this trip.  The surfers were out again, 18 of them by my count.  There is a new technique in surfing.  It is called paddle surfing.  The surfer propels himself through the water by standing on the board and using a long-handled paddle.  That would require balance and skill far beyond my understanding.  It looks pretty cool though.  We walked the beach for about thirty minutes as the sun set.  Beautiful.

The good weather has run its course.  The weather dudes are calling for a cold front tomorrow night with temperatures into the forties and rain.  I'll study the weather maps to see if there is a way to avoid the inclement weather.  Our plan was to move west tomorrow.  Now, all I can say is that we will do that only if remaining here or moving in a different direction will get us out of the nasty weather.  I didn't come here for nasty weather. 

 

January 14, 2013. St. Andrews State Park, all day long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 14, 2013.  St. Andrews State Park is where we spent a quiet day, just us, the wildlife, a sprinkling of campers and solitude.  We biked to the registration office this morning and found that the site where we spent the night was not available for the next two nights, so we moved 100 yards to a better site.  This site is on the water with a clear view of the lagoon that opens into the Gulf. 

 

After leaving the office, we biked to the beach.  The road took us past Gator Lake.  I rode down the boardwalk to the pond while Annie waited at the road, fearful that the gators might get a sniff of her blood.  Nothing to fear, there were no gators in sight or smell. 

 

At the beach, 2.5 miles of white sand, there were some women pawing at the wet sand with nets.  We're not sure what they were searching for.  The water temperature, according to one of the surfers, is 63 degrees.  The surfers were all wearing wet suits.  They seemed to be enjoying themselves, though the waves were pretty small compared to the California or Hawaiian coasts. 

 

We then spent a reflective afternoon sitting in our big fluffy chairs on the shore of the lagoon.  We read, napped and just enjoyed the nothingness we were doing.  We also enjoyed the lethargy of a squirrel who napped on a limb in a tree by our campsite.  I have included several pictures of him\her (How do you know the difference?) as a tribute to our long time friend, Fred.  Fred has trapped 17 of the little critters beneath his bird feeder.  Trapper Fred missed this one. 

 

So, a quiet day on the Emerald Coast was this.  Tomorrow should be a lot like today except we may do the laundry.   

January 13, 2013, Back at St. Andrews near Panama City

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 13, 2013.  We are back at St. Andrews near Panama City.  We drove to St. George Island as planned and it is a beautiful place.  However, the wireless signal on the remote island was too weak.  After the frustration of last night, we decided to retrace our trail to St. Andrews.  There were many vacancies at St. George and there are many here.  We're told that this is the low season in the Panhandle.  It becomes more crowded in March when the spring break kids show up.  That people epidemic continues into the fall.  In January, this is an ideal place for a couple of old snowbirds. 

This is also the campground where Annie fell off her bike.  Demonstrating the courage of a rodeo bronc rider, she mounted her bike after we were settled.  We pedaled around the campground without incident.  Fearless, is she.  Well, fearless, so long as we aren't talking about blood-sniffing alligators. 

Today was a slow day, picture-wise.  So, I arranged some discarded seashells on the picnic table.  There is also a white stork, four soaring pelicans and an artsy picture of the coastal highway between St. George and here. 

We will probably stay here several days, before moving further west.  We have been driving almost every day.  Tomorrow, our plan is not to move Harvey from where he sits now.  We'll see how that plan works out. 

By the numbers:  We have traveled about 2200 miles as of today;  we've averaged about 14 miles per gallon of gas;  the average price of gas so far has been about $3.25;  we've bought approximately 160 gallons of fuel, bringing the out-of-pocket fuel costs to about $500.  Oh, the chambers staff gave us gas gift cards for Christmas so the fuel expense is considerably less than $500.  The average cost of a campground site has been $25.  This is our eleventh night for a total cost of around $300.    So, without the intangible costs of operating Harvey, this has been an economical trip.  We've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of those dollars.  Maybe you should try it. 

January 12, 2013. St. Joseph Island State Park

 

 

 

January 12, 2013.  St. Joseph Island State Park. This island, near the bottom of the Panhandle of Florida, is a well kept secret. It is hard to get to, but the atmosphere is worth the effort. For those of you with a map handy, it is in the Gulf between Eastpoint and Carrabelle, FL. It offers a large variety of birds, white beaches and solitude. The campground contains 119 campsites, only a third of which are occupied.  The beach is but a short walk from the campsite.

Switcheroo:  We have changed our plans.  We have cancelled our reservations at Sanibel.  We have decided to stay on the Panhandle of Florida.  Here's our thought process.  It is 500 miles from here to Sanibel, 1000 miles round trip.  Once we leave this area, we leave the coast.  Roads along the coast don't reappear until just north of Tampa. We like the white beaches of the Panhandle.  The campground on Sanibel nearly twice as expensive as the state parks here.  We like the state parks in the Panhandle.  they offer all we need, are spacious and uncrowded.  So, Sanibel, see you on another trip to Florida.  Sorry. 

 

The one thing not to like about St. Joe is that the wireless signal in nearly nonexistant.  Later:  I tried to do this entry last night.  After nearly two hours, I gave up.   I had succeeded in uploading only three pictures.  It was simply taking too long.  I came back on Sunday, the 13th, and added pictures.  The shark photo was too good to leave out. 

 

Tomorrow, we'll travel about fifty miles to St. George Island and stay in a smaller campground there.  Then, we'll begin retracing our steps, staying longer in parks we've seen along the way.  We drove through several, but didn't stop.  One of those was Henderson State Park, near Destin, FL.

 

The forecast calls for temperatures in the 70s through the next seven days.  We're told that is unseasonably warm for this area.  After that, the temperatures will drop into the 60s, not bad when compared to the midwest in January.  We'll tough it out. 

January 11, 2013. Ah, Sunshine Clouded by Trauma.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 11, 2013.  This is day ten of our first January trip seeking sunshine and warmth.  On day ten, we finally found it in Florida.  I suspect it has been here all the time.  After an overnight shower, we awoke to clouds in Gulf Shores. As we traveled east, the sun popped through the clouds and the temperature rose into the the 70s.  Tonight, we are in Panama City, Florida.  Tomorrow, we will turn south and stay somewhere north of Tampa.  Sunday, we are reserved at a state campground in Fort Myers.  From there, we will spend time on Sanibel Island before moving to the island on Tuesday. 

 

We arrived at Saint Andrews State Park early enough to unlimber the bikes and tour the campground.  We had been out about fifteen minutes when I heard an "Umphhh" behind me.  I turned around to see Annie under her bike trying to get up.  I asked if she was okay.  Before she answered, I saw blood flowing from her right calf. 

 

She had been riding close to the shoulder and somehow steered her front wheel onto the sand shoulder.  The soft sand turned her wheel sharply causing her to fall off the bike.  The pedals on our bikes have sharp edges to hold shoes in place.  Her foot had slipped off the pedal raking the sharp metal across her calf.  I was pretty impressed with the flow of blood, so I did what I do. I took pictures.  I even took pictures of the blood on the road and the triage preformed when we got back to Harvey. 

 

Annie was pretty stoic about the incident.  The closest she came to panic was when she said, "Let's get out of here before the alligators smell the blood."  I don't think alligators smell blood, do they? 

 

So, we cleansed the wound, applied antibiotics from one of Annie's three, that's right three, first-aid kits.  I applied a bandage and she is good to go again tomorrow. 

 

It has been a good day.  We actually have warmth and sunshine.  We also have a story.  It doesn't get any better.  

January 10, 2013. Another foggy day in Gulf Shores

 

 

 

  



 

 

January 10, 2013.  This is our second day in Gulf Shores, Alabama.  We are still searching for sunshine.  The temperature is agreeable, close to 70 degrees, but we are still in the clouds.  We biked today for about an hour.  I wanted to ride to the Gulf shore, about a mile from our camp site.  Annie wasn't enthusiastic.  The ride was along a park road that was open to other traffic.  Cars zipped by at something approaching the speed of sound.  Annie flinched.  Half-way to the beach, she grabbed my bike by the handlebars and turned it 180 degrees.  "We're going back," she instructed calmly.  I have heard the calm voice before.  Beware the calm voice.  The calm voice foreshadows a fearsome explosion.  Wanna know what I said?  I said, "Yes, dear."  And back we went. 

 

This was also our second day to eat at Lambert's Cafe, home of the throwed rolls.  The choice of an eating place is always a topic which is thoughtfully discussed in Harvey.  The choices were to eat stuff we brought from home or go back to Lambert's.  After 20 minutes of discussion, we flipped a coin.   I didn't like the result of the first flip, so we did two out of three.  Fortune smiled.  The second two flips resulted in a drive to Lambert's.  Well . . . There are only three of them in the whole world.  And we were just few miles from one of them.  Had the coin failed two-out-of-three, we would have kept flipping until we got the result we wanted.  That is an unhandy way to make a decision, but it works for us. 

 

We stopped at the beach on the way back.  The photos show the sparsity of beachcombers.  There were some bountiful deposits of shells.  But we have shells, so we left them for those unfortunates who have none. 

 

We began to look at places to stay in Sanibel.  Surprise, the choices are limited.  We did reserve for two nights in a state park in nearby Fort Myers.  Perhaps, we can use those two days to find more permanent arrangements.  If not, we'll just move on.  That's the beauty of having no agenda and no deadlines.  Yes, life is good.