Day #4 Vacation

 

our view from the upstairs deck off from the  kitchen

     Monday...awaken to a cloudy day.  It remained over cast all day, and the waves, like yesterday was strong and a lot of them.

    We saw the dolphins again in the bay.  A whole pod of them.  You just see them coming up out of the water, and then right back down as they swim. They swim one way-probably eating their breakfast, then eventually they might come back by going back into the bay.  

    We  drove back to the two Dollar stores.  One was like a grocery store too, bigger than what we have back home.  On the way here, in southern Alabama, there was a dollar store every 5 miles! Really! And they looked busy too. 

    Anyway, we decided to buy some beach chairs, probably should have brought some folding chairs from our camper-

    I found 2 chairs left that were not folding, but were a better price then the folding ones.  Those were they kind that sit low to the ground.  For the beach.  But I did not think they would be easy for me to get in and out of with my one knee (former surgery). No others were available and I really did not want to drive back to a walmart.  (20 plus miles).

    So I negotiated the  price down... originally priced at about 11 dollars each, I got the one for 5 and the other one for 7-1/2.   Once back, we spent the rest of the day on the beach or back in the house. 

our beach chairs 

 Scott got his metal detector out and searched the beach. 

 This is what he found:

The waves were good with the shells, found a lot of smaller ones.  Only two of the larger type of shells.  I do not know what I will do with all of them, but I like looking for them.

Day #3 of vacation

So we woke up and enjoyed the sunrise, watched dolphins playing in the bay---

then spent the morning settling in.  We decided to go for a drive, and went back to that park for more photos.  It was on the way to a walmart we needed to go to for some things we needed for the week.  Then we drove the other way, to a few more stores.

I found these shells.  Later I found out the one had a resident in it. We argued about who got to keep the shell, I won.

this is one of those things...not sure what the name is..swims all over the place

cool tree with moss on it by the bay

the tree roots

tree roots

We went back to the home we rented, and found that no internet connection still.  I have school work to do, (I am doing distance program) so we d rove up to a McDonalds, and I spent a half an hour getting on line! Ugg!
Then 2 hours to do homework while a family with children including teens, screamed and laughed beside me.  Hard to concentrate.
I have to say, I have a wonderful patient husband that waited for me to finish....
The McDonald's did have christian music playing, that was nice.  I do not eat their food, but did thank them for the selection of music before I left.

We got back to the unit

That evening, we watched the sunset on the beach and watched the dolphins again, some jumping out of the water!  I did not get photos of the dolphins, but did get a video I might post later somewhere!

Vacation Day #2

The hotel we stayed at told us that Donald Trump was in town for the day.  We did not go hear him.
Up and on the road by 9 am (yes we slept in, it is vacation after all).

Today we would arrive about 4 pm at the place we rented.  That was the plan. But it did not happen.  Instead, lots of traffic once we left the hotel.  The drive into alabama, and the first major large town, took about an extra hour and a half than it should.  Then once past the town, it took an hour to drive 13 miles! The traffic went at a whole 10-15 mph.  Yes that was as fast as we went.  So much for the 4pm arrival time.  We did not get to our area until after dark.  We were about what we thought was only 5 miles when we went over the bridge you see below in the photos, but the GPS kept saying we were 20 + miles away.  I did not believe it, but thought-well maybe?  We stopped after going over this bridge, at a small roadside park by the ocean.  When we got out, I said, wouldn't it be neat if we could see a dolphin swimming? No kidding, but less than one minute after I said that, there was a dolphin swimming in this bay.  Scott and I both were excited about that, it was the first time for me to see one in the wild!  I have been to florida before, but never saw one in the wild that I can remember.

The bridge we first went over on day #2 just before our area where we will stay.

view of that same bridge, when we stopped at the road side park

the small bay area

sun going down

another view of the bay

a selfie! 

So we thought we better get  back on the road to get to our location, I could have sat at that park for a few more minutes, it was so  fun and relaxing.  Nice to be with my sweetheart!

So on the road we went...and the GPS kept us going, and going, and soon it was dark.  Then we were still going, those 20 plus miles, and we were out in the middle of no where.  The ladies voice says: you have reached your destination.  We saw trees, no buildings, nothing...darkness...nothing.  We turned around, and I gave up on technology and we found the place the old fashioned way, hand held map, and common sense.  This was the second time this GPS thing took us to the wrong spot.  (the other time was the hotel..it had us exit 2 exits before we should have...I knew better, but listened anyway...we drove thru town and shopping areas looking for the hotel!) 

That GPS sits in the glove compartment now. 

So we arrive, and I have to figure out the lock system.  Finally here! We carried everything in, food for the week, our luggage and my mountain of pillows.  

We went to the sliding glass doors and opened them and just enjoyed the sound of the ocean, which was just steps away from this place! So peaceful!

Sleep was wonderful, relaxing. Great day #2, I will post more later! 

Vacation 2015 Day #1

Well we finally got to have a vacation! The summer of 2012 was the last time that Scott and I went on a vacation anywhere.

We came to Florida.  Now this state is one of my least favorite states, but I wanted to sit on the beach.  We thought about the east coast, along the carolinas, but that did not seem like the area we were to go.  Glad we did not, they had a hurricane there last week! SO this week would still not be the best time to go there!

We decided to try the gulf area, along the pan handle.  Mexico beach.  I searched and searched for a cabin, one with all of the amenities we needed and wanted.
Found one, and so the plan was to leave on a Friday afternoon, and take 2 days to drive to Florida, enjoy the area for 5 days and  go back home.  So this is day one information!

Friday we tried to leave by 11 am, Scott worked 4 hours and came home at 10:30  but we had a few things come up and did not get to leave until noon.  We were driving until Nashville, then planning on staying in a hotel.  Driving went fine, but there was so much road construction that we were delayed a bit.  We wanted to get to the hotel by 8pm but did not arrive until about 9:30 or after.
The following are some of the photos from day one.

On highway 65 south

My view

Scott's view

entering Kentucky