Surf's Up!

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2014 trip so far:  pronghorn, horse, llama, elk, bison, grizzly, bighorn sheep, mule deer, Uinta ground squirrel, wolf, black bear, moose, coyote, fox, bullsnake, bat, white-tailed jackrabbit, mountain goat, yellow-bellied marmot, river otter, longhorn cattle, prairie dog, white-tailed deer

*Birds we’ve seen on our 2014 trip so far: bald eagle, grouse, osprey, magpie, red-tailed hawk, Canada goose, great horned owl, American kestrel, sandhill crane, cliff swallow, mountain bluebird, Ferruginous hawk, cinnamon teal, Clark’s nutcracker, northern flicker, Brewer’s blackbird, red-winged blackbird, Lazuli bunting, common merganser, American white pelican, wild turkey, brown pelican, seagull, great egret, great blue heron, gull-billed tern, sanderling, belted kingfisher

 

 [Click on any photo to enlarge.]

Southbound was our direction, going through IL, KY, TN, and AL before arriving in the FL pan- handle.  The skies were overcast most of the way with occasional rain and we even had some snow flurries at the Franklin, TN, Wal-Mart where we stayed.  Along the way we passed this Veterans Memorial Bridge that was built in
1921.  It was the first concrete reinforced bridge in Alabama and is a registered Alabama Landmark located right next to the highway.  However, once we got to Florida, we found the sunshine and the palm trees along the Gulf Coast (though it was still chilly).

 

   Our destination was T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park (stjoseph) which is surrounded by St. Joseph’s Bay on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other.  This 2,516 acre park has 10 miles of white sand beach on the Gulf side that is rated some of the best in the U.S.  The park
opened in 1967 and is also well known for its excellent bird watching opportunities with over 240 species having been spotted in the park.  Though we didn’t see near that many, we did see a lot, some we could identify and some we could not.  These photos are just of a few of them.

The park has two campgrounds and we had reservations for the one called Gulf Breeze. Across from our site were sand dunes, and on the other side of them was the beach and Gulf of Mexico.  Walking on the dunes is prohibited so we had to walk about 75 yards to a boardwalk that took us to the beach.  However, this photo is a sunset behind the dunes as seen from our site (forgot to take one of our actual campsite!)

 

The weather was chilly the first couple of days, even dropping to 27°F one night!  By Friday it had warmed up nicely and we walked down to the beach for a look (the water was way too cold to get in as far as we were concerned!)  I
       probably should have spent a little more time there that day because the storm began rolling in that night bringing the wind and rain.  In between rain showers the next day, we again walked to the beach and the water was no longer that
   beautiful calm blue.  It was gray and roaring!  And despite the warning flags and sign indicating that the water was closed to the public, you can see that folks were still allowing their kids to play in the surf...crazy!  We could hear
      the waves from our site, and the next day the skies were even grayer and the waves even more intense (see photos below).  The weather finally cleared but it was still too cool to hang at the beach.

Our next stop was about 50 miles further east taking us back up to Hwy. 98  on the “mainland”, traveling along the Gulf Coast, and across a couple of long bridges between Apalachicola Bay and the
      Gulf of Mexico to St. George Island.  We saw lots of birds along the way, many of them pelicans...flying, diving, or simply hanging out together keeping their eyes out for the fish below.
 

   We had reservations to stay at Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park (stgeorge) which is surrounded by Apalachicola Bay on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other.  The park opened in 1980 and has 9 miles of undeveloped beaches which are also ranked among some of the
best in America.  This 1,962 acre barrier island park has 60 camp-sites though none are close to the water but rather about a quarter mile walk to the beach.  Despite no close proximity to the water, we had a really nice site, and at both parks enjoyed almost nightly campfires (weather permitting).

 

Pets are not allowed on any Florida state park beaches, but we found a public beach about 5 miles away to take Abby.  She had a blast running on the beach and into the waves when we briefly let her off leash.  As we continued our walk, we also discovered some "sand art" that had not yet been washed away by the surf.

 

On our way back to the RV we stopped at one of the roadside seafood trucks and picked up some fresh grouper.  The guy said it had been caught fresh the day before and had not been frozen.  We cooked it for dinner that night, and though it was good, we’re not sure it was worth the price ($14.99/lb).

 

Despite the weather and my lack of beach time, these couple of weeks along the Gulf Coast were quite enjoyable and relaxing, but now it was time to head further south to our home for the winter…Lake Magic RV Resort in Clermont, FL (in the Orlando area).

The Most Direct Route

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2014 trip so far:  pronghorn, horse, llama, elk, bison, grizzly, bighorn sheep, mule deer, Uinta ground squirrel, wolf, black bear, moose, coyote, fox, bullsnake, bat, white-tailed jackrabbit, mountain goat, yellow-bellied marmot, river otter, longhorn cattle, prairie dog, white-tailed deer

*Birds we’ve seen on our 2014 trip so far: bald eagle, grouse, osprey, magpie, red-tailed hawk, Canada goose, great horned owl, American kestrel, sandhill crane, cliff swallow, mountain bluebird, Ferruginous hawk, cinnamon teal, Clark’s nutcracker, northern flicker, Brewer’s blackbird, red-winged blackbird, Lazuli bunting, common merganser, American white pelican, wild turkey

 

 [Click on any photo to enlarge.]

The most direct route for us from Yellowstone to Florida just happens to be through St. Louis, and even though our stays are not always very long, we still manage to catch up with a few friends which generally seems to include plenty of food and drink!  Once again we parked ourselves in the Hollywood Casino parking lot.

Of course we made our usual stop at Lombardo’s Restaurant (www.lombardosrestaurants.com/) to see Carmen and Angelo and enjoy some of the best Italian food around.  When we walked in, seated at a table just inside was an old friend of Russ’ dad who he
       had not seen in many, many years.  I’ve often heard Russ and the guys talk about Mr. Byers, and it was a pleasure to finally meet him.  While Russ visited with him for awhile, I sat with my friend, Gloria, who had been able to join us for lunch.

We met up with Bob and Mike one afternoon at the VFW in Russ’ old neighborhood for a few brewskies and some fried fish.  The VFW’s fish fry is open year round every Friday held in their hall unlike the Legion’s which is only open seasonally because it’s held outdoors.  Whichever you choose, it’s still yummy and we usually eat way too much!

 

I caught up with Gloria and her bowling team to watch them for a bit, chat, and of course go to lunch.  Diane and Dana met us at the bowling alley (pictured with us at left), and we visited while the group finished bowling.  I left a little before they were done to pick up our other Diane friend, who’d recently had shoulder surgery, and 
    we all met up at Rich & Charlie’s Restaurant (richcharlies) where we asked the hostess to take a group shot for us.  Afterwards we hit the thrift stores for a little shopping…gee, the things I do for my friends.  J  We all love hitting those thrift stores!

 

   One afternoon I met Alice at her house in my old neighborhood, and before we headed out for lunch at nearby Crusoe’s Restaurant (www.dineocr.com/), her son, David, stopped by.  I hadn’t seen him since he was a little tyke and now he’s all grown with kids of his own!  He wasn’t able to join us, but Alice and I had a wonderful visit.

 

Our last night in town was spent at Steve and Patty’s watching the Tigers football game on TV (and catching up on our laundry).  John and Jim also showed up, and we all enjoyed the spread Patty had put out while we watched another exciting game with Mizzou beating the Texas A&M Aggies 34-27. 
      Definitely a fun night and a huge thanks again to Steve and Patty for the use of their washer/dryer and for being such great hosts.

 

And while we were at their place, it began to snow!  There was hardly
     any accumulation, nothing on the roads, but when we got back to the RV that night, we let Abby out for a run and she had a blast.

 

During our brief stay, we shared meals and good times with friends, and though we may not have seen everyone we would have liked, all in all it was a great visit, but now it was time to head south to warmer temps and no snow!

Go Tigers!

*Critters we’ve seen on our 2014 trip so far:  pronghorn, horse, llama, elk, bison, grizzly, bighorn sheep, mule deer, Uinta ground squirrel, wolf, black bear, moose, coyote, fox, bullsnake, bat, white-tailed jackrabbit, mountain goat, yellow-bellied marmot, river otter, longhorn cattle, prairie dog, white-tailed deer

*Birds we’ve seen on our 2014 trip so far: bald eagle, grouse, osprey, magpie, red-tailed hawk, Canada goose, great horned owl, American kestrel, sandhill crane, cliff swallow, mountain bluebird, Ferruginous hawk, cinnamon teal, Clark’s nutcracker, northern flicker, Brewer’s blackbird, red-winged blackbird, Lazuli bunting, common merganser, American white pelican, wild turkey

 [Click on any photo to enlarge.]

Our drive continued across South Dakota, Iowa, and into Missouri with some gorgeous fall foliage along the way and not just the yellows that we had been seeing previously!  Of course this photo taken through the front window does not do justice to the brilliance of the colors but seems none of those I took through the window
truly brought out their beauty.  This one at least shows the many different colors in one spot.  At our overnight stay at the Wal-Mart in Council Bluffs, IA, we were treated to a “bird convention” atop the nearby Menard’s sign.  Don’t think we’ve ever seen so many birds on one sign!

 

We arrived at Finger Lakes State Park (FingerLakes), about 10 miles north of Columbia, MO, and settled into the same site we occupied a couple of years ago.  The park is a reclaimed strip mine where between 1964 and 1967 Peabody Coal removed 1.2 million short tons of coal.  Now it’s popular for camping, fishing, mountain biking, and ATV riding.  Russ’ alma mater, the University of Missouri (Mizzou), is in Columbia, and this campground was the perfect jumping off point for us to enjoy campus activities for the next couple of weeks.

 

First up was the annual homecoming football game the day after we arrived. We didn’t attend the parade this year and opted not to attend the game but instead enjoy Doug’s tailgate party.  His set-up was in a corner spot of the parking lot just outside one of the stadium entrances near the end
zone, and we had a fairly clear view of the Jumbotron to watch the festivities and the game.  At one point before the game, a photographer was going around to the various tailgates taking pictures to post on a website called Hit-Pics.com (guess you can purchase the pics if you want but they also allow you to copy, post, email, too).  The guy saw Abby and asked if he could take our picture, and I was happy to oblige!  Mizzou was celebrating its 175th anniversary and its 103rd homecoming, this year playing the Vanderbilt Commodores.  The university was going to
try something new this year and asked that all who were attending the game wear either gold or black depending on the location of their seat which would give a black/gold striping effect to the stadium.  Amazingly it worked out pretty well and we noticed later that it looked even better on TV!  Final score -
   Mizzou 24 - Vanderbilt 14…that’s a winner!  We all celebrated the win with a late night dinner at the nearby TGI Friday's while Abby rested and recovered in the car from an exhausting day...she really hated all the fireworks that went off after each score!

 

   A few days later we went to a pre-season exhibition basketball game at the Hearnes Center with free admission.  The evening started with a great rendition of the national anthem sung by the Self-Contained Barbershop Apparatus Quartet.  It was a few days before
   Halloween and “The Antlers” cheering section was in rare form with many of them dressed for the holiday though they seemed not quite as raucous as their reputation and as we've seen them in the past.  Maybe it had something to do with the Athletic Director sitting
    not far from them! J  The men’s team was playing the William Jewell College Cardinals, and though the Tigers are a young team this year under new head coach Kim Anderson, they won convincingly 72-31.

Earlier this year I reconnected with another cousin, and since she and her mom live only about 40 minutes from where we were staying, I made arrangements for a visit.  Kathy made sure to let her brother, Danny, know I was coming so he was there when I arrived, too.  Unfortunately he
   couldn’t stay long since he had to get back to work, but I was so glad he stopped by and enjoyed some pizza with us.  Aunt Rosie, Kathy, and I had a wonderful time catching up over the next few hours.  We figured out that it had probably been over 30 years since we’d seen each other…way too
long!  While I was there, Aunt Rosie returned two pieces of embroidery artwork that I had made for her brother, my Uncle John, many years ago which she became the caretaker of after his death.  She knew they had always held a special place in my heart, and it truly touched me that she had held onto them all this time.  When she gave them to me, she said they were “going home”. It was truly a wonderful visit.

 

The following Sat. we made plans to meet up with Jim and Judy so we could carpool to the football game since we’d be sitting together.  However, before the game we enjoyed lunch at The Old Heidelberg Restaurant (www.theheidelberg.com/), a
     cornerstone of the Mizzou campus since 1963 and the gang's old stomping grounds.  Good food with good friends to kick off the day!  Then back at the stadium parking lot, the four of us enjoyed our own little tailgate before heading
    inside.  Our seats were 26 rows from the field, and it was standing room only with an attendance of 62,004.  It was Military Appreciation Day, and there were several tributes to service members including one of those touching moments of a surprise visit home for one family though I
couldn't get a decent picture of them.  Missouri was playing the Kentucky Wildcats, and it was an exciting game with the Tigers prevailing 20-10!  After enjoying another late dinner at TGI Friday’s, it was time to head back to the RV as we’d be leaving the next morning to continue east.