Lovin' Texas Hill County Style

soggy Louisiana

 we stopped briefly in Lake Charles Louisiana..... it was a bit too soggy for me!  Bayous on all sides

there were some interesting sights......

  we took photos...

and then the rains came - and it rained, and rained, and rained.

 We woke up to find ankle deep water - BAYOU WATER - all around us.  I watched out for snakes from the front steps while Fred (in the blue duck suit) unhooked our water supply....

 because we were moving on !

water water everywhere.....

Pensacola Beach

My kind of snow.  Hope you are all safe from the Nor'easter

Love this area!

Mardis Gras floats waiting for the  final touches

Beach cottages about 5 miles outside of
Fort Pickens

storms on the Gulf

We've had a couple sizable squalls blow through during the two weeks we've been out on the National Seashore.  The first storm was to hit at high tide, and the Rangers came around with notices that we had to pack everything up and be prepared to evacuate on a 30 minute notice.  The waves wash over the roads, and sand covers up all surfaces.  We waited it out and it blew on to Pensacola across the bay.

The 2nd storm was just a couple nights ago - and the winds were much worse.  No warning notices this time, although there was still wash over and roads covered in sand.  We were running errands in Gulf Breeze the next morning and passed by a construction site where a new water tower was about to get the final "skin" before completion - slated for this coming week.  We've been watching the steel frame go up steadily since our arrival.

The steel water tower was totally demolished, and the word is that winds over 80 mph were clocked over night.  Several cars were  caught under the collapsed building - but haven't heard of any injuries.  The construction is on one side of the parade route for the upcoming Mardis Gras festivities this weekend.

life in the campground

Fred is doing a bit of "House Keeping"  He gets the best jobs. 

I looked across at our neighbor's site, and was surprised to see a cat loose in their area -

      only it wasn't a cat..

     







     

We have really enjoyed the beautiful evenings and         sharing campfires with our neighbors.  We've met couples from Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, New York, Michigan,, Indiana,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota- and more.  There have even been a few Floridians who come to this area to celebrate Mardis Gras.
 One evening we toasted marshmallows (supplied by folks from Texas)  It was the first time since our days camping with the Girl Scouts.... when we swore off ever touching marshmallows again. 

 Must admit that 

I prefer a glass wine or coffee with my campfires.

Mardi Gras on the Gulf

Laissez les bons temps rouler, ya'all 





Let the good times roll...  it's Mardi Gras on the Gulf, and although we're not in New Orleans, the parties are everywhere.  We're only about an hour from Mobile Alabama, and about 2.5 hours from the New Orleans French Quarter, and every town of any size is rolling out their Krewes for parades and preparing for their balls or events.  Our local news here on the Gulf Islands National Seashore comes out of Mobile, and it seems there's a parade every day .





We'll be moving west on Saturday - right in the midst of the busiest weekend of the Celebration..... and trying to calculate how to avoid becoming trapped in the middle of someone's parade route.





this is the famous King Cake - truly the ugliest cake I've ever seen, and available everywhere.  If you've never had one, it's like a French pastry dough, covered in edible glitter, and has a baby hidden inside.  The person served the Baby gets to host next year's party.  Hope we'll be spending it here again.  Love this area.





Mobile is hosting several parades this week, including the Mystic Order of Time - complete with a dragon float that is very well known in the area/  The dragon is named ..Vernadean.


Seems appropriate, since this is also Chinese New Year - Happy Year of the Snake!

beware of soft shoulders!

There are signs everywhere warning drivers to stay off the shoulders - and now we know why!!!

This poor rental  car "Pulled Over" to take some photos - BIG MISTAKE,  The front tires immediately sank into the sand.  Fred stopped to help, and so did 4 other pickup trucks (Guys just can't resist a Rescue)..... but the front end just kept digging in deeper.  We learned that the travelers were "Parrotheads" - groupies following Jimmy Buffet - who was performing in Pensacola that evening.

We finally had to leave the rescue to AAA - and headed back to the campground to rescue the cats instead.  Hope the "Parrotheads" made it to the' concert!



can we add "Parrotheads" to our birding list?

Gulf Islands National Seashore -Pensacola Beach

  We headed on West to Gulf Breezes, Florida, and the Gulf Shores National Seashore Park across the Bay from the City of Pensacola.  There is a Federal campground at Fort Pickens  - 10 miles out on a narrow strip of sand.  We are still amazed by the beauty of this area!  The bay on one side - the Gulf on the other, and wild dunes in between.  Our camping neighbors have been so nice - and we've met many wonderful people.

Herons nest in the tops of these storm-damaged trees that surround the beach.  We spotted a Great Horned Owl nesting in an abandoned Osprey Nest.











 A boardwalk takes us over to the beach - miles and miles of untouched sand.....

The sunsets here are not to be believed - the color wraps 360degrees around - and the sand is so white it turns pink & blue..... and squeaks like snow underfoot.





we try try to keep a 5:15 appointment with the sunset each evening.

Panama City Florida

Panama City is a wonderful beach town - and very popular during Spring Break.  Glad we'll be gone before the younger crowds begin to arrive.

For now, it's a very sleepy  beach town - most restaurants are just starting to hire waitstaff - amusement parks are hanging signs about opening dates - and there;s an endless array of surf board and tee-shirt shops  trying desperately to clear out last years' inventory.

Here are a few of our favorite sights!

The upside down Wonderhouse is certainly an eye-catching landmark -   (Notice the upside down palm trees).  It sits right across from the Ripley's Odditorium  - and it appears that nothing is level inside it.

Another Ripleys - where's the Dramamine?

who wouldn't love a ride on the Vomatron??????  are you crazy!! 

 What is it a about this area where everything is off balance?  Not sure these would be my first choice for entertainment!  Didn't have time to explore -  the weather was too nice to stay off the beach.  

Maybe next year!