Tag: beaches

RV Life Daily Blog – 1/9/24

Post Storm – Traveling with Rich & Julie

The storms and wind rocked and rolled the RV most of the night and sleep was intermittent at best.

Thunder and lightning woke us up, along with the weather warning system on our phones. My stomach sunk just once and thoughts of damage entered my mind.

I am so glad we have a NOAA weather radio in the RV.

I have to admit though that I do love the sound of the rain hitting the roof. You just don’t hear that in a well-insulated house.

I believe the warm gulf air was fighting with the cold north air and lost.

Temperatures overnight were near 70 degrees, and it looks like we will be getting temperatures below freezing this coming weekend.

We just can’t get away from the cold. A friend of ours is parked down near Tampa, Florida and their temperatures are only in the 50’s.

The campground shuts off the water in the entire park at 32 degrees. Looks like we will be without water for several nights.

Today we did a Walmart Grocery Pickup and decided to drive around and see if there was any storm damage I could photograph.

The first thing we noticed was how badly the stoplights were swaying in the wind. It is still quite windy here.

Check out the high waves in the top photo. We were told they were 12 to 17 feet high.

We drove along Highway 292 to 98 out to Pensacola Beach and Pier. We found a few places where water was across the road but it wasn’t very deep.

I saw one broken telephone pole and almost wasn’t quick enough with the camera.

There were quite a few palm tree leaves on the ground but we didn’t see any fallen trees.

In some places the white sand was drifting across the road like snow does up north. I wonder if they call them sandplows down here instead of snowplows?

The white sand blowing and drifting sure reminded us of Ohio.

Most of the beaches were closed today but we were able to get some cool pictures of the waves from the road.

We heard on the radio that the Navarre Beach Pier sustained some damage and will be closed until further notice.

We drove all the way there and couldn’t see anything in particular.

A sign was tipped over and a worker truck was there to fix it.

It was a fun day driving around looking for something to photograph. We came home and played cards with two friends. Walt is from eastern Ohio and Alex is from Arkansas, although she has lived in a lot of different states over the years.

Walt lost a piece of his RV in the wind, but not a vital part. I don’t think anyone else in the campground had any damage.

Life in the RV was good today.

We left our traditional house and way of life behind and pulled out of the driveway in an RV on April 25, 2022. We are coming up on two years soon and I have loved every single day of the adventure.

Thanks for reading and allowing me to share our adventures with you.

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RV Life Daily Blog – 12/30/23

Saturday, December 30, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

It’s New Years Eve Eve!

As I sit here drinking my coffee and glancing out the window, I can see that the campground is beginning to fill up with RVers from all over the country; mostly northerners coming south for the winter.

I expect that a lot of them stayed home to spend Christmas with their families before coming south to warmer weather for January, February, and March.

We have met travelers from Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, just in the last few days. Last week someone from Montana pulled in.

It was such a nice day we decided to get out of the RV and go do something. The first place we went was to the Gulf State Park on Lake Shelby.

Although we have driven through the park we had not pulled in and parked or looked around much. The pier is partially closed due to damage sustained from Hurricane Sally.

There were lots of decorations and I bet it is pretty after dark. I wonder what people in Ohio would think if we had put a lighted alligator in the yard.

Or a shark. The park was booming with tourists. There seems to be more people now that Christmas is over. It is also vacation week for many and we have been seeing more college students.

From the park, we headed east from Orange Beach to Perdido Key. The condos and hotels along the shore are magnificent, and gated.

We drove past Perdido Key to Pensacola and pulled into Palafox Pier. It was packed and all parking spots were full. I didn’t want to walk two blocks so I just snapped a picture of the Plaza de Luna Memorial Monument as we drove past.

Located on South Palafox Street at the end of Palafox Pier. Visitors to Plaza de Luna are greeted by a life-size statue of Don Tristan de Luna, a splash fountain, concessions, and historic markers. It’s a great place to fish, walk, and enjoy a cool breeze. — Pensacola Parks & Recreation

This is a beautiful area, and we will come back on a nice day and much earlier so we can park closer.

We drove by an old Rolls-Royce and Rich said to get a picture of it.

Google says it is a 1960s (63 — 65) Silver Cloud.

Next, we pulled into the picnic area on the south side of the Naval Live Oaks Nature Preserve, which is north of Pensacola Beach.

The seagrass beds in the shallow waters here provide habitat, food, and protection for fish, crabs, and shrimp. A family (mom, dad, and three little children) walked past us carrying buckets and scoopers. I asked them what they were looking for and they said crabs.

Rich walked around down near the water while I stayed up on the shore.

My right knee is quite sore, and swollen, and hurts to walk on it. Rich said he didn’t want me to go down there cause the sand looked wet and squishy.

We both wondered what these hundreds of little sand volcanoes were so I Googled it of course. It seems during extremely low tides, ghost shrimp will burrow up to four feet deep and wait for higher water.

Ghost shrimp live in the Gulf of Mexico and are more closely related to crabs, than to shrimp.

I doubt he is going to find anything. Google says that these shrimp burrow up to four feet deep. Ghost shrimp can live up to six days in burrows such as these without any air or oxygen.

We drive by Columbia Southern University every day on the Foley Express. It is a beautiful building and I decided to get a photo of it today.

We didn’t have much alcohol on hand for the new year, so we decided to stop in a liquor store and pick up a few things. We do enjoy drinking whiskey and soda (like Sprite Zero and Pepsi Zero). This package of Jim Beam and a glass was only $15.99.

We also enjoy some Vodka and Diet Cranberry Juice occasionally. This bottle of Seagram’s was only $6.99. We drink diet because of our sugar. Rich is a severe diabetic and has to watch. I am only borderline.

And of course, for breakfast, a good Mimosa cocktail hits the spot. Some people like 2 parts Champagne to 1 part juice. We usually just do about half and half.

Thanks for allowing me to share another day with you. And thanks for reading.

RV Life Daily Blog – 12/22/23

December 22, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

Some of our Ohio family flew down to southern Alabama last night to see us. Oh, how special it is when two little granddaughters come running into the RV and give the biggest hugs ever!

We spent last night in the RV visiting and playing games. We are the game playing grandparents.

This morning we cooked a big breakfast outside consisting of eggs, bacon, and toast. By 10 a.m. we were on our way to the beach with a picnic lunch of pb and j, chips, and apples.

The first place we showed them was the Bon Secour Nature Preserve. And then we took them to Gulf Shores Beach. It was awful windy today so we didn’t stay too long.

The sandy beach at Gulf Shores is long and wide and the view is beautiful.

The girls found a few nice shells but not many. The ocean water was warmer than the air.

The youngest granddaughter lives in the moment enjoying everything about where she is right now. No worries at all about what will happen next.

She is the one who had leukemia and is in remission. She is six years old.

We had so much fun watching her jump the waves and try to build a sand snowman that didn’t look like a snowman at all.

She also had fun chasing the seagulls around.

The older two grandchildren, 16 and 9, only enjoyed the windy beach for a short time because they are more into shopping the gift shops so we took them to some of the beach and surf shops before taking them to the Wharf.

The Wharf is a fun shopping and restaurant venue located in Orange Beach not to far from our campground.

The Ferris wheel is $8 per person and the train ride is $6 per person.

There are a lot of shops and restaurants and even an arcade. At the arcade they played unlimited games for 30 minutes for like $20.

The kids did it all and by the time we walked all the shops my knee needed a break.

We ate at Yo Ho Rum and Tacos and sat at a table outside by the canal water.

They have $2.50 20 oz. Margaritas and Rum Punch everyday until 6 p.m. and classic beef or chicken tacos were only $3 each. All six of us ate and drank for only $50.

Afterward the girls got an icee for dessert. I laughed at the brain-freeze snowman in the window.

When we got back home to the RV the kids and their mother had a cartwheel and handstand contest. I sat and took pictures.

Having the RV a mess gives me the feeling of the Christmas morning unwrapping mess that I don’t get anymore. I loved seeing the mess.

It’s late, I am worn out, my right knee is swollen, and I am ready for bed. I can’t wait to see where they will drag us tomorrow.

Beach Birds of Southern Alabama

December 20, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

A photo story of many birds in one place

We were shocked to see so many different breeds of birds in one place at a remote beach just west of the main Gulf Shores Beach. From Gulf Shores, we headed west on 182 and found a public parking area with access to the beach.

We found great blue herons, brown pelicans, willets, sanderlings, and seagulls all in one place.

We have seen several great blue herons while here, and I will never tire of photographing them. They are beautiful birds.

This one was sitting not too far from where we were walking and then it took to flight. I was fortunate enough to catch a photo of him in flight that was not blurry.

He flew to the nearest building and perched on the roof.

As we neared the beach we saw several pelicans resting on the sea wall.

The pelicans were not too bothered by us and were fun to watch. These are brown pelicans. The brown pelican and the American white pelican are the only two species seen on the southern Alabama coast.

The juveniles are brown all over and the adults have a white head and neck.

The willet is common in all areas of the Gulf Coast of Alabama. They are basically an extra-large sandpiper. We are seeing them everywhere we go.

I must declare myself a bird watcher. I am a person who enjoys watching and observing birds in their natural habitat.

Seagulls are common near any type of water. I was surprised to find out there are several types of gulls found on the Alabama coast. Google says the photo above is a white gull and the photo below is a laughing gull.

The sanderlings are also plentiful here on the southern coast of Alabama.

They are small wading birds and are fun to watch as they scurry along the beach sticking their long beak into the sand to find food. They are also part of the sandpiper family.

Before we left, the great blue heron came back and landed nearby as if to say so long. He stayed put while we walked by and allowed me to take several more photos of him. Who knows if this was the same bird or not, but I can pretend it was him.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the many birds of the southern Alabama coast as much as we did. Thanks for stopping by.

A White Sand Christmas in Alabama

December 5, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

It’s going to be a beachy holiday!

The soft, powdery white sand of the beaches of Alabama is the same color and texture as snow. Both are light and fluffy, and they create a tranquil and peaceful atmosphere. This visual similarity evokes feelings of winter holidays when snow blankets the ground and brings a sense of cozy warmth.

White sand and snow are both bright, gleaming whites that resemble purity and serenity. When you look at a white sandy beach, it can be hard to distinguish it from a snowy landscape, especially when the sun is shining and reflecting off the surface.

The pristine whiteness of the sand, untouched by the hustle and bustle of everyday life brings to mind the look of untouched freshly fallen snow of the northern states. It’s beautiful to experience.

Both snow and white sand are associated with festive seasons. Snow is a common sight during the winter holidays, while white sand is often associated with summer vacations and beach getaways. These similarities remind us of happy times spent with loved ones.

The gentle lapping of the waves against the shore creates a rhythmic sound like the wind blowing and snowflakes falling, further enhancing the connection between the beach and the snow at Christmastime. The warm yet chilly, salty air reminds us of the crisp, cold air that often accompanies snowfall.

The overall ambiance of a white sandy beach, with its relaxed atmosphere, and seagulls soaring overhead, creates a sense of holiday nostalgia similar to the cozy atmosphere of a winter cabin surrounded by snowdrifts.

White snow is not a common sight in Alabama, but the white sand of its beaches conjures up similar feelings of holiday cheer and warmth, reminding us of the beauty and tranquility of winter landscapes.

The contrast between the white sand and the turquoise waters creates a picturesque scene that is refreshing and inviting, making it a fitting place to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life and embrace the spirit of the holidays.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas from the white sandy beaches of southern Alabama.