Tag: Blogging

RV Life Daily Blog – 12/18/2023

December 19, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

Another day in paradise —

Yes, it really was another day in paradise. The weather here in southern Alabama is so comfortable. Highs in the 60s everyday and sunshine. We get to open the windows and let the fresh air in. I love it. It is nearly perfect, at least for us. We don’t have to run the air conditioning or the heat.

After a weekend of collecting shells on the beaches, which you can read about in the article below, we had to clean them all this morning. We washed the sand off of them outside. We don’t want all that sand going down the drain into the tank of the RV. Then we put them on a towel on the table to dry.

I ended up with quite a haul of shells.

After cleaning the shells, we cleaned the RV. We bring an awful lot of sand inside and it seems our daughter and three grandchildren are going to fly down to see us! They will be here Thursday and stay until Sunday morning for a Christmas visit. We want to make sure the car and the house are nice and clean for them.

We went to the laundry room and did two loads of laundry and then Rich laid down for a nap. He seems to take a lot of naps lately. I think it is because he gets bored. I have so many hobbies and things I can do like writing, drawing, coloring, or even crocheting. He has nothing like that. So when he gets too bored, he sleeps.

Speaking of crocheting, I decided to crochet a garland for our little two-foot Christmas tree today. I decided to use a light green yarn that I had plenty of on hand.

For this small tree, I crocheted a chain of 402. Then all I did was skip the first chain and then put two double crochet in each remaining chain all the way across and it automatically curls on its own.

I love how our little tree is turning out.

I am considering crocheting a small white tree skirt next…

Well, guess what I did before I went to bed…yep, I crocheted a small white tree skirt for the tree. I think it turned out pretty good for just making it up.

Thanks for stopping by to read and share RV life with us.

RV Life Daily Blog – 12/15/2023

December 16, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

The first thing I did this morning was open the window blinds to let the pretty sunshine in.

The second thing I did was spend a couple of hours on Medium reading and writing.

Then I decided I better get some Christmas cards written and mailed. It is the 15th of the month already. Who knows how slow the snail mail delivery will be? If I get the cards in the mail today, the USPS has 10 days to get them to my family.

I was a little sticker-shocked when I asked for four postage stamps and she said $2.66! Excuse me?! I had a half a roll of forever stamps when we moved into the RV and it has taken me two years to use them all. I didn’t realize how expensive they were now.

After the post office, we put gas in the car at $2.49. I remember paying over $6 a gallon when we were in the state of Washington in May of 2022.

With a full tank of gas, we headed south toward Gulf Shores and turned west on Fort Morgan Road.

We stopped at the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge and walked out on the beach. As the surrounding area becomes increasingly developed, Bon Secour is a natural oasis of wildlands, where wildlife can exist without harm.

The dune areas are off-limits and protected. This is the place to come early in the morning for large seashells. We found some pretty good-sized broken ones.

I also found some large mushrooms along the path and of course, had to take pictures of them.

And then I saw another amazing large oak tree that I just had to get a photo of.

We drove on down to the end of the road at Fort Morgan. Fort Morgan is a State Historical Site so our National Park Pass didn’t work for entrance.

The entrance fee is $8 per adult. We opted out for now and just took photos of what we could see from the road.

This is also the location of the Dauphin Island Ferry that goes back and forth from Fort Morgan to Dauphin Island.

We didn’t take the ferry today. Hopefully another day but it’s a little pricey.

We parked and walked out on the fishing pier. There was a man out there fishing who said he was from Scotland.

Another interesting site that I had to get a picture of was the oil rig just off the coast. I’m not sure if these are oil rigs or natural gas but there were several of them.

The only battery we could see without entering the fort was the Battery Dearborn on the road as we drove past. It was built in 1900 and completed in 1901. It was named after Henry Dearborn who was a distinguished soldier of the Revolutionary War.

We came home, had homemade chili soup for supper, and cleaned our seashell haul of the day.

Then we spent the evening watching Christmas movies on television.

It was another great day living in an RV that is currently parked in Foley, Alabama. Thanks for following along on our journeys.

 

 

RV Life Daily Blog – 12/14/23

December 15, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

Another day in paradise —

We spent the morning deep-cleaning the RV. We swept and dusted everything well, used Pledge and Windex, opened windows, and cleaned the screens. It was a warm sunny day. It was so refreshing to open the windows and get fresh air flowing in and out of the windows.

I have a shark vacuum but I would rather use the shop vac for the edges and furniture.

After lunch, we went for a drive over to Mobile Bay and explored a little bit along the bay coast.

The first place we stopped at was Mary Ann Nelson Park. There were several pelicans on the piers in the photos below.

This is a wonderful small park with a picnic table and a tiny public beach area.

Located clear down on the eastern point of Mobile Bay and Bon Secaur Bay, this is a nice place not to be missed.

From here we headed up Highway 1 north to Mullet Point Park closer to Fairhope, Alabama.

There isn’t much here except a boat ramp and dock. The views of the bay today were gorgeous.

Highway 1 turns into Scenic Highway 98 and continues up the bay to Point Clear and Battles Wharf. There are a couple of spots where you can stop and see the bay, but mostly this drive is filled with private residences.

From here, I took Rich on a side trip to the Point Clear Confederate Rest Cemetery.

The sign says that the Grand Hotel and the Gunnison House served as a hospital for wounded Confederate soldiers from the Battle of Vicksburg during the Civil War.

More than 300 Confederate soldiers who died in the hospital are buried here.

The identities of these soldiers were kept in the hospital records until a fire in 1869 destroyed all the records and the names of the soldiers buried here were lost forever.

We finished our scenic drive for the day at the Fairhope Municipal Pier. This is a well-known fishing pier in the area that boasts great fishing, lots of pelicans, scenic views, and a seafood restaurant.

North Beach, which is right beside the pier, was closed and we weren’t able to drive to North Beach Park. We didn’t feel like going any further north so we headed back home from the pier.

The evening was spent watching Christmas movies on one of the free LG internet channels we get on our LG TV. We saw Scrooged, The Christmas Story, Jack Frost, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

What did you do today?

Thanks for reading and being interested in our travels.

RV Life Daily Blog 12/12/23

December 13, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

I woke up this morning with more energy than normal and decided to do some baking. I haven’t done much in recent months and listening to old-fashioned Christmas songs like “Frosty the Snowman” reminded me of my childhood and put me in the mood. My mom and I always did a lot of baking when I was young and lived at home. Especially during the holidays.

I got out my homemade recipe book filled with family recipes and picked out a few things to bake.

First on the list was one of Rich’s favorites, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I love having these recipes. This is a photo of the original written in my mom’s handwriting. I never get as many cookies out of a recipe as it says I should. I guess I make them too large.

Next on the list was one of my favorites, the buttery snickerdoodles.

The recipe below is written by me when I was maybe ten years old and took a baking project in 4-H. I had to write out every step. I think I remember getting a blue ribbon for my cookies.

They turned out great. I stuck most of the cookies in the freezer so we don’t eat them all at once. I’m so happy with the new stove and oven we put in the RV. It cooks and bakes perfectly.

Third, I made some chocolate syrup brownies.

These are heavenly delicious. You simply must try them. I would recommend Hershey’s Chocolate Syrup but today I had Clover Valley from Dollar General on hand. They tasted just as good.

While I was baking, Rich walked the laundry down to the free facility provided here at the campground and washed two loads of laundry.

We have never found free laundry anywhere else. This is a wonderful service and we are thankful for having it. There are only two washers and two dryers but it has not been very busy when we wanted to use them.

After all that work it was nap time for Rich and Medium time for me. I still want to make one more kind of cookie, but it can wait until he wakes up.

While Rich was sleeping I went ahead and stirred up a batch of Chocolate Crinkles and a batch of easy peanut butter fudge and put them both in the refrigerator.

The cookie dough needs to be refrigerated for a couple of hours before baking it.

The easy fudge recipe I use is just one 18 oz. jar of creamy peanut butter and one container of Cream Cheese Frosting. Whipped or Regular both work fine. Put them both in a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir together well. Microwave another 30 seconds. Stir and put in a 9×9 square pan lined with wax paper. Then refrigerate for a couple of hours.

I just can’t get real fudge to set up right when I try to cook it on the stove, but this one is fool proof.

After all that I sat down in the recliner and put my feet up and closed my own eyes for a while.

Overtop of the extremely loud ringing sound that is constantly in my ears, I listened and heard large jets taking off and landing, the small aircraft pilot was giving flying lessons again today but it wasn’t as steady as yesterday was. A few vehicles pulled in and out of the campground and the manager was mowing the grass in several of the empty lots. A bird was chirping incessantly and I wish I knew what it was. I need to download an app that can identify bird sounds. And one of the neighbor’s little dogs was barking at something.

After an early supper, we drove to Gulf Shores Beach and watched the sunset with a great blue heron.

The Great Blue Heron is a large wading bird common near the shores. They are beautiful birds.

He wasn’t bothered a bit by us and allowed us to watch the sunset with him.

It was another great day in paradise. Thanks for coming along with us as we see America and photograph gorgeous sunsets like these.

Thanks for reading. See you tomorrow.

RV Life Daily Blog 12/11/23

December 12, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

Another day in paradise —

It was quite chilly in the RV this morning when we woke up. The temperature dropped to 34 degrees overnight. Sometimes it seems like we just can’t go far enough south to get away from the cold weather anymore.

The sun is shining and there isn’t a cloud in the sky. I remember learning once that clouds at night act like a blanket and when the skies are clear it gets colder at night.

We went for a walk around the campground this morning and I took a picture of the Satsuma Orange tree by the pavilion. The sign says not to pick the oranges until February. We are only here until the end of January and you can bet I am going to pick at least two of them before we leave.

Our campground is near a small airport and nearly every day several small planes fly around in circles for hours. I can only think that these are students learning to fly and need to get in hours of flight time.

It gets annoying before it gets funny. Around and around and around they go. When they will stop nobody knows. We can’t quite figure out why they insist on just circling for several hours. Can’t they fly in a figure-eight or a straight line and then turn around and come back? Neither one of us has ever taken flying lessons so we wouldn’t know.

As we were walking we met some neighbors a few spots down who are also from Ohio. A small town not far from where we call home. No matter where we go we meet new people and make new friends.

(I took this photo the other day when there were some clouds in the sky.)

Then a 2017 diesel Newmar coach from Minnesota pulled in and we met them. Talking to them confirmed our contentment with an older RV. They went into debt to buy it and now wish they hadn’t. It is expensive to drive and he can’t work on it himself. He regrets buying new and going into debt.

* * * * *
Have you ever seen chestnut brown pigeons? I hadn’t until today. Usually, pigeons look like the first two photos, but there was one brown one in the mix. He looked all fluffy and young but I searched Google Image and it said it is a pigeon. I believe it might be a Rock Pigeon instead of a normal domestic feral pigeon.
I am not sure though because it was the only one in the whole flock of pigeons. I just love driving around new areas and finding different birds and wildlife.
I made a large pot of what we call goulash for supper. It is simply ground beef and onion cooked. Then I add a few cups of beef broth, one can of diced tomatoes, and two cups of macaroni. Add some salt and pepper and let it cook until the macaroni is done.
We played some card games and Rich was a sore loser.
Other than that it was a pretty normal boring day at the RV. Thanks for traveling along with us. See you tomorrow.

RV Life Daily Blog 12/10/23

December 11, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

Another day in paradise…

Storms rolling through the area during the night were fierce. The bright lightning followed by loud thunder woke us both up around 2:00 am. The wind was strong. We lay in bed hoping the lawn chairs sitting outside would still be there when we got up in the morning.

And yes, everything was still there. The much-needed rain did no damage here in the campground. But I saw on the news that there were tornadoes in Georgia. Thank goodness we were spared from that.

It was a boring yet relaxing morning drinking coffee and listening to the radio. I did some writing and reading on Medium.

About lunchtime, Rich started his usual rummaging through the cupboards, the refrigerator, and the freezer, and said, “Let’s go grocery shopping.”

We drove to the nearest Dollar General and loaded up on some goodies. When we came back home we settled for toasted cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

Do you call it toasted cheese? I know a lot of people don’t. Everyone calls it something different. I blame my mother because that’s what she called it so that’s what I learned.

The only interesting thing that happened today was when we were sitting outside. The neighbor’s camper started rocking and pretty soon we heard a female voice begin to ooo and aaa. We could only assume one thing was going on inside that camper and listened as we pretended not to. After about 15 minutes the air conditioner turned on. I guess they were too hot. Then we heard some more ooo’s and aaa’s and just smiled at each other.

We spent the rest of the afternoon inside playing cards and games. It might seem boring to some people but we had fun. Maybe not as much fun as the neighbors did, but fun just the same.

The temperature is dropping and is supposed to get as low as 34 overnight.

Thanks for following along with us. See you tomorrow.

 

RV Life Daily Blog 12/09/23

December 10, 2023 – Traveling with Rich & Julie

Another day in paradise –

Today was a beautiful warm day in Foley, Alabama. The temperature was 79 and humid. We turned on the air conditioning for the first time this month.

We stayed home today for the most part and relaxed outside. We are parked at Alabama Coast Campground and as of now plan to stay put until the end of January.

We played a few games of Sequence this afternoon. It has become one of our favorite games. We have quite the competition and always play at least the best out of five games. And I painted my fingernails a pretty coral green.

The neighbors across the way put up some Christmas decorations today. It was fun watching him put the Santa up.

We left home at 4:00 pm and headed to the Portage Creek Canal and parked the car on E. Canal Drive with tons of other vehicles to watch the annual Christmas Boat Parade.

With a perfect view of the canal, we set up the lawn chairs and relaxed until dusk. The boat parade begins at Lulu’s Gulf Shores and ends at The Wharf in Orange Beach.

The neighbors sitting beside us were extremely nice and conversational. We visited with them and listened to Christmas music together. They informed us that there will be fireworks on the beach on New Year’s Eve.

The first Christmas boat parade we ever saw was last year in Florida. Having lived in Ohio our whole lives we didn’t know there was such a thing.

Fog started to roll in just around dusk as the parade started due to the warm temperature of the air and colder water temperatures.

It was a wonderful parade with a lot of fun decorated boats playing loud Christmas songs. The boats here were much larger than the ones we saw last year in Florida.

We were back home by 6:00 pm and it was already dark. We aren’t allowed to have fires here, mostly due to the statewide burn ban. It would have been a nice night to sit outside around a fire.

Thanks for traveling with us and reading about our adventures. I hope you had an enjoyable day today like we did.