A Day of Travel

This was the story of Wednesday:

We traveled about 200 miles west and are now at Dauphin Island Campground in Alabama.  It has a good location going for it, but that is about all.  Our site is very small, right up against another camper, and bumpy with lots of tree roots.  The bathrooms are quite awful, though, to be fair, they are obviously in the process of building a new bathhouse.  

Ranger does seem to like this place, however; he was up at 5:30, ready for a walk which ended up being almost an hour long.  There are also cats all over, concentrated near the fish-cleaning station, so that is pretty entertaining for him.

We are looking forward to seeing Kelly later today, when she gets off work.  

Last day at Grayton Beach

After yesterday's successful trip to the dog park, we took Ranger over again to play. However, he must have been either too tired or too sore from all that running---he played but not as long and not as vigorously.  He still seemed to enjoy being off leash for awhile.

I spent some more time out on my bike while Dan relaxed at the campsite with our tired dog.

One more trip to the grocery store ended our last, lazy day at Grayton Beach.  In late afternoon we packed up the screened room, put bicycles on the car rack, put away the lounge chairs, and retreated to the RV for some soup and a quiet evening.  Waiting for the rain....which definitely fell during the night!  (So nice to have a roof over our heads on nights like this.  

Happy Dog!

When we went to the local Publix for some groceries, we noticed a sign for an off-leash dog park, so on Monday we went to check it out.  

Ranger loved it!

He had a chance to chase his frisbee and then take a walk around the grounds.  He met two other dogs along the way and did pretty well with them, other than a disagreement over who "owned" that tennis ball.  When we got back to the campground, he drank LOTS Of water and then collapsed for a good nap.

After lunch and some lounging, Dan and I biked up to Watercolor, parked the bikes, and walked around some of the shops.  Very upscale....not tempted to buy anything, other than that small ice cream cone that cost me $7!

The weather continues to be good: sunny, breezy, highs in the 70's and lows in the 60's.  Rain is supposed to move in overnight, though, so we will probably pack up much of the stuff this afternoon in preparation for tomorrow's drive to Alabama.  

Cycling and walking on a windy day

Sunday was an overcast and windy day which again started in the mid-40's.  By late morning it was warming up, and we headed out on our bicycles along the bike trail, westbound.  One sees more from a bike than a car, and we passed lakes, state forest, and lots of rental houses and condos.  We stopped for a break (and coffee) at Gulf Place, about 5.5 miles from the campground.

The beach houses here share a common design: narrow, tall, with lots of balconies and decks.  And there are LOTS of new ones going up along Rte 30A, gated communities with beach access.

With about twelve miles of biking behind us, Dan was ready for an afternoon nap (along with Ranger). I headed out for a walk on the beach. (Dogs are not allowed on the beach, so most of our walking has been on roads and paths around the campground.)  The wind had really kicked up the waves in the Gulf!

And it being a Sunday, we ended the day with some TV: season's final episodes for Mercy Street  and Victoria.

Exploring the Florida Panhandle

Yesterday we decided to explore the area more broadly, so after a lazy start to the day we got in the car and headed west.  County Rte 30A has many rental houses and condos, alternating with small shops and restaurants.  It led to Route 98 which runs east-west along the Gulf.  While it was, at first, a pleasant ride, as we neared Destin there were strip-malls, outlet malls, chain restaurants, etc. etc. etc. along both sides of the road.  Do people really need so many places to shop???

Farther west in Destin, we came to tall high-rise apartments on the beach, then more stores and malls.  At Fort Walton Beach, we turned north and continued the loop around Chocktawhatchee Bay, going through Valparaiso and Niceville.  Then back south again to our starting point.  Before going back to the campground we did some grocery shopping, and in the process discovered an off-leash dog park that we will  need to try out.

After a late lunch we again took the bike path, this time going west. Along the path, there are small lakes like this one:

 We turned off into the small town of Grayton Beach which consists of many older rental beach cottages, some bars and restaurants, and (of course) a public entrance to the beach.

With the continuing cool nighttime temperatures, we enjoyed our first campfire of the trip, with Dan grilling brats on the grate.  

Relaxing day at Grayton Beach

Ranger was up and ruffing at 6:00; both of us are adjusting to the change in time zone.  It was a chilly 44 degrees at that hour, but it warmed up quickly as the sun rose.

Our campsite at this park is in the older section, with lots of trees and shrubs to provide privacy.

The other loop in the campground is newer (and has better showers) but it's much more open and grassy.  We spent time lounging around the campsite and saw a number of birds (notably ruby-crowned kinglets) flitting around.

We got the bikes out in early afternoon and headed down the local bike trail, which runs for 18+ miles along county route 30A.  We went east and soon were in the neighborhood called Watercolor which is an upscale newly-built community of fancy shops, restaurants, and condos.  A browsing in realtor.com showed that houses there were in the 1 to 6 million dollar range!

Dan was in the mood for pizza so we had an early dinner out at Angelina's, right along 30A.  As the temperatures dropped again (heading into the 40's), we spent a cozy evening reading in the RV.  

Arrival in Florida

Day 3 (Wednesday) took us from southern Georgia, past Jacksonville and Tallahassee, and to our first destination: Grayton Beach State Park.  Interstate 10 is flat and mostly straight, through farms and forests, a rather dull ride.  We turned south at DeFuniak Springs, heading to the park which is about midway between Panama City and Pensacola.  

The change in time zone threw us off a bit, so after grilling chicken for dinner we headed in early and were asleep shortly after 9!

As the weather report said, a front came through during the night, dropping some rain and bringing wind and cooler temperatures.  The high for the next few days is supposed to be in the upper 60's, still not bad for early March.  

Ranger and I were up early for a walk.  The campground is on the inland side of Western Lake; beyond the lake are the sand dunes and then the Gulf of Mexico.  

As I type this, it looks like the clouds are breaking up, so it should be a good day to start exploring this area.  There's only one hiking trail, but there are bike trails along Route 30A which runs parallel to the Gulf and you can rent canoes to go out on the lake.