More fun! to Friday, April 30th, 2021

We are the luckiest people on earth, Jimmy and I.  We've been on this west-to-east trip for over five weeks and have had terrific adventures and met up with wonderful people; family and friends from California to Florida.  To say we're filled with gratitude is an understatement, but oh-so-true. The pandemic showed us how much we value our "peeps" and how bereft we are when we can't see/hug them, so we are making the most of this road trip!  While we were in Alabama a couple of weeks ago, Jimmy's former (sail)boat mate, Thomas, invited us to park Tergel at their new beach house in the Town of Perdido Beach, Alabama on our way home.  We took him up on the invitation.

We go back a few years with Thomas and Carriann!  Thomas and Jimmy sailed together for years.  One story we love to talk about together is the time 15 or 16 years ago at a pancake breakfast when their first daughter Caroline, maybe three then, was happily clunking around in a tutu outfit and fancy high-heeled shoes, much to our amusement.  Reminds me now of Everly Rose!  These are really nice folks we're happy to call friends.

This beach house is almost completed -- it's really well built and it has an outstanding layout.  Thomas put in a 30amp and a water connection for their RV'ing friends.  You see we pulled Tergel right up to the connections, with our dinette window facing the water.

Gorgeous white sandy beach behind the new seawall.

Sad to say, last year's destructive Hurricane Sally tore up his boathouse and pier, as well as others in the area.  He plans to rebuild.

A cool breeze off Perdido Bay kept us cool and was ideal for sailing. 

Scenic viewer from local SeaCoast Mfg in nearby Fairhope AL enabled Jimmy to get a closer look.  These fine viewers can be found all over the globe.  Look for the Fairhope label the next time you stand at one of these long distance binoculars.

What's a person supposed to do when you're close to the beach?  Go!  The sky was overcast (and then ominously dark) on Thursday, but Jimmy and I wanted to walk along the soft singing white sand of Gulf Shores State Beach (while our hosts were at work).  Above, a squadron of Brown Pelicans approaches.

Laughing gulls and a Sanderling hangin' around.

You see fishermen and women and the pier in the distance.

We were parked at the Pavilion and were walking toward the pier, but that sky!  Having been doused already once this trip, we chickened out and turned around, walking the other direction for another mile (to be closer to the car if/when the rain began).

We kicked off our sandals and carried them for a while.  Finally we set them next to an empty lifeguard station and picked them up as we returned to the car.  It never did rain, but it threatened! The air was warm (not hot) and the sand felt cool.

Not many birds to be seen this time of year.

L - R, a Wilson's Plover, Willet, and Laughing Gulls.

Another tradition is eating at Lulu's at Gulf Shores.  Lulu is Jimmy Buffet's sister, and my Jimmy fancies Jimmy Buffet's music a lot.  No surprise they play JB's music at the restaurant!  We sat outdoors overlooking the Intercoastal Canal and enjoyed our lunch.

After lunch and heading back to Thomas', we were driving along on a country road interspersed with a house here and there.  I caught a glimpse of these from the corner of my eye and called out, "Stop, turn around!"   Jimmy asked, "Why?"  I couldn't quite describe why.  Because in an empty field in the middle of nowhere I saw these statues, four of 'em maybe 50 ft tall?, that seemed so out-of-place.  We stopped.  We looked.  We couldn't figure it out, and still wonder, why?

Is there an answer?

Back at the ranch, we went a-walkin' along the waterfront, eyeballing this heron standing on a floating board.  Not a stable board, either ... the heron was rockin' in the water!

Jimmy and Thomas -- Thomas is a big man with an even bigger heart.  The two are long-time friends.

Here are the five of us Friday morning before Jimmy and I left.  Thomas, Carriann, daughter Chelsea, me and Jimmy.  Chelsea is six (I think), ready to be seven, of course.  She and I had fun together, taking pictures and talking.  She visited us in the RV the night before, intrigued by our little house on wheels, examining every inch.  "You have everything you need," she said, after her scrutiny.  Yes, indeed, Chelsea.  We do have everything we need.

Thanks to all of you.  We enjoyed our visit very much.

Think: Cars! Fri/Sat, 4/16-17/21

I suppose I'm starting to sound like a broken record.  Yes, we drove the entire distance from Mobile AL to Tallahassee FL in the rain (roughly 260 miles).  And, indeed, we've about had enough of this rain!  Wish we could send a barrel full to Nevada City; alas, not possible.  The good news is we found a great Harvest Host site to stay for a couple of nights.  No hookups, of course, but parked up on level green grass is kinda special.  OK, where are we?  At the Tallahassee Automobile Museum.  And I have to say this:  Touring this museum put me in overdrive!  We took bunches of photos, but the museum is so chock-a-block full of stuff, that picture taking is a real challenge. 

This big boy is situated at the entrance to the museum grounds.  Background left, behind the tree, you see our Tergel, with Jimmy opening our door (red x).  We shared the grassy area with ten other rigs, spaced well apart.  Because we got to the museum shortly before Friday closing, we were given permission to stay another night, so we could visit again on Saturday.  Perfect.  On Saturday night, only seven RV's parked for the night.

These next two pics, above and below,

were taken before we even stepped foot in the giant facility.

You see I'm wearing my rain jacket,

twanging Elvis' guitar!

Inside ... oh my goodness, the collections were incredible.  To begin, over 160 classic, antique, muscle and movie cars are on display.  Like this $3,500,000 Duesenberg.  Everything shiny and brilliant.

Thousands of tiny or model cars.

Goofy dudes.

An extensive doll exhibit.

I couldn't begin to post all the pics of dolls.

If you're of a certain age, some of these may look familiar.

Really, I wasn't bored.  We were having a blast.

Something for everybody!

While still in Mobile, friends Sharon and Randy, texted to say let them know if/when we arrived in Tallahassee so we could get together.  Seemed breakfast worked out best, and we ate at The Egg Cafe Saturday morning, a long breakfast with lots to talk about!  What a treat to see friends we traveled with on our Peru/Galapagos Islands trip a few years ago.  Good to see you guys!

Back to cars after breakfast!  Cars lined the aisles on both floors of the museum, each one looking spiffy and shiny.  Some were fancy!

This place has to be a destination.  Look:  A collection of outboard motors!

A whole section of kiddie pedal cars (so cute).

I know Evie would like one.

An area was set aside for typewriters of all kinds, including everybody's favorite:  The Selectric.  Mickey Mouse memorabilia, antique cash registers, hundreds of feet of glass shelving for thousands of Case knives (who knew there were so many knife varieties?).  Plus, large collections of motorcycles and scooters, and so much more.  The main museum building is 100,000 square feet. It houses two floors of mostly American cars and a what can only be called a wonderful collection of Americana.

Golf clubs and golf collectibles at left,

baseball cards and assorted memorabilia on the right.

Looky here, they managed to squeeze in a Smartie

(yeow, check out the red!)!

Jimmy was kinda squeezed in there, too.

I liked this old car, it was so cool.  Jimmy got a phone call from Ibby at the same time we were admiring this beauty.  We'll be heading down to Sarasota in the next day or so to spend a couple of days with them (Bernice and Ibby).

I dunno, this may be the pièce de résistance.  

The museum was begun in 1996 by DeVoe Moore.  He's continued to add cars, etc., to his collections.  He "started with nothing and worked his way through FSU as a farrier (blacksmith)."  He's still at it, too.  At 82, he's driving to south Florida to look at a car ... and he's towing a trailer so he can bring it back.  

Classy days.  Bygone era.

What else?  He has one-of-a-kind Steinway pianos, Florida fishing lures, brass electric fans, law enforcement patches, stamp and coin collections, antique boats (canoes), three Batmobiles and a Batcycle, Native American artifacts, and Abraham Lincoln's horse drawn funeral hearse -- certainly the most historical  collectible on site.

Oh what a wonderful day!  Afternoon found us with our long-time friends, Mickey and Nancy, who still live in the neighborhood we vacated in 2009.  Ginger got her snoot in the picture, too. 😊 This lovely couple made time for us today, and we had a such a nice visit.  Mickey and Nancy were instrumental in us getting our first RV, our Class B+ Trail Lite, and they helped us learn how to use it!  They still hit the road every summer.  Friends -- new and old -- are the best.  We have full hearts today.

As I type this, 9pm on Saturday, it's still pouring ....

Fairhope AL, Thurs, 4/15/21

We endured a dreadful, stormy drive from my sister's place near Baton Rouge to our next camp at Eagle's Landing in Mobile AL, roughly two hundred miles.  Not one I'd care to repeat, but it's over, and I'm over it.  We were mighty happy to pull in and set up, breathing great sighs of relief!  As it turned out, none of the people we'd planned on visiting was available for the next day or two, so Jimmy and I naturally gravitated to a spot we'd enjoyed in the past when we used to live in the area -- Fairhope AL.

The quarter-mile long Fairhope Pier is a big draw for both locals and tourists.  Jimmy and I used to kayak in the bay, and once we even watched July 4th fireworks from our kayaks by to the pier, with the colorful bursts exploding right over our heads.  My brother, Rob, was with us then.  Jimmy used to love sailing in Mobile Bay.  This pier not only attracts fishermen and birds, it's also a favorite of walkers.

This pelican was sure, positively sure, that any fish this guy caught should be tossed to it.  Bottom right photo shows the fisherman telling the pelican NO, this fish will be used for bait.  The pelican followed the guy to his bait station, left, ever hopeful.  Nope, not this time.  (The fisherman had already thrown fish its way, but birds who are fed like this become beggars.)  It is amusing to watch.

 

The pelican wasn't flying anywhere, just exercising its wings.

Look at that wing span!

This gorgeous fella posed so beautifully.

Extraordinary plumage,

knobby knees and skinny legs.

A raucous Laughing Gull atop a pole.

These birds are very noisy.

Now off the pier and approaching North Beach Park, we spied Canada Geese gleaning the grassy area.  Their chicks (goslings) are cute and fluffy, but Canada Geese have become so numerous that they're regarded as pests in many parts of the country.

The rose garden overlooking the pier was looking a bit water-logged (no surprise!), but the rose blossoms were still pretty.  Fairhope delights in displaying seasonal flowers all over the city, and they do a bang-up job, too.  More below.

Classic fountain at the park's entrance.

Tomorrow we'll leave Eagle's Landing (Passport America C/G), and continue on our way east, into Florida.  First to Tallahassee, and then down to Sarasota.  We've already put 2500+ miles on Tergel, and she's still chugging along.  So are we.

How about a selfie?