Monday, February 28, 2005

05-02 Pensacola Florida, Big Lagoon State Park



The Roving Reporter
Week 2 of 52, Pensacola Fla. And Big Lagoon State Park
April 16-23

My second week on the road brings me to Pensacola Fl and Big Lagoon State Park. This area was hard hit by Hurricane Ivan. I drove over the causeway to Perdido Key and was amazed that all buildings older than 5-10 years old had been destroyed. Many had already been torn down and removed. Huge trucks looked to be working 24 hrs a day removing huge piles of rubbish from the destruction of those older buildings. Right next door huge high-rises were being constructed as the rest were being torn down. Only the huge new high-rises survived along the beaches. It’s going to be a new island getaway without a single old building remaining. Many of the high-rise condo’s and hotels are working to finish the cleanup and hope to open in June of this year.
Big Lagoon St Park opened recently and still shows much damage. All the picnic pavilions had only the telephone pole struts remaining. All the roofs had gone. Trees down everywhere.

Just down the road a piece from the St park on Innerarity Road, was a restaurant called the Original Point. They advertised a blue grass group called Bubba and Them so of course I had to go check it out. What a fun evening. I sat at the bar (for dinner). Ok I did have a couple Miller lights and some great seafood. As I listened to some great blue grass music a couple sat next to me and after a little conversation, Jitana literally drew a map across the USA of the best places to see along the way. Now that’s fine southern hospitality!

I’ll be picking up my mail in person from my mail provider which is located in Pensacola. Looking forward to seeing how it all operates. All my mail goes to them, they sort it, removing all junk mail… I never have to see junk mail again! Then when I call them on an 800 number, they mail a pkg. to where ever I’m stay that week.

I don’t have any big plans for this week, just organizing my next couple routes and determining where I want to stay. I did finish reading Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. The author of the Da Vinci Code which I’ll be reading next. Angels and Demons was a fast paced thriller. If you get it, don’t start reading it late in the day…. You might end up staying up all night reading it.

Note the creative satellite dishes one of the park camp hosts creates for sale. If your interested here’s the point of contact: Nancy C. Mills, 704 Alvis Ln, Norcross, GA 30093, Cell phone 678-575-2637. I believe she charges $45 each and about $20 for shipping. Or, if your creative, why not try paining your own dish. Speaking of satellite dishes, when I got to Big lagoon I went to set up my dome satellite dish. When I turned on the TV, it was already perfectly aligned. Amazing. My camper was positioned exactly in the right direction.

Met a couple from Jax who were out camping in their new Motor home for the first time in a year. I nearly cried. What a shame to have the power to go anywhere with an RV and it sits in the driveway for a year. That’s what we do with our lives sometimes. We have the power to do anything we want and yet we sit in the driveway watching life go by.



Your Traveling Reporter:
Doug Palosaari
PMB 3065
P.O.Box 2430
Pensacola, Fl 32513

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