Robertsdale AL
Perry Fl
Inverness Fl
Campground: Hidden Bay Rv. $20 (Passport America half/price) full hookups. Simple campground mostly pull thru sites. Nice swimming pool and new laundry room. Rec room is always locked but looks nice through the windows.
Campground: Camping World, Robertsdale Al. Repair work done, so I got the campsite/parking area with full hookups for free.
Campground: Perry Fl KOA. Full hookups, with cable TV and wi-fi. $30 (with discounts) - $39+. I was abler to get a Military discount having worked for the Navy, $30. Mini gulf course, big swimming pool and spa. Usually never stay at KOA's, they are too expensive.
Campground: Thousand Palms, Inverness Fl. Passport America, $16.50 half/off. Elect/water. 5 over the air TV stations available. Swimming pool, club house, small laundry. Nice old Florida park.
MISSISSIPPI
Waveland.
This is a nice location to be in. Away from the big cities and close to the Gulf Coast beaches. About an hours drive to New Orleans along some back roads through the bayou country. I went to the beach yesterday and enjoyed the sun (under my umbrella) with a nice breeze to keep the heat of the day from getting too much. The Gulf waters are already warm and it was fun splashing around in them. Didn’t see any tar or oil from the oil spills, but I’m sure they haven’t just disappeared. Will be interesting to see when and where that ecological disaster finally shows up. As I’m sure it will in the future. You know millions of gallon of oil just doesn’t go away, never to be heard from again.
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| 5 years later, scars are still visible from Katrina |
A few more homes have been built along the coast. Higher up and more fortified against the next big hurricane. But much of the land is still scarred and empty. Concrete foundations, driveways to no where. And they are slowly rebuilding the roadway along the gulf shores. Reminds me of little worker ants after their mound has been stepped on and they furiously start to rebuild it all over again in the same place. Except here it’s taking much longer and the effort seems just as futile.
Hidden Bay where I’m staying for a few days is pretty empty and when I called to make my Passport America reservations, the owner said, gee we normally don’t like to take Passport America on weekends, but they would anyway. (there are no restrictions on the Passport web page for this campground) Well, when I got here and saw how empty it was, I can imagine that they would have liked to collect the full nightly fee. Kind of gives the impression that they are just barely holding on.
Buccaneer State park which was completely devastated by the hurricane 5 years ago has reopened with over 200 campsites, many with gulf views. I’d plan on staying here the next time I’m in the area. I understand the full hookup sites are $24 a night. Great price for a million dollar location and views.
This is also the home to a gazillion Waffle House restaurants. Not sure why especially since the food is marginal at best.
So this morning as I was putzing around and I discovered a bolt was protruding up through the floor in my kitchen pushing up the linoleum. Can’t imagine what it’s attached to underneath the camper and or what it’s supposed to be holding (up?). I’ve got an appt at an Rv dealer tomorrow and hopefully they’ll be able to fix things quickly and I’ll be on my way.
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| who would think a bolt could unscrew itself |
So as if that wasn't enough, as I was trying to make a few calls on my Droid Verizon phone, I could make the call, but the person on the other line couldn't hear me. What’s up….. Did a quick search using the Droid for a local Verizon dealer, brought it in and they were able to fix it. For all those techie people out there, the Verizon techie told me it was probably the “app killer” program I had loaded on my phone. As it kills programs and leaves tons of stuff on the ram memory, clogging up the whole system. He deleted the program and re-booted the phone and all is well now. Said the clue was if your phone starts giving crash messages like, “program not loading, wait or force closure“ your ram is clogged. Also said try to remove battery and reinstall, which forces the phone to completely start over like new. Usually works…. I’ll try and remember that next time.
ALABAMA
Next day, the “bolt” popping up through the floor has been fixed and they didn’t even cut into the flooring where it shows. Nice work done by Camping World. Course it took most of the day, but I’m staying overnight in their free campsites. Warranty work that would have normally cost $228 but was free under the warranty and a free campsite for the night. I’m pumped. You know free is my favorite price.
Just a note on Alabama. Robertsdale, where I’ve stayed overnight while the camper was being fixed, is on the peninsula sticking out into the gulf of Mexico. From what I’ve learned about the area, is, it’s a great vacation area especially for campers. there are numerous Rv parks near the Alabama coast, some within walking distance of the beaches as well as a State Park. I think I will explore this area again. It’s also close to Pensacola Fl.
FLORIDA.
As I entered Florida, I felt like I was coming home again. Even though I grew up in Mich. I still feel Florida is home. The scenery has become much more lush. With the tall pine trees and large oak trees dominating the skyline. I’m traveling inland along hwy 20, a peaceful but perhaps boring country road for some as all one sees are thick forests, lush ferns, rivers and streams and naturally occurring scrub palms and sable palms along the way. Fresh cut grass as they have to cut the grass constantly along the sides of the roadways and continually cut back the advances of the shrubs and trees. In a few areas, the trees actually made a canopy over the roadway. This is virgin Florida and much of the land is owned by lumber companies.
I eventually head south around the bend in Florida onto hwy 98/19/Alt 27. Which follows the western side of the state through small cracker towns, the heart of the old south. In Perry I had a late lunch at Pouncey’s a local restaurant where I had a country meal for $7.95. Included fried chicken, a drink, and three sides along with cornbread. Best home made mashed potato’s I’ve had in ages, a nice cucumber/tomato/onion salad and a peach short cake. Yum. Southern cooking, at it’s best.
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| 1000 Palms Rv Resort |
Also having my eye exam. Already, the Dr. here in Inverness is questioning whether I really have glaucoma. Additional test will be done this coming week.
I'm hoping that the hour drive from Orlando will not be too much for my friends and relatives to come visit me when I come back into the area for next winters season. If not, I should be able to camp in the Orlando area for a couple of weeks to visit with everyone this coming fall season.
And there's an open invitation for all my AZ friends to come visit Florida, especially while I'm here this coming winter season.
After my short stay here in Inverness, I'll be heading north to do more exploring, so join me as the adventure continues.
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| 1000 Palms, nice warm pool during the summer, not heated in winter |
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