Winding down our stay at Davis Bayou Campground

We enjoyed Davis Bayou Campground very much except for the gnats that came out in the morning and evening.   Sitting outside was a REAL PAIN because these pesky bugs musta'  had teeth - they could bite.  

At Mid-day, we took long walks and continued to enjoy the scenery.

 

 

We thought the alligator might be dead because he just laid there.   But the next day he was in a different position so we knew he was alive.  The gater looked to be around 11 feet long -- but I didn't get a ruler out to check.

 

These guys were in the same backwater bayou as the gator.. 

 

The flowers in the South are beautiful.

There's a general aviation airport in Ocean Springs. and we thought these "hanger homes" were unique:

We did manage one campfire during the day and we allowed the smoke to chase the gnats away.

 

This lady had an interesting T-shirt on and she let me take a picture.. 

Our checkout date arrived at Davis Bayou and we packed up in the rain.   Fortunately, I had packed up some stuff the night before but I was soaked by the time we packed and dumped the holding tanks. 

Slipping into dry clothes and shoes, we headed off down the road..  Lots of wind but the rain let up..  That night, we were holed up overnight at the Marianna, Florida Walmart parking lot.  We tried Sonny's Real Pit Barbeque.  Probably not again.

The next morning, a guy in a motor home behind us said:   "Hey fella - I think you've got a soft tire on your travel trailer."   I agreed and $300 later at the Walmart Tire and Service Center, we had two new rear trailer tires.   We discovered that the old ones were peeling apart.   Just another example of God watching over us instead of us blowing up the tires on the open road.  And the guy who warned me - well, he was a pilot from Texas and they were on their way to Lakeland, Florida to volunteer at a big fly-in called Sun n' Fun.

We stayed one more night at another Walmart at Live Oak, Florida before rolling into Big Bass Campground near "The Villages" in Florida.

We even got the same spot back that we were in the last time we stayed there.

It was an easy 2 hour drive the next day to make it to Light and Life Park where we are now currently staying at our mobile home.   Our renters vacated the premises that morning, April 6th and we arrived that afternoon.

We are catching up with friends and catching up on some "fix-its" here at the mobile.   We're not sure when we'll be back to Michigan but whenever it is, we sure hope it's warmer up there than it is now.

There's new life in the park.. a brand new baby...

The Crane Couple had a baby..

Until the next time..   Rog and Sheryl

Movin' On

We have left the Corpus Cristi, Texas area.  We exchanged phone and email information with our new friends (neighbors)- Mark and Rhonda .

Mark and Rhonda, who live in a Dallas suburb, REALLY ENJOY wind surfing (especially Mark).  Rhonda has two dogs that she enters in dog shows.  Mark is an electrical engineer.

60 miles northeast of Corpus Christi along route 77 is Refugio, Texas.   It's the birthplace of one of baseball's great pitchers - Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers Baseball Team.  But we didn't check out his birthplace..  we sought out an H.E.B. Store (It's like a Walmart or Meijers)..

did some shopping, refueled the truck at the H.E.B. gas station, and discovered a close-by laundromat.  

While doing the laundry, I spent some quality time on the roof of the travel trailer fixing the TV antenna wire, which I broke while washing the top of the trailer.  

The roof-top TV antenna on the RV

The new connector attached to replace the one I broke.

We spent over an hour washing the salt off the truck and trailer before we left Padre Island.. sorry no pictures.. we just didn't think about it..  but you can use your imagination.   It was like washing an 18-wheeler by hand.

We crossed the mighty Mississippi River at Baton Rouge.  The bridge over the river was big.

 The amount of boat and barge traffic on the river is amazing.  

Sheryl and I headed for the Davis Bayou National Park Campground in Ocean Spring, Mississippi.  We were here last year and liked it.  

Our campsite

We have a lake view from our back window, or side yard.. 

Actually, it's a view of the Bayou and if we had a boat, we could launch it and travel out into the Gulf of Mexico from the Campground.

In addition of being close to civilization, the campground has electric and water at each site..  so, we've changed our electrical and water habits quite a bit.  We cook using electricity and did some laundry with the mini washing machine we have in the trailer. ($8 per day w/Senior pass)  The only problem we've had is with gnats in the morning and the late afternoon.  We are going to get something to KILL them.. they DO BITE.

Davis is part of the Gulf Islands Seashore which runs along the Gulf coast of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the pan-handle of Florida.  It's a beautiful area of the country.

On our first walk, we discovered lots of flowers..

We have lots of cardinals..

and other birds around the campground.  

There are lots of grey squirrels:

Sheryl and I visited another laundry (we don't have a dryer) and drove around Ocean Spring.  The town is located right on the Gulf of Mexico and has a beach.

Visiting a local grocery store, we discovered that they had fresh caught JUMBO Louisiana  shrimp.  We bought a pound and boiled 'em for 5 minutes - then Sheryl broiled them in the toaster oven for a minute w/ garlic butter.   

They were good - especially with the corn-grits as a side dish..  yes, I said "corn-grits."  Grits (serving for 4) and 1 can creamed corn and 2 tsp of sweetener.  Don't knock it till you try it.  Okay - we've gone native :)

We expect to be here for another week before heading to Lakeland, Florida to our mobile at Light and Life Park.   See ya...

We are seeing pink... and some videos

Look what flew by this morning:

Flamingos.   We found out that they don't come this way very often.

Here is a video of Mark the windsurfer:

The second video is of the peacock at the Rip Van Winkle Gardens.  We had no idea of what kind of sound a peacock makes but you'll hear it in the video:

Hope you enjoyed the videos and the pink flamingos..  we're still at the Bird Island Basin on North Padre

Rog and Sheryl

Enjoying the weather and the friends at North Padre Island

Hi-dee-O everyone.. Here are some more musings from from North Padre Island. You'd think that this is barren wasteland but actually, there is wildlife, bird-life, trees, shrubs, and flowers.

Some sort of track on the tidal mud flat.  Does anyone know what it is?

We still haven't figured these out completely but the ranger at the Visitor Center things  they are made by a gopher indigenous to this area.

You can see the size of the mound with Sheryl's hand in the picture

When the winds on the Laguna Madre died down, ducks appeared from somewhere.

This Blackbird of some sort kept us entertained with a number of different calls..

We're not sure what these are..

I think these are Plovers.

I looked out a window of the Travel trailer and noticed something scurrying across the ground near the motorcycle.   I went outside to discover this friend:

He or she is a sand crab - about 2 inches wide or long or whatever, from toenail to toenail..

Some new friends who are here on vacation- Mark and Rhonda from the Dallas area are parked next to us.  Mark is an accomplished wind surfer but Rhonda likes to fish.   

They are departing for a fishing excursion via their 12 foot Hobie

Mark is holding the Hobie paddle System which actually propels the boat.  He is holding the top part of the system - a pair of "bicycle pedals" connected to the paddles on the bottom.   The paddles slip through a slot in the bottom of the kayak and are held in.  The person in the front pushes the pedals (like riding a bike) and the motion is translated through some gears to the paddles which push the boat along.  Quite ingenious. 

That's Rhonda up front doing the paddling

The Hobie also has a sail.  They use a regular kayak paddle in real shallow water and then switch to the Hobie paddle system in deeper water.

There was a windsurfing class out behind our trailer one day.

Sheryl and I motorcycled up to the Visitor Center on the Island to enjoy the view of the Gulf of Mexico..

There are always sunsets.. just out our bedroom window....

We aren't going to be here much longer.   We'll probably head for Davis Bayou Campground in Mississippi next.  We'll know for sure when we really get there.  We may find something else along the way.  :)

See ya...