The Journey.

DAY #39

First full day in the land of Opp and it was a good day.  Started out this morning with some frosty but clear weather.  The plan for the day was to head east, eventually ending up in Dothan, AL.  Dothan is approx. 60 miles east of Opp.  I wanted to check out a Camping World (bought a 4″ hitch) there and it gave me a chance to check out and get the “lay of the land” (so to speak).

Along the drive to the big D (not to be confused with Dallas), I passed fields of cotton and peanuts and the occasional small heard of cattle.  Not sure what kind they are, I’m thinking Black Angus because they’re black in color?  I’ve seen Brahma and Longhorns in Louisiana and I think I’ve seen these guys before, yea, I’m pretty sure they’re Angus.  Oh, did I forget to mention the trees, yes there are trees everywhere.

I do get a kick out of seeing the cotton fields and the cotton they produce.

The peanuts give me a thrill too but the crop’s been harvested and its ground cover collected as “peanut hay.”  After a couple weeks, this is what it looks like .

Didn’t take many photos today, as I said, I wanted to get the lay of the land and that’s what I did.  It ended up being an all day drive meandering around the southeastern corner of Alabama.Damn, sometimes it can be tough getting a photo, this picture for example.  I had been going down this road for at least 2 miles, not a soul behind me, or passing me in the other direction for that matter.  I decided to stop (yes, in the middle of the road) and take this picture. Hey, can you guess what happened next?  You got it, some guy in a truck comes from out of nowhere behind me (I see him in the rear-view mirror) and as he goes around me, he lets me know he’s not happy.  He then stops his truck and it looks like he’s going to get out.  I just calmly looked at him and cruised away.  He passed me a couple minutes later and that was that but geez, IT NEVER FAILS!

Now I do need to fess up and take responsibility for stopping on the road like I did,  regardless what I was thinking.  Maybe that’s why I stayed calm when the guy was yelling at me, I was in the wrong and knew it.  Hopefully I’ve learned Something constructive (I need to say it that way) today.

A couple of observation that I came away with today, unlike Louisiana where people seem to drive slow, here in Alabama, I felt like I was the only one going the speed limited.

Not sure what gas is going for elsewhere, but at the Walmart in Andalusia, AL, it was $1.98 per gallon.  that’s the lowest I’ve seen it (few other places at $1.99 per gallon).  Also have seen it going for $2.59 per gallon not that far away.  Like I said, gas in Alabama can be all over the board.

Guess what, they have Walmarts here (who would have thought).One last observation and regrettably I didn’t get a photo of it, is a Dollar General Market that I saw.  It looks like a normal Dollar General (which by the way are everywhere) on steroids.  I think the big difference is the addition of grocery’s.  Am I seeing the future with that store???  You read it here first.

DAY #38

Up at 9:00 am, and on the road 45 minutes later, all under a blue sky and a brisk northerly wind.  The temperature was 40 degrees and let me tell you, it motivated me to move a little faster in getting the trailer ready to roll. Ya know, it really is nice when everything goes as planned, like this morning.  Maybe the trick for me is to remember this day, and save the good vibes for those days when things don’t go OK.

Short driving day of  less than 130 miles, in which about 2/3 of was done by back roads (off the interstate), although I did take I-10 for a ways.  Felt kind of sad driving away from the ocean but I’m still close enough.  Opp, Alabama is only twenty miles from the Florida border.

On the way to Opp, I stopped at a place called Carpenters Campers in Pensacola,  It’s an RV dealership.  I wanted an opinion on whether or not I needed a Weight Distribution Hitch for towing the trailer and I thought who better to ask?  In doing my homework, I found myself kind of on the fence whether I needed one or not.  the truck does sag a tiny bit when towing so I thought,  it’s on my way, check it out.  Now I knew I was taking a chance in having them say, Ya, Sure, you should have a WDH, seeing the dollar signs in their eyes as their saying it.  I got lucky, the guy was honest and told me that he didn’t think I needed one.  He did suggest turning my hitch around, that would raise the ball and the level of the trailer by 2″.  Good suggestion and one that I’m going to do.

Made it to the State Park around 1:00 pm.  It was a nice day with a strong feeling of fall.  I’m noticing less pines and more other types of trees around here. It looks like mid-September in Minnesota, the trees are turning color and looks to be, not long before their peak.

One of the neatest things happened.  As I was driving down the road, a cardinal landed along the shoulder ahead of me.  It stayed only for a moment and then flew away.  If you believe what they say about seeing a cardinal, then you’ll understand when I say, my best friend is with me, still looking out for me.  This was so cool because it’s never happened before.

Everything went hunky-dory (I think that’s french)  in setting up.

The view from the campsite…Nice.  It should be even better as the temperature warms up over the next few days.  Frigin NW wind really makes it feel cold.

And what I see when looking out the window of the trailer…Double Nice.

There’s a fair number of campers here and most are pretty big.  I’m a baby compared to them.

This is a nice place.  It has decent WiFi and very limited over the air TV (PBS, Bounce, Grit).  The bathrooms are clean, as are the showers, and it’s all a short walk away.  There’s even a couple of washers and dryers.  Welcome to “Sweet Home Alabama” as the sign says when entering the state.

DAY #37

After surviving the torrential rains of last night (man, did it rain) and worse yet, the plummeting temperatures, I spent my last full day in the Pensacola area.  The high went from 70 on Sunday, to 50 on Monday along with a brisk North wind (I’m sure there are those thinking 50 degrees, yea we feel for you…Not!).   I’ve enjoyed my time down here, so much so, I could stay longer.  The weather has been decent (except of late) and being close to the gulf and the trees have been great.  I like how you’re close to being “out in the woods”, but still have civilization near by when needed, kind of best of both worlds.  I regret that I didn’t explore the park more than I did.  It’s a nice place that reflects what this area looked like before development.

The port of Pensacola, back in the day.

Per my usual routine, I didn’t do much of anything today.  Got up late, surfed the net, and watched TV.  I don’t know if that’s such a bad way to spend the day, especially when it’s not very nice (relatively speaking) out, but for me, it left me feeling guilty and introspective.

I’ve been on the road now for approx. five weeks and I’m doing OK.   I’m enjoying the travels immensely and experiencing little homesickness, although I still feel the tug of home (in a good way).  There’s so much to see, and I do feel kind of guilty when I don’t see everything.  I think that feeling is compounded by a tendency of mine to not get off my ass and do things (like today).  I haven’t been very good about changing my diet (still too much junk food) and losing weight (still too darn fat), and I’ve fallen short in being more physically active.  I have been fortunate and thankful for having no issues with the truck (3000 miles) or trailer (2200 miles).  Expenses are running slightly less than budgeted, mainly due to lower gas prices.

I guess my biggest disappointment so far has been in myself.  I find that I’m still judging people too quick, still expecting the world to be as I want it to be, and angered when it isn’t.   I’m disappointing most, in my lack of effort to address these shortcomings, I really need to do better.  Oh well, my ghosts are still with me and I suspect, will continue to be for a least a little while longer.  At least I won’t be alone driving down the road will I?

Having snapped back from reflection land, it’s time to move on.  Tomorrow morning it’s up around 9:00 am, shut down and hook up the trailer, and head off on my way to the next stop in our journey, Frank Jackson State Park, Opp, Alabama.

One last interesting tidbit (at least to me), I finally got to see an armadillo in the wild.  The bummer of it though, the poor thing was road kill

 

 

DAY #36

Into everyone’s life a little rain must fall, and today it fell on me.  The temperature  was nice (upper 60s),  and it wasn’t a torrential rain day, just lite and intermittent.  It was just enough to keep you indoors, but in a soft and gentle way.

Some views from my abode.

Another quiet day, stayed close to the ranch.  I did go and do some more laundry and oh yea, I stopped and had my Waffle House fix.  They really are dives, but that’s part of their mystique.

Here’s an observation of mine.  The border with Alabama is very close and it’s interesting to look at the difference in gas prices.  In Alabama, the cheapest I’ve seen (so far) is $2.19 per gal.  In Florida (around Pensacola) the cheapest has been $2.47 per gal.  That’s a pretty significant difference.  Did some checking and Alabama’s state gas tax is about .14 cents per gallon less than in Florida which explains some of the difference.  Another thing I’ve noticed about gas prices along this journey.  In Minnesota, gas prices are about the same no matter where you go in the state, it may vary by .10 cents per gal by region, but very consistent from one station to another.   Since Arkansas, I’ve noticed that the price can change by as much as .25 cents per gal just by going two blocks.  In short, there really isn’t any consistency in price, it’s all over the board.

Let’s answer a question everyone’s been asking (yea, everyone).  What does the trailer look like on the inside.The bed is a full size queen and it’s comfortable enough.

Watching the news and it looks like when this storm system passes through later tonight, it is going to get cold…like freezing cold (32 degrees).  I don’t like it that cold, that’s one of the reasons I’m down here…Ouch!

Just as I was finishing this blog, up came the thunder and lighting, a thunderstorm to end the day.   Kind of like how it sounds.  And now here comes the torrential rain.  Check back tomorrow to see if I survived.

DAY #35

Another late day getting started.  Damn, I’m beginning to get frustrated with not being able to fall asleep until 5:00 am.  I was planning on going up to Mobile, AL, today to check out the battleship U.S.S. Alabama, along with a WWII submarine, and other military hardware all located on a 100 acre site along Mobile Bay.

It was a beautiful day out. Temps in the upper 60s, and blue sky’s & sunshine.  It did rain last night and judging by the standing water, it rained a fair amount.  I’ve been real fortunate in the weather being as nice (overall) as it has been here.

Since today was a washout for my original plans, I did end up taking a drive for a couple of hours done some back roads of Southern Alabama.

One of the first things I saw and thought, oh wow, how cool, was a field of cotton.  It’s late in the season so I was lucky to see this.

Southern Alabama does a lot of logging given there are so many pine trees down here. This is an area after clear cutting (it’s really a ugly process), they control burn before replanting.

As I was driving along I noticed a road off to my left and a sign designating the area as a state management area.  It seemed really remote so I thought, I’ll go a ways down the road (dirt) and get some good photos.

Down the road I went and as I did, it seemed civilization was slipping away.  Further back I continued until I reached the point where I began thinking, OK, far enough, time to turn around.  Just as I was about to do so, google map pipes in, take a right in 600 feet.  I had forgotten I had it on and was somewhat surprised it was still tracking me.  I double checked the map and sure enough the road would bring me back to the asphalt highway.  So, a right turn I took and off I went, four miles down a road that was showing me Southern Alabama in all its natural beauty at every turn.

While it was really cool, it was kind of scary as well.  What if I get a flat tire? What if the truck breaks down?  What if google was wrong?  Here I was out in the sticks, and I mean about as far out as you can get. I did see three trucks parked along the way.  I don’t know if they were hunting or what, but they did reassure me I wasn’t lost.  Stayed the course and finally came back onto pavement.  The rest of the ride back was pretty blah after the time in the woods.

What started out as a disappointing day, turned out OK.

 

DAY #35

Spent the day wandering around historic Downtown Pensacola, and found it to be an interesting and vibrant area.  I like how Pensacola has embraced its history, and taken efforts to keep it alive.

So sit back and check out some photos from the historic district of Downtown Pensacola.

This was the location of that F.W. Woolworth store.

I have to confess, I took these photos on Thanksgiving which is why it’s so quiet.  Actually went into Pensacola on Thanksgiving and did the Mirror & Laundry thing on Friday.  (is this what they call literary licence?).

What I like about downtown is it still is a functioning area.  Well no longer the center of Commerce for the city, it has become one of Pensacola’s go to entertainment sectors with its numerous bars and restaurants.

There seems to be kind of a french feel to a number of buildings.  

The Downtown area has two squares.  Each are thick with old oak trees and man, the acorns covered the ground like grass.  At one of the plazas, ironically the one with the fewer acorns, were squirrels in the number I’ve not seen in such a small space.

Thought I’d take a picture of this before someone or some group gets up in arms and it’s removed.

Some other interesting buildings in the Historical Downtown area.

Some of the old houses found within the historical district, all in very nice condition.

Next to this house was an orange tree full of ripe oranges.  So Cool…Seeing the style of architecture in the houses around here, I’ve come to really appreciate it.  Simple yet with a hint of grandiose.

Did a fair amount of walking around (which is good) and had a solid day in the city.  Drove back to camp and called it a day.

An example of what you would have seen driving down the road in the 1940s.

DAY #34

Thanksgiving 2018,

What am I thankful for? (Not all-inclusive)

• For having been given the opportunity to take this journey.
• For being in good health & mind (in spite of myself).
• I’m thankful for the life I’ve been given to live.

Special Shout Outs:

Marcia.  She gave me life.  She took me from a world of mediocrity to one where “the sky’s the limit,” and she gave it with unconditional love.  I think of her as an angel sent by God to show me the way, and I am so thankful for that.  When Marcia came into my life (again, in spite of myself, I was such an idiot), everything changed, it was like the sun rose and it never set, not another day did I walk in the dark.  God, I miss her so much.  I’m thankful that the day will come when we’ll be together again.

Kathy, Roxanne, Margaret (Ed), Steve (Lee Ann), Nancy (Jeff).  Marcia’s siblings.  If you searched for a thousand years, you would not find more special, caring people.  To be able to be with them as family is like winning the World Series, Superbowl, Stanley Cup, Oscar, and Nobel Prize on the same day.

Sharon (Marc).  I’m blessed to have such a special sister.  I got to tell you, when you have a family like I do, you really do have everything!

I LOVE YOU ONE AND ALL.

The day was a low key affair.  Didn’t do much (gee there’s a shock), spent most of the day hanging around the trailer and watched some football.

Being alone on this day wasn’t a lonely one for me.  Sure the family and I were separated in body, but they were with me in thought (and spirit) and I’m thankful for that.  I feel so sad for people who have no one in their lives.  that’s a cold, hard and scary alone.

I did go out to Walmart in the late afternoon (4:30 pm), and bought some paint to touch up a few spots on the trailer ceiling, and a mirror which I stuck Velcro on the back and stuck to the bathroom wall.  Curious to see how long that stays up.  When I got to Walmart I noticed about five police vehicles outside and when I went into the store, there were employees everywhere.  Seems “Black Friday” was soon to start at Walmart (6:00 pm). and I was there a tad before.  After finding out what was going on, I felt like a minnow with the sharks beginning to gather outside.  Quickly found the paint & mirror and vamoosed out of there.  The other biggie for the day was to do some laundry.  This State Park doesn’t’ have laundry facilities so I had to go outside the campground.

Another day in the life…

DAY #33

Had plans for today but when I wasn’t able to fall asleep until 5:00 am and I had wanted to get up at 7:00 am, I decided this was going to be one of those days when not much happens.  I’ve always been a night person and it’s usually worked out fine, but I am finding that being on the road when all the action happens during the day means I need to make a change or else I’ll have a very dull trip.  Note to self: Need to work on this.  I got up around noon and putzed (is that a word?) around on the laptop,  including paying some bills and oh yea, Peoples Court came on TV so I had to watch that (its how I’m learning for my law degree).  By the time I did all that, it was late afternoon and the sun would be setting by the time I went anywhere, so I went nowhere.  It is a drag that the sun sets around 5:00 pm.

One thing that I did do today, I started to put together the parts needed to have water in the trailer.  I attached a water filter to a regulator (keeps water pressure at 45psi, dont want to blow the hoses in trailer), which I attached to a short piece of hose, which then attaches to the camp site spigot (water source).  I turned the water on and wasn’t sure what to expect.  Good news, nothing was leaking and water was coming out the filter.  At first black water came out the bottom of the filter, thought for a second..Oh Oh, not good, but after checking, found that’s normal and so I continued to flush the filter and yea, the water soon cleared up.  Now onto the next step in the process, actually hooking the hose to the trailer and then turning the water on.  I’m thinking if this is my biggest concern in life right now, things are going pretty well, pretty well indeed.

 

Few photos today.  Thinking, still looking at all of them from yesterday.

 

DAY #32

On tap for today;  Head out west along the gulf to Mobile Bay, ending at Ft. Morgan in Alabama.

Not sure why, but I have this tug that keeps drawing me to the ocean.  There’s just something so satisfying about being around the water. Add in Florida’s gorgeous beaches, and that only seals the deal. 

I’m in a Florida State of Mind…..

Boy, I thought the area had been developed in my travels to Fort Pickens yesterday, it was even more so today.  First in Florida and then when you cross into Alabama, high rise condominiums/resorts/hotels/timeshares? dot the beachfront.  I saw a couple of for sale signs listing starting prices in the high 800s, that’s thousands (it was one of the nicer buildings).  The area does feel new and fresh, and it’s clean.  If you’re someone into this kind of living, this would be a good place to come. One thing noticed was that most of the beachfront land has been used for condos (money talks) and only pockets of land here and there for houses.

Before I took this photo I was facing the beach (which is to the right).  Looking out towards the horizon, I could see the water and oh wow, a couple of dorsals out of the water, it was dolphins, how cool was that.  Once again, no time to get photos before they were gone.

Thankfully, there are areas of beachfront put aside for public parks and beaches.

About half way to Fort Morgan, around Orange Beach, Gulf State Park takes control of the land away from the gulf and the makeup of the area begins to change.  Gone are the endless condos and houses on stilts and replaced with salt marshes and pine trees.  After a ways through the park, the road turns away from the water and heads inland

Check out the speed limit sign.

After going inland, the trees grew in number as while as size, and the road took on a feel of  laid back affluence.

After about one hour drive time along the island, I came to Fort Morgan.  Fort Morgan has a long history.  It was built in 1814 and saw action during the war of 1812.  During the civil war it was part of the Confederacy.  It was finally deactivated (for good), and the Fort given to the state of Alabama in 1947.

Another interesting fact is that the Fort, in large part, was built by the use of slave labor.

A big difference that I saw between Fort Morgan and Fort Pickens, is this Fort was tucked away into the dunes whereas Fort Pickens, stood up and out in the open for all to see.

The entrance to the Fort.

Cool as these Forts are, I think I’ve satisfied the need for old forts for awhile.

Views of Mobile Bay from the Fort.

When you leave (or enter) the Fort, this is the view that awaits you.I think I may have overdid it with all the Fort photos, but it was kind of a cool place. let’s just say I got carried away.

After leaving the Fort, and starting the trip back to the campground,  I came across where you can catch a ferry to take across Mobile Bay.

Made it back to the trailer.  Another good day on the road.

 

DAY #31

Plan for the day was to go to Camping World and then meander around the area ending up at Fort Pickens, FL.  I Left a little after 9:00 a.m. with blue sky’s, temperature in the upper 60s , and a song in my heart (not really, just like how that sounds).   The Camping World was located about an hour away from the park and in the same direction that I wanted to check out so it fit in just fine.  Getting there included going through Pensacola.  I took a little detour and quickly checked out the downtown area.  Was kind of expecting to find an another ‘shadow of the past’ area, instead what I found, was a historic downtown district that is quite the charming and attractive place.  I’m going to have to come back and spend some time and take some photos.

Leaving Pensacola I crossed the bay and got on US 98 heading east, making my way to Camping World in Gulf Breeze.  The drive down US 98 left me with the same feeling I’ve had on other drives along the gulf.  Everything is so developed, It leaves you feeling you’re driving through suburbia rather than being in “the sticks” (I much prefer”the sticks”).

Made it to Camping World.  I bought a cover for my front trailer jack.  I had put the old one on and it blew off going down the road (My cousin Mark told me this would happen, but would I listen).  Another purchase was a jack stand extender so that I won’t have to extend my jack stand so much.  It works like using blocks of wood underneath the jack only this one is plastic and one piece.  I’ll check it out at the next campground.

After my purchases, I went to the service counter find out how often I need to grease my wheel bearings on the trailer (answer: 5000 Miles or Yearly).  The service I got was immediate and answers spot on.  Camping World gets a really bad rap in online forums but I have only good things to say about them (so far).

After leaving Camping World, I Crossed over to the outer island and began making my way back west to my final destination for the day, Fort Pickens, FL.  I’m amazed at the amount of development I saw.  I thought by looking at the google map, the island would have been devoid of pretty much everything, instead, It was developed from one end to the other and were talking big, big condos.  My salvation  to all of this was that by getting to approx. the middle of the island I would arrive at the National Gulf Seashore and get a break from the endless developments.

While that didn’t work out so well.  I came to the park and surprise surprise, the road was closed.  according to what I read (went online, wanted to know why), the roadway had been damaged during Hurricane Michael.  I’m a little skeptical, I didn’t see any other damage in the area, but I guess why would they make that up?  So, I turned around and back tracked through the area I had just come down.  It looked the same going back as it did going forward, development, lots of big development.

There are small patches of land and beach remaining (set aside) that allows the average Joe access to the water and Florida’s beaches.  They do have a special and unique look and feel.

Made it back to my starting point and began plan B.  I made it back onto the outer island and just for the hell of it, I wanted to see if the National Gulf Seashore was closed from this side of the island.  Long story short, it was.  So, I turned around and headed on down the road until I made it to Fort Pickens on the western tip of the island.It’s interesting, most of the island is composed of sand, and sand, and more sand,  but as you get closer to the fort, the island reaches its widest width and the pine trees decided  to call it home.

Fort Pickens was an active U.S. military post from 1834 until 1947.  Millions of bricks were used in the construction of the fort, and the work was done (in large part) by slaves.  The fort saw some limited action during the civil war and always remained under union control.  After the Indian wars in the west came to an end, Geronimo was held for a period of time at Fort Pickens.

One of the batteries.  This was the last one built and it’s away from the main fort

This is what you see after coming out of the trees and approach the entrance to the fort.

Fort Pickens.

Some photos of the different batteries (gun placements).

View of the gulf from a gun battery.

View of Pensacola Bay.

Some of the buildings that made up the fort (I believe these are replicas).

“While not a “blow your mind” day, it was a fun day.  I enjoyed being out in the really nice weather and the fort was interesting.  I got to see the gulf and one of the outer islands up close and personal, warts and all.