Ho Hum --- Three days camping on the beach

Roger here...   We spent four nights in a quiet paradise on the Florida panhandle near the town of Carrabelle, just east of Appalachacola.  

Ho Hum RV Park...

I have had this small RV park on my radar for several years. They advertise a quiet, rural, dog-friendly atmosphere right on the beach.  When I checked in, the friendly lady told me that our site, 55, was the...

... best site in the park.  She was telling the truth.  We were parked in the sand right on the beach with amazing views right outside our door.  

Dianne took the following photo of our campsite  with her back to our small beach.  

Two swings were constructed adjacent to our site. 

The swings were in a public area for all to use, but they were certainly convenient for us.

Ho hum....  The perfect place for Dianne to do sudokus.

Ho hum... the perfect place for the dogs to flake out.

Ho hum...  the perfect place to sip a glass of wine during quiet happy hours.

Daily walks on the beach...

Intriguing walks tempted us just to the right of our small beach.  The narrow un-manicured beach stretched on for miles.

What do you see in the photo below?

Bandido --- the Chameleon Dog

There were always interesting sights along the way.  These tree roots provided a walking challenge.

This crusty buoy drifted to different spots every day.

Bandido loved wading in the calm shallow water.  

Dianne snapped a picture of me returning from a walk in the photo below.  I am the blue dot on the beach.

The campground fishing pier was always visible as we approached our campsite.




Fun in the water...

The water was shallow in several spots along the beach.  It was also warm and sandy.  It was too tempting not to kick off our shoes and wade.  

Poquita had never really been in the ocean before.  She was afraid during a trip to South Padre Island a few months ago.

This time she had a blast, as long as Dianne was nearby.

Bandido had no fear and loved it.  He would have taken me all the way to St. George Island (in the far distance) if I had let him.  

Poquita went far enough away from the shore to actually swim.  She seemed to love it, as long as her mommy was nearby.

Dianne's Teensy Weensy Trailer Tips...

I found this nifty toothbrush and bathroom cup holder when I was searching ideas for traveling in the trailer.   We only have ONE sink (kitchen).  The tiny bathroom is just behind the kitchen sink so when we open the bathroom door we can just grab our toothbrush and cup, turn around, and brush our teeth in the kitchen sink.   Our Sonicare toothbrushes take up a lot of space and there is no drawer in the bathroom.  This hanger saves space in our tubs and makes them handy.   These get taken down when we break camp and stowed in the tubs for travel.   Regular toothbrushes hang snugly in the holder, but the brush head on the Sonicare is small enough that it requires a rubber band (or stretchy bracelet as in our case) to keep them hanging securely.  

Watching the wildlife...

There was so much to see.  I had never before seen living conchs walking along the shore dragging their shells.  Fish flew out of the water.  Pelicans dove into the water.  A willet entertained us daily as he hunted for tidbits.  The Louisiana heron in the photo below was especially fun to watch...

... especially when he was hunting.

This very large, and very green katydid became my friend one afternoon.  He seldom left my side as he landed on my hand, walked on my arm, and relaxed on the dog bed.

Gorgeous sunsets...

No words are necessary with these photos.

Yellow Flies...

The only irritation disturbing our time here was the daily appearance of the yellow flies.  They were quite the pests at sunrise and sunset.  I do not have a picture of them, but they were fairly large and persistent in seeking our blood.  They were not bad throughout most of the day, but the morning and evening swatting was miserable.  In our ten years of RVing, the only pests that were worse were the mosquitos at the Corps of Engineers park on Leech Lake in northern Minnesota.  They were worse.

We discovered that they did not like wind, even artificial wind.  Surrounding ourselves with fans was helpful.  Nonetheless, they did a number on Dianne's legs.

We were told that they only appear during the months of May and June.  We will not be returning in May or June.


We are currently visiting my brother and sister-in-law at The Villages in Florida.  There are no yellow flies here :-).  More about that in the next post.

Pet Picture of the Day...

Chameleon dog on the Beach

South Padre Island

Roger here...  I have neglected posting since our return to Mission, Texas in December.  I hope to catch everyone up on our busy times since then, but in the meantime, it was time to "exercise" our motor home.  Since South Padre Island is only an hour and a half from our home, it was time for a four-night beach get-a-way.

We parked at the South Padre Island KOA.  Since we were only visiting for four nights, we decided to splurge on a pull-in site with a view.  It was a great site and worth the extra money.

Dianne, Poquita and Bandido Approve of the Campsite Raised Deck

Some very sad news.... We lost Tequila several weeks ago.  Her kidneys stopped functioning.  It was totally unexpected, and we miss our funny girl terribly.  It did not take Dianne long to find a replacement from Cinderella Pet Rescue (where we are volunteers).  Poquita ("Little Bit" in Spanish) is our first small dog.  She is a chihuahua  mix.  She is loving and hilarious.  She copies everything that Bandido does.

It did not take long to set up our outdoor living area, since all of the furniture came with the site. 

 Watching the boat traffic on the bay was great fun.

The local pirate ship coasted by several times a day.

All four of us kept an eye on the local shore birds as they paraded around the tidal pool in front of the motor home.  The dogs had to have been confused by the changing scenery....  is that water still out there, or is it sand?"

After dinner we strolled along the bay next to the campsite.  It was a pleasant walk in an unfamiliar place... lots of new smells for the dogs.

The evening view of the bay bridge that we crossed earlier in the day was spectacular.

We sauntered by Pier 19 as we returned to our motor home.  We would be eating there the next evening.

Our main activity during the day time was walking with the dogs along the endless beach.  I had forgotten the peacefulness of walking on wet sand while listening to the roaring surf and watching the whitecaps on the waves.  It did not take long for me to take off my shoes.

Bandido had a great time wading in the surf and checking out new smells in the sand.

Poquita had never seen the ocean before, and she was not entirely sure that she liked it.  In fact, when Dianne sat her on the sand near the water, she wriggled out of her harness and headed toward the safety of the dry sand.  After Dianne soothed her for a while, she watched Bandido having fun and decided that it might be ok.  Poquita always walked on the edge of the water, ever ready to scamper away like the shore birds when the waves slid too close, but it did not take long for her to have fun. 

That evening as we were getting ready to go out for dinner, we watched the eerie and ominous clouds of an approaching storm.  

We crossed the bridge into Port Isabelle, planning to eat at Joe's Oyster Bar.  Friends recommended it.  Unfortunately, it was closed that evening.  Sorry we missed it, but all was not lost.

We drove back to South Padre and ate shrimp at Pier 19.  I also enjoyed an amazing bloody mary complete with a shrimp garnish.  Dianne had some coconut concoction.

We walked out onto the pier after dinner to take in views of the impending storm.  The storm raged later that night while we were asleep.  The key word in the previous sentence was, "were".  It was quite a storm....  high winds, torrential rain, and ear-splitting thunder.  The lightning was close enough to be blinding, even through tightly closed eyes.  Bandido, our chicken dog, hid under the steering wheel.   

When we awakened the next morning we were greeted by beautiful sunny weather.  Back to the beach we went.

After a long walk next along the surf, we hopped in the car to find Clayton's, the largest beach bar in Texas.  

Dianne found a shady spot on the massive deck so we could continue to watch surf roll in.  We each had a "Pain Killer".  I won't divulge the recipe, but suffice it to say that one was enough to (along with the music) set a festive tone.  

We had so much fun that day, that we repeated it the next day...  long beach walk followed by a relaxing time at Clayton's.  

Dianne here:  We've discovered that September is a great time to visit the beach - the summer crowds are gone, kids are back in school, and the Winter Texans have not yet arrived.  We had no trouble finding parking at the beach access.  And the weather was perfect right along the beach.

In case you are wondering what our dogs did during our Clayton's time.... 

... they politely rested underneath our very tall bar stools.  The long walks on the beach seemed to wear them out.

"Hey dad, what are you doing way up there?"

Back at the campsite I grilled tuna steaks for dinner.  



We were somewhat concerned about our drive back to Retama Village the next day.  A possible tropical depression was developing not far from our location.  I can certainly drive the motor home in rain, but windy conditions can be a little dicey.  The "dragon" in the sky (below) seemed to be telling us that it was time to leave.

The drive home was actually a non-event... a little wet, but nothing more.

Bandido says, "Hey dad, let me out.  We're home!"







We are planning a trip to the Texas Hill Country in October to meet up with friends.  In the meantime, I may write a couple of catch-up posts.  Stay tuned.

PET PICTURE OF THE DAY... 

Poquita poses for a photo next to her new Bark Box toy.