aha, the sun!

Yes, we found the sunshine!  You gotta love sunshine, blue water and white sand, don't you?

The second week of our stay on Santa Rosa Island, Fort Pickens campground was beautiful.

Any guesses on what this is,,,?  We will give you the answer at the bottom of this post..

 Fort Pickens is a National Park, part of the Gulf Island National Seashore.  On the property includes the remains of the original fort and additions that were made for protection of the gulf coast.  Including Battery Langdon, which you can barely see Roger standing on top of below.

 A very large gun was mounted on top of this battery.

Here we are standing on top of it.

 Our campground was surrounded by trees like these and several osprey nests.  Several had chicks.

 Before Kennen and Terri left we had to have one last fabulous meal at Peg Leg Pete's, which is in Pensacola Beach.

 Entrance to the Fort Pickens  completed 1834

Anyone know what lives in here?

Yep, this guy

 Not this guy, he just likes to walk in the sand, not dig in it.

 Who can resist a footprint picture, even if it is a shore bird foot..

Rog had plenty of time to test the waters.  Score was, well Rog lost...

If you look real close you might spy the moon, directly above Anita's shadow.

The Blue Angels practiced right over the west end of the island

This little girl was trying to get the best shot of them.

Rog balancing on top of one of the remaining battery structures,  It was very windy that particular day. 

Anita trying to take his picture

One day we drove over the 5 mile bridge back to the mainland and had lunch at McGuire's Irish Pub

This just might be the best picture of the whole trip,,,don't you think?  This is a liverwurst sandwich, no he didn't eat the whole thing, at one time .

The ceiling was covered in $1 bills, over a million of them covered the ceiling

Back to the fort, there is a wall that surrounds the western most side of the island, we walked it one day, just enjoying the views and the sunshine.

Rog had me locked up,,,,well not really

Then, he threw me in the dungeon,,,actually this was storage area for all the electric mines and shells that were used in the 1930's and 1940's.

 Exterior of the fort.  There are over 21.5 million hand cut bricks in this fort.

Part of the fort was built in the 1800's the remainder was refortified in the 1930's, hence this modern gun nicknamed "The Disappearing Gun" because when it was fired, the recoil caused it to fall back into this position for reloading.  The shell weighed 300 lbs.

 Here are a few pictures from the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola

Back end of an F14 Tomcat

It was a wonderful three weeks, we are home now and getting ready for Rhonda and Ivan to join us from Oregon!  We leave you with this last shot.  If you ever get the chance check out the Florida Gulf coast.  Whether you want the beach scene, including the condos, shopping, restaurants or just want to enjoy the serenity of nature, it has it all.

Our next adventure leads us to Savannah, Georgia in September.
If you are still wondering about the picture question, it is a jelly fish.
Until next time, take care everyone!

In search of sunshine...

We spent the winter at home and were grateful for the mild temps and lack of white stuff.  By March we were both ready to hit the road again.  April fools day we headed south, hoping to find some sunshine and warm breezes on the gulf coast.

We stopped at Gunter Hill campground an Army Corp of Engineer park outside Montgomery, AL for a couple nights.  Not expecting anything special, just a good place to catch our breath before continuing south to the coast.  Glad we did because we enjoyed two evenings listening to the Montgomery Dulcimer club.  There were approximately 40 musicians, with just about as many different kinds of instruments.  They only get together a couple times a year and they just gather at campgrounds and sit around and play.  It was a real treat!

 This is called a cigar box guitar.  The man that made this was there.  He had several for sale.

The large one on the right is called a marimbula, like a bass fiddle only with paddles instead of strings.

 Here you can see a couple hammer dulcimers

                                                        a mountain dulcimer

There were all ages, but regrettably we fear it will become a lost art.

April 4th we arrived at Davis Bayou campground, part of the Gulf Shores National Seashore, just outside Ocean Springs, Mississippi.  Very nice small ground, only about 40 sites.

Our site surrounded by some magnificent magnolia trees

Our cousins Mike and Michelle MacLain live in Biloxi and they came over one evening for a cookout, forgot to get their picture, darn!

Rog behind the camper in the vegetation

One day we took a ferry out to Ship Island. What fun.  Nice ride, beautiful weather, great scenery.

The ferrys

The harbor

Ship Island is a National Park.  Fort Massachusetts still stands, built in the early 1800's.

 Jack was our tour guide in the fort, you could tell he loved telling everyone about this (his) national treasure.

This cannon was never actually fired.

 On the beach on Ship Island

It was a great day, and yes, we had to buy the picture.

We spent some time walking within Davis Bayou, spotted some interesting residents.

Yes, that is an alligator.

Can you find the gecko?

 and turtles

We took some nice bike rides, met with our snowbird neighbors Bernie and Debbie over in Gulf Port for lunch at the Cajun Crawfish, didn't have crawfish, it was fun to have lunch with them and watch the ocean.

Rog had crawfish the next day though,,,shouldn't play with your food,,,ha ha

We were there a week, last Monday the 11th we headed here to Fort Pickens campground on Santa Rosa Island off the coast of Pensacola.  This is another of the campgrounds associated with the Gulf Island National Seashore.  Kennen and Terri are here with us, till Saturday, then they are headed back home.  The weather hasn't been the best, rained alot in fact but we have still managed to have a good time with them.

Anita and Terri on the beach

Our campsite with our own pond.

We've been over to the Pensacola Naval Air Station. The Blue Angels practice couple times a week.  We were able to watch a little of a practice, but the weather got cruddy so they stopped.  We enjoyed the Naval Air Museum.  We will post some pictures from there next time.  We've found a great seafood restaurant in Pensacola Beach, called Peg Leg Pete's,,,if you are ever here, don't miss it!  There is a fort here as well, Fort Pickens, built in the 1800's by slaves.  We are hoping to get some sunshine next week and get some good pictures of it. Rog hopes to fish someday soon when there isn't a monsoon outside.

It's been a great trip so far.  Hope everyone is well!  Keep Grab'n life!

Rog and Nita