February 28, 2015 Last Day of Feb.

Eze is now known as:

"Dashboard Cat"

He has discovered a great roost to watch all the dog walkers and their dogs go by. Abby's are very interested in their surroundings. 

They also like to be warm. 

Very warm under all that glass..I'll have to watch he does not ignite!

February 26, 2015 Birders are amazing people.

This is a true story:

Last week Ed was out on the trail in the Audubon Acreage next to where we are camped in the Lark.  As often happens, he encountered two  men out birding.  They were locals, knew the area and shared their knowledge.  

One of the men offered Ed his pick up truck (everyone in Alabama has one or two) to use to explore the area and see more birds.  Now this was a man Ed had never met before and we were of course strangers to him.  It was such a kind offer and Ed shared the story with me when he arrived back at camp.  It was the kind of a thing that is meant to be remembered but not acted upon.

That's what I thought.  This afternoon Ed was out birding and I was "home" with Eze on the computer.  A very nice silver pick up truck pulls into our space and a tall older gentlemen gets out and comes to my door.

Now, I'm from the big city and don't open my door to every person. And, of course, I only know about 4 people in all of Alabama.  He was shy about coming to the door and waited politely until I came out of the van. Southern courtesy and manners.  He told me he  had met Ed out birding and offered him his pick up truck.  He came by to leave his phone and card and let us know he has multiple vehicles on the island and really meant we should borrow his truck and see more of the surrounding coast. Not only is he a birder, but a Realtor besides!

Seriously!  

I can't wait to share with Ed upon his return.  Tempted to borrow his truck as we have been in the Lark for almost 3 months now and a little road trip for a few hours  would be fun .  I'll let you know.

We have invited at least six couples to stay at our home in Cleveland for the Spring migration at Magee Marsh ...  I guess you can always pay a kindness forward.

 A Walk through the Audubon this AM

Peregrine Falcon

Carolina Wren

Southern Mockingbird Dancing

February 25, 2015 New Friends. Joan and Al

A nice note from new friends:  we were both newbies at the start of the season and met at a State Park in Fl.  Al showed us how to maneuver our tv antenna and Ed showed Al how to rinse  the black tank.  Seems pretty basic now; but only when you know! We were able to send them on to one of our fav spots, Magnolia Park.




While we were in the Keys, we stopped at the state parks. We had tried to get a reservation at any of them earlier this year but they were had no openings. Now we know why. They are just beautiful!  The the sites are big enough and well kept. The bathhouses were all clean and fairly new. All of them are right on the beach. All of them take reservations 11 months in advance. If you get a reservation at any of them consider yourself very lucky. Below is the list of the ones we saw and would highly recommend.

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park
Bahai Honda State Park
Curry Hammock State Park
Long Key State Park

Take Care,
Joan and Al Fogel

February 25, 2015 Winter comes to Alabama

This is the perfect day to blog:  Chilly rain coming down and dark like Cleveland.  Not used to no sun.  We have only had a couple of dreary days along the gulf coast since we left Clev in December. I just knew some bad weather would sneak down to us eventually. The good news, in a couple of days it will be spring here on Dauphin Island.  

We have been out birding.  Ed heard bluejays putting up a fuss by our camp and knew immediately an owl or hawks were nearby. All campers were amazed when he pointed out two great horned owls just into the Audubon acreage. He is very good at things like that!

Tonight we are heading to the local Methodist Church for a "Catfish  Fry".  Hush puppies, corn bread, the works.  Not my fav, but Ed loves catfish.  Going with our friends from London, Ontario, Canada. .... We met a couple traveling in a Navion...22foot van Class B....they describe 95,000 miles on the road with only an aisle to live in.  Some are tougher than others, out here on the road.  Yes, they have driven all the way to Alaska and back...twice. Gave them my Remax card...planning on selling their home in Chicago!

*****

I'm going to make some notes here to remember when I get home regarding our lifestyle in the Lark. Bear with me, if I don't write them down....

Brought too much clothes...too many shoes. blah blah blah. (Ed talking) Could add some plastic storage containers for our wardrobe.  Thinking about the induction burner with a few pans for next year.  Easy to cook with indoors.  Purchased a new ceramic heater to take chill off floor in evenings....remember to bring warm slippers for indoors at night.  Insulation is not what the Lark is known for.  Need new sink faucets in kitchen and bath...high ones to get pans and hands  under. Soon I will be picking off the "border wallpaper" and painting walls. I've seen uglier interiors, but motor homes are still in the 1980's for design sense.  None of the indicators of tanks work at all. Fernald, can you get us a good indicator on LPGas tank?  May want to add some dimmer switches to some lighting. More romantic.  Can reduce my "survival" instinct and not haul so much packaged food items.  There is little to no chance of starvation! Love my oven..need a few more baking pans.  Our neighbors carry along a scale to watch their weight.... that is a real downer. No thanks.  

Right now is a time to think about leaks....raining very hard ... sure beats a tent! Good day for an ibook.

**Would like  a second set of custom sheets for Lark... spreads laundry day out.

Black Bellied Plover

February 22, 2015 A Last Request

My mom was born on Oct. 29, 1929...yes, the day of the great stock market crash. She was named Lillian Edith Bishop, the daughter of an English descent family in Pittsburgh.  She was raised by a German family in the neighborhood and became Stella Barbara Duderstadt. By the age of 21 she had a husband and two daughters.
 She added another name: Berberich.

My mom was barely 19 years older than me, the first born.  She never graduated from high school and didn't trust most things beyond her front door.  Sometimes for periods of time she never went through the front door.

Mom didn't do the things I wanted so badly. She didn't shop for outfits, go to lunch, be fashionable, help me pick out prom dresses or take me to find a wedding dress. She never talked of schooling except for one time.  

I was deciding on a class for a term in high school and she made the suggestion I try "typing"... because if I could type I could surely earn my own  living.  Something she could not do, as she was entirely, her whole life, dependent on  my father.  I became an expert typist on that "new" IBM Selectric with the ball. 130 words a minute accurately and I won a state contest. Looking back, we all want to impress our parents so much. I want to thank you mom, who knew the world would be typing into a computer or iPad or iPhone. 

Mom and dad had three girls, numerous sons-in-laws, 5 grandchildren and 4 great-grand children when they passed. Mom outlived dad by 3 months. 63 years they were married.. a tumultuous 63 years.

Today out on the farthest reach of a sand bar in the Gulf of Mexico, under a warm and beautiful sun... I scattered my moms ashes. It was a request she made to me several months before she passed. She knew she would be laid to rest with my father in the National Cemetery in Rittman Ohio where he was buried. 

She wanted  in the end to have her own place in the sun ... don't we all.

RIP mom.......your loving daughter, Diana

Feb. 19, 2015 Good Morning...time to get up...

Our travel companion, Eze, the cat, has been much fun.  He loves to take naps, eat and purr.  He does not mind we leave him for a few hours at a time and he is always glad to see us return.

And he loves to play.  Sometimes with us....

Eze is always hungry and he does not like change. Pretty solid lifestyle.  Every morning he awakes at 6:30 and believes we should all arise to have breakfast.

This AM he did his usual first walk-by on the bed.  He rounds the headboard and gives us each a little purr in the ear, maybe a nudge or two and sees if it might be time for breakfast.  It is always too early.

Second walk-by in ten minutes  gets a little more aggressive.  Wet cat nose in the eyeball, few punches of Abby feet and occasionally a nice chunk of hair gets pulled out.  It does serve to wake you, however, we brushed him off once again.

Now it is 7AM....Eze is getting more serious.  Eze has no voice, a very small and quiet meow is the best he can do. However, when provoked and hungry:  He dashes from the front  of the Lark to land heavily on the bed in the rear  with a thump and a snarl-growl like the Puma he thinks he is!  As we are being attacked Ed and I started to laugh and make fun of him.  Guess who got the last laugh.

Eze raced back to the front of the Lark and promptly climbed into the cat box and did his duty. I have to tell you, nothing gets you out of bed faster  in a RV than a dirty cat box!  I guess Eze just had enough of us sleeping in and no breakfast! 

******

This morning I entered an Audubon Photo contest.
I picked my fav shots this trip:

Amateur Class

Wish me luck!

*****

Invited for wine and cheese with two other couples today at 4PM.  Then a fish fry off island tomorrow, Friday evening. Looking forward to warm weather again Sat. and Sun.  Cold north wind has been blowing....not that I'm complaining!

*****

Dauphin Island Bird Count 53

Trip Count 85 Species

Feb. 15, 2015 Camp Adventures

Camping got a little more exciting this weekend.  Seems we were going to experience a "prescribed burn" in our adjacent Audubon acreage.  We are familiar with brush/wild fires in N. Ca.  Seems Florida has their share also. To avoid major devastation tracts are burned on purpose to clear undergrowth without harming the tall pole pines.  

This was our concern:  We are camped next to the burn area.  We are also camped at the end of a long peninsula ending about 1/4 mile down the street...actually the street continues with a ferry boat.  We are on a very narrow spit of land between the burn and the ferry. Sort of a Pompeii deal...no lava, of course.  It was a day for us to resupply, so we unhooked and drove to the mainland for groceries. I want to trust my government, but when you see all the firetrucks in the area and a squadron of State Wildfire Emergency crews roll in......
As we left the island, I got an alert on my phone that a red alert was issued for the area...no burn order, conditions dangerous.  This campground was evacuated several years ago when a careless campfire caught the woods and dunes on fire. Hmm....they lit it anyway.

We returned a few hours later and all seemed to be under control...some smoke, but most went out to sea on the wind.  We visited the site today and it is quite remarkable how it is done and what is left to regrow into a new forest. Just another new adventure.

******

I will say it has been very interesting staying in a location for enough time to study, learn and experience a place unlike what you are used to. We get to talk to many "locals" and travelers who have been on the road and often have stayed in the past at a current location. We get lots of good hints, warnings,  suggestions, and where the good food is to be found  :)

We are walking everyday 2-4miles and usually riding our bikes another 8-10 miles. This has been a wonderful location for riding.

*****

Went with our neighbors from Ontario Canada to a Valentine get together with live country band. Great fun BYOB.  A Patsy Cline kind of gig. I really enjoyed the music. Our friends are leaving on a 16 day "caravan" of Airstreams for Cajun music and food. Sounds wonderful... (Airstreams made in Ohio)

******

more birds

Reddish Egret....thinks he's cool

Bufflehead M

Merganser  F

Palm Warbler will be at Magee Marsh Ohio by May 10th

Every Loon from Canada is down here with all the Ontario RVers!

Blue Birds like to spend winters at the beach for sure!

Not short of Bird Shots

Walk on the beach yesterday and today  turned up these guys...

Dauphin Island Bird Count 48

Feb. 12, 2015 Ed's Birthday on Dauphine Island Alabama

Ed is doing his favorite thing to celebrate his birthday..

Birding...

He took all of these photos yesterday.

******

Today to celebrate Ed's birthday, we decided to walk to a Bakery. We saw a sign for on the way into camp. It didn't seem too far and we thought we should start out early before all the goodies, including a birthday cake, would be gone. Most bakeries close early when the bread is sold.  So 2 miles one way wasn't too bad.  We arrived about 10AM to the Lighthouse Bakery and Cafe. Lighthouse Bakery, LLP - Dauphin Island, AL - Local ... things slowed down significantly...southern style.  First, no cakes, only orders and since it was Mardi Gras it would have had to be a "King Cake".  They did have some sumptuous pastries to choose from.  I made the mistake of letting the next couple in line go first, as we were deciding.  Twenty minutes later they were leaving with their order.  OK..we will have two pastries and do you have bread? Yes, we have bread, however, that would not be ready until 3PM. It would be homemade and white only.  But your sign says you close at 3PM.  I guess you better come a little before 3PM was the response. How about tomorrow?  Well, we might have bread. We don't decide what kind until the morning. OK...So an hour later, we started the march for home...no birthday cake, no bread.  

This was an example of "Southern" meets "Island Time"..... I am not walking another 4 miles for a possible loaf of bread. :)

******

All was not lost, Ed came back from a bike ride yesterday with a lb. of fresh gulf shrimp.  That was Birthday Lunch!

******

Species on Dauphin Island so far:  38

Magnolias  Sweet Tea  Mardi Gras Beads

"Glamping in the Lark"

Feb. 10, 2015 EZE

Our Beautiful Eze....Always up for a new adventure in the Lark!

Feb. 9, 2015 Catching up....Dauphin Island

Can't believe we are so busy that I've not had a quiet time to journal.  And we thought this could get boring...not so.

If you have never been to a Mardi Gras parade...put it on your bucket list.  One would probably be enough...but the fun is worth the list. What did we know...many towns around New Orleans celebrate Mardi Gras in a big way. Mobile, Alabama has at least 8 parades and balls in the month of February.  We stayed for the parade in Fairhope, Alabama and what fun!

Eze gets "door step" for the parade

Night Falls and Fairhope lights up!

 Scary Masked Men on floats......

A family affair, from the youngest to oldest and everyone in between. You stake out a sidewalk spot and bands play and giant floats go by loaded with Mardi Gras surprises!

 Not just beads, but stuffed animals, light sticks, flowers and Moon Pies to name a few. Seriously scary masked men fling and throw handfuls of prizes and you need to pay attention or you will get beaned. Much competition.

Add about 15,000 participants to the mix with hands waving in the air and hooting and hollering and waiting to grab a prize. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it was really great fun.  Bags full of colored beads are the "biggies"...I grabbed quite a haul.  No idea what you do with them, expect send to granddaughters to play princess.  That was not the point....more was definitely better.  

After the parade, it seemed every citizen of Fairhope walked by the Lark for the "ball"....dressed in long gowns and tails....we didn't have an invitation, but then Ed didn't bring a tux!  Partiers were about until midnight......It was crazy fun.  Who knew....

******

We were up at dawn and Ed left the Lark to forage for coffee.  He came back quickly for me to join him for an early breakfast at a sweet little cafe that had been serving breakfast since 1948.  Such really gracious people in Fairhope.  Hated to leave, on the way out we stopped at their  beautiful Bay front park and walked out a very long public dock. 

Two older gentlemen were walking by and stopped to talk...as everyone seems to do here. Asked us the usual: where you'all from?

I said Cleveland Ohio and the retort was "Oh, by the mistake by the Lake"..... I smiled, made an O and mentioned how we are 1st in the Nation...right to the face of a Crimson Tide.  He smiled and said "touché" you beat us fair and square.  We all got a good laugh.  You don't fool around with college football here. Serious business. :)

******
On the Road Again

We arrived at our western most destination, Dauphin Island, west side of Mobile Bay at the entrance to the bay. This was scheduled as our last stop and would be a stay of one month.

Beach on Gulf: Less tourist...more natural and more our style.

Or not.  It seemed to be when we booked it a strange little outpost.  A small private camp at the edge of no place.  That is is.  As we pulled in, it looked way to crowded with rigs to be a place we would like. Ed was looking glum.  We decided to roll through and did find our site was on the very end and private (just like I'd planned from Google Earth). Gulf beach on one side, an Audubon Forest of 60 Acres, Mobile Bay and enough biking to keep us rolling.  We have a harbor and a ferry to another island and deep sea fishing charters.  

Our ferry boat and 1st time we have seen oil rigs from the shore, closer to beach than I thought.

Alabama has been so eye opening. So beautiful and friendly and nothing like  what we expected.  However, this camp was so classic. Two days deposit was required at $32.00/night.  A weekly rate is $200.00/per week. Or buy a month for $380.00. That's $12.66/day: all the water/electric and hot showers  and free wifi  you can use.  Hmm.. bad arithmetic...very Alabama. :)

Osprey Lunch

So we signed up for a month...figured we can tour the area and even stay out for a week and come back and still be ahead. Face timed my girls in SF...Life is good.

We are a little early for Northern Migration :(   however still enough species to start a Dauphin Island list.

******

 Ft. Gaines on Dauphin Island is closed for the next 5 days as a movie is being produced.  Rumor has it a Sci Fi  (see costumes) with Nicholas Gage... Info unreliable.  It seems to be a legitimate project, lots of equipment, costumes, extras and mobile dressing rooms, etc. It is just around the corner from us.  Never been on location before!

Ed is sure he will recognize her!

data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x3999702892ac5e0c  Fort Gaines Link

Cool and windy out of the north   Vortex reaching down here for a couple of days! :(

Feb. 7, 2015 The Adventure continues....

We are feeling pretty sure of ourselves with the Lark these days. I remember when we were afraid we would not be able to find a place big enough to park.  We have stuck to our itinerary however, yesterday, we were tempted to do a side trip.  My readings told of  the town of Fairhope, Alabama to be a special place.  All reviews just rave about it and many publications have run great stories. Pretty town, place to retire, gardens, great shopping, etc.  So happens tonight the town kicks off it's Mardi Gras parades and parties tonight.  Didn't know Mardi Gras goes on for a month down here.  

So, called a Remax Office in town and they were eager to help us find a place to park and offered their back lot. Turned out we would not fit and they suggested a few ideas. One was to park overnight after the parade at the local Wal-Mart...did call them and they were very accommodating and welcomed us.  I called the Fairhope Police department for any parking ideas for a 30 footer. They were amazing!  They issued us an overnight permit to park in the center of town, right on the parade route!  So here we are: with another dozen rigs, right downtown. Front row seats.  

This afternoon Ed and I went to the Mardi Gras dog parade and if you haven't been to one...it was a riot. Free for all to join as long as you had a dog and a costume. Lots of kids. Beads were thrown, laughter and happiness prevailed.

LET THE PARTY BEGIN!

 THIS TOWN IS WONDERFUL...SHOPPING, EATING, FLOWERS IN FEBRUARY AND DIRECTLY ON THE EASTERN SHORE OF MOBILE BAY. 68Degrees and sunny.

This blog continues tomorrow.... will be watching the parade, catching beads, eating and drinking.....the rest of today!