The mundane.....

March 3, 2016

March 8, 2016

I have always described our travels in the Lark, as adventures.  And they have surely been that!

Last year and up until this trip we have never stayed at one spot more than 30 days.  This year we signed up for 60 days on Dauphin Island.  We left earlier than last year and will return later.  We have had a few weeks of “mundane”  “glamping”.  Not so adventurous.

In a camp for 60 days, laundry needs done, beds need changed, fridge needs a good clean out and windows need washed.  Not the fun stuff.  The days of pre-spring are sometimes windy and cool and makes beach hiking and biking less fun.  We have not turned the clock “spring forward” yet, and the evenings get dark quickly.  Lots of reading and working on our photos.  We brought the large monitor Mac with us this year

 I did a presentation at a camp art show and was well received.  Ed is leading a birding group into the Audubon tomorrow AM.  We are looking around for things to do.  Wednesday evening will be a catfish fry at the local Methodist Church. Baked my first Red Fish last evening from the local vender.  Lots of wild shrimp being eaten also. 

Jason, Michaela and Savana and Rylan are coming out from Davis Ca. on the 19th.  We are getting excited counting the days.  I think that has saved us from packing up and moving on. We have wheels and we like to hit the road.  Thirty days seems like our limit for one spot. Not that we haven’t enjoyed Dauphin Island, but next year: Texas.  We need more birds on the list. 

But, before Texas, we are planning the trip back up north to Cleveland.  We are going to do the Natches Trace.  444 miles of parkway, no stop signs, 50 MPH.  Starts in Natches, Miss. and ends just south of Nashville Tenn.  Very historical and beautiful countryside. Think it will be like the Blue Ridge Pkwy in Va.  Many of our road warrior neighbors have done this route home and highly recommend it.  There are mile markers with three campsites right on the parkway. Boondocking only, but other private parks to chose from. Ah, back to adventures.  We will then come into our hometown by way of Indiana.  No mountains on this route, but we should have at least two springs as we travel north. The weather will get warmer as we move north, until just south of Cleveland……we can enjoy another spring in May! That’s the plan.

Birding has been OK….our holdout here at Dauphin is for the Spring bird migration to start.  Soon…..we hope.  Azaleas will be in full bloom in 10 days and I can’t wait to show Ed how beautiful the south is in Springtime.  Ed has never been down here to see it.  Maybe a quick trip over to New Orleans, still in the undecided category.   

Evacuation: Dauphin Island Style

Feb. 23, 2015

Who knew or guessed we would be “evacuating”, anywhere, anyhow.  The girl scout in me has always been ready.  I know all about what to take, what to leave behind.  My mom called once from Mt. Pleasant (Charleston) SC to ask if I wanted the family silver for sure, as hurricane Hugo was coming and the car was pretty stuffed!  Just leave Mom, not to worry about the silver.

I think flashlights, water, pillow, blankets, meds, toothbrush, electronics (fully charged with chargers), password book  and Ed, Eze and me. Not in that order.

First, of course, you need a reason for evacuation from your current Lark location.  How is a “very significant risk of dangerous weather including tornadoes in your area” by the National Weather Service. Works for me.  It seemed, however, our camp Dauphin didn’t have a plan. They assured all of us there has never been a tornado here on the island, so not to worry. Never going to happen.

Hmm…If I have learned anything about tornadoes: It’s hard to tell where one will hit, exactly.  Our weather had all the hints: warm and muggy, later afternoon, very fast Low pressure followed by a  cold front approaching from the west due to collide over top of us.  Been there, done that in Ohio…many times. 

We are so lucky to have such weather information on IPhone, iPads, TV and alerts. There is really no excuse for not knowing the forecast.  I have always been a weather jock…so no issue with me to evacuate when evacuation calls.

Ed, however, is not so inclined. He seems to doubt the weather service, based on the fact we have never been run over by a tornado.  Close but not quite.  Odds are on our side. Suppose so.

The Methodist church came to our  rescue with a plan.  That was after I called the Dauphin Island police department to find they didn’t have a plan either.  Never been a tornado here.

A sweet minister let Facebook and our camp  know the Methodist church’s newly constructed hall (hurricane engineered) would be open at 5PM with shelter and food. No basement, however, walls…walls are good vs any kind of motor home, single or double wide mobile home. I could google the facts concerning fatalities in tornadoes, but I feel sure I’ve read somewhere, you don’t stay in your car…or RV. 

It is a pain to move the Lark….takes time and work…Ed just wasn’t on board until mid-afternoon and the weather  report was looking bleak. OK, we will move to the church’s parking lot until things blow over.  I gathered Eze and my survival gear (Ed did eventually join us)  and sat with about 12 other groups that chose the shelter over  camp.  We shared stories of our adventures, watched our radars and answered family calls and texts as to our safety. Miraculously the worst of the storm was to our west, north and east and to our south over the Gulf.   It was as if the storm just slid by Dauphin Island on all sides. They did say they told us so.  We arrived back in camp and watched with horror as the storm out in the gulf passed us by to gain strength and came ashore just east of Orange Beach and slammed into Pensacola, Fl. not more than 30 miles from us.  27 Tornadoes, from La. to Pensacola, 2 people lost their lives in an RV park that took a direct hit, 50 miles to the west of us. It was tough seeing the aftermath on TV. 


.

                                           Eze speaks of the Evacuation:

"Evacuation…interesting word, not in my vocabulary. The three of us enjoy a quiet peaceful life in the Lark. I’m even used to NPR classical music.  Yesterday things got exciting.  Mom and dad had words.  Not that I could understand, however the tone had intensity.  They don’t usually vote on things. Dad doesn’t seem to understand, I get one vote, dad gets one vote and mom gets 3 votes.  She wins every time.  So evacuate we were going to do.

Mom packed a bag, seemed silly as we have everything with us in the Lark, no matter where we are. I was just relieved there were several cans of cat food thrown in.  I jumped into my carrier, as that is always my safe place. No problem. I’m not stupid.

I don’t often get invited to join a dinner party outside of our home.  I was shocked to see that dogs were also invited. They were invited to “mingle”…I would “mingle”…but wasn’t allowed outside of my carrier. Mom used the “You will just get fleas” excuse. I don’t know exactly what a flea is, however, if one ever makes it into the Lark… it will be my doing.

My dinner was delayed, which is never pleasant, and we returned to our camp in the Lark. Whatever it was, we are home again. 

The next morning:  “I told you nothing happened back here in camp, no trees down, no branches, no wind damage”  vs  “Did you see 2 people were killed last night in an RV park just down the road!”.  WOW….can’t have that. Humans have thumbs and without thumbs there is no way to get into the cans of cat food. Evacuation is a good thing. "

Is there an App for this?

Where do I get these ideas....In the quiet of the parks, with long days to enjoy: My mind is always free to think abstract thoughts.  I'm hoping that is a positive thing.

For instance:

We book our "sites"  (parking spaces within the Parks, Resorts, etc. for the Lark) well in advance of the season or when we see a trip coming up.  Ed and I are not fans of free wheeling it around the country.  I think we could always find a place to park last minute, but we really like to have a choice, a reservation and hopefully a good view with privacy.  That is not easy to do on line.

I've become pretty adept at site location.  I can usually download a map of some sort provided on line of the campground.  These maps are sometimes "child drawn" and sometimes very well done. Then I proceed to Google Earth and see what I can see.  I'm looking always for waterfront or water view and then privacy.  The last thing we want is to pull into a "parking lot" of RV's lined up 10 feet apart. Yuck!







Remember Ed continues to be the "camper".... trees, wild things, birds and privacy.  He only admits to "glamping" once the aforementioned is secured.  Always includes  fine dining and good wine (or beer).

I have a few other secrets to finding just the right spot....if I told you they would not be secrets. :)

So, as I am biking through the two circles of campsites in Black Water River State Park I'm thinking.
We have a great private site, and didn't miss any water views, as the River is well below grade from the campsites. Turns out that is a good thing.... we had a big rain storm and the road into the park is currently underwater.  Not to worry, I carry enough food staples to last a week if we are stuck. This is no Donner Party.

Anyway, back to my idea.  I look around to see "no water fronts/views", got that right.  However, there are about 8 additional really nice private sites.   I'm thinking there are also 2 sites really close to the bathhouse.  That seems to always be popular.  Some RVers  can't walk too far to the bathhouse.  The parks are all very good about handicapped parking site, all you have to do is inquire.  There are also issues with length of rig and how level a site.  And you thought wheeling around the countryside was easy?

Here's where an App comes in:  Look up the park, by state, name, city etc.  Find the site  that would fit your needs and/or wants: then make the reservation and confirm other issues with the park.

I like 1.  Waterfront/Water view
         2.  Private
         3.   Near a bathhouse

"Notes" would be nice too.  Expectations and preferable positive feedback.


Easy Peasy


I've done one very extensive web site and a few free ones.  Never an app.  Wonder what that costs, think I will google it.  Then I will text Jason for good advice, he has lots of friends in Silicon Valley that do apps all the time.

Of course, getting the info is a trick.  I think I can get RV'ers to submit there choices and notes about a park for a Charter Membership for FREE.  Everybody likes FREE.  My RV readers:  Send me your feedback.  Especially, the Shrumm's....our good RVing buddies from Canada. (We are deciding if we will forgive you for spending this winter season on the tropical Island of Bonaire in the  Caribbean without us. )

Sometimes a good place to Park the Lark is in our best friends drive.
Heated Pool and all the Pinochle and Canasta we can play!
Eze gets to visit  with his cousin Cairo :)

The Resort and the Ducks

Our new parking spot is  Topsail Preserve State Park in Santa Rosa Beach, Fl. The Gregory E. Moore RV Resort. (Nobody has mentioned who Greg Moore is or was??)  

This location was chosen as a new destination with white sand gulf beach and was billed as a “resort”.  Seems that term has multiple meanings as, yes there is a pool, no it is not heated. Yes, there are shuffle board courts. Yes, there is a real “laundry”…but most washers/dryers don’t work.  Yes, there is a camp store, if you need a few sad desperate supplies. (You would’t because the park is 1/2 mile from several commercial strips. )

Maybe the lure was the extra cost per night to stay?  More expensive, more “exclusive”:  think not.  Certainly more civilized than we are used to.  More 35-45 foot Class A’s are here than I have ever seen in one place.  The park is well landscaped with fresh water ponds and great biking hard surface trails.  We also did 10 miles of outside the park bike trail; it was going forever when we turned around for home. 3/4 mile to the beach with a “tram” ride..whoopee.

Even as we pulled into Topsail, I knew Ed was grimacing.  Just my luck and great picking, the site is the best waterfront in the park. That helped as we backed into a beautiful pond view literally 20 feet in front of our Lark.

I saw my opportunity as Ed killed the motor.  Look, dear “ducks” in the pond, grab your camera.

And ducks we had.  Ring-necked Ducks…more later on the species, but one duck we have never been able to photograph with much success.  They are very shy, stay well off shore  and we had 6 males and several females within 100 feet of the Lark. Ed has been sneaking up on them ever since.  Hundreds of pictures to get the perfect few.

A Ring-necked Duck is a medium-sized diving duck. This duck has a very distinct blue bill with a white ring around around and edging the bill.  Did they call it a Blue-billed or Blue-Ring Billed Duck. No they did not. If you are very close up, you will see a cinnamon ring around it’s neck.  Since you never get up close that is a really tough ring to see.  Sorry, all of you Ornithologists from Cornel University, a guy must have named this one…how could one not see that Blue-Bill?  

Aside from being named totally incorrectly we now have our best Ring-necked Duck pictures ever.  Posted here for your enjoyment.

THE TELL-TALE CINNAMON RING !!!!!!

Female

Just some interesting pictures of every sort ....

Putting on the miles

Bear Sighting...off the boardwalk in the Swamp

The Lark at Rest in the Swamp

Okefenokee  Swamp  Great capture, Ed!

Hawk making a move

Eze taking a nap

Flowers in January  Rainbow Springs

Something cute

More Flowers

Can't have too many flowers

US Air Force bases surround us on the Emerald Coast

US Border Patrol
Use a lot of diesel...looks like fun chasing the bad guys!

Shelter in Place ?

Shelter in Place??

In the Lark??  A “single wide” with 6 wheels is no place to be in high winds.  What’s the rule?  In a tornado better to be out of your vehicle and face down in a low lying ditch?  That was the choice last night.  I’m only doing the ”low lying ditch” thing if I see a tornado coming. Played the odds, sheltered in place,  and now I’m writing about it.

We knew a storm was coming.  I am always aware of the weather when we are on the road. Do you think 4 weather apps is a bit too many?  I like radar and alerts.  We were moving from one site to another, so we chose one that was going to be out of the wind, but not so low as to flood.

The storm coming over the gulf was the tail end of the giant winter storm the north-northeast was getting ready for.  Due to hit us around 2AM….right in the middle of the night.

You could here it coming at 3AM. Long rolls of thunder,  then lightning getting closer and closer.  By then my alerts were going off n iPad and iPhone :Tornado Watch,  Rip tide warning, Strong thunderstorm warning, Gale Force Marine warning.  OK, we can do that.  Then another: Severe strong thunderstorm warning. By this time we were wide awake, raining hard and lightening everywhere.          

One bolt hit close,  .1miles distant from our location (Weather Bug).  It was really close.  Shook the Lark.  All three of us were up now, Eze was heading for under the couch, as I grabbed him and into his carrying case he went.

He feels safe there, and I know just where he is.

Then another alert at the crescendo of the storm:  Tornado warning alert for our location, take shelter immediately.  Oh sh$#%@.  Signs are always posted on the washroom buildings to use as a shelter.  I saw several pickups fly by us, knowing they were heading for the shelters. We don’t have a separate vehicle and to run several blocks as winds were whipping and tree branches were falling didn’t seem wise either.  I couldn’t remember the chances of getting run over by a tornado.  We have always lived close enough to tornado alley in Indiana to pay attention. Cle does not get many, but they have come close to us on several occasions.

We just waited it out in place.  Didn’t hear any sirens (of course, would there be one out of town in a state park?).  It took an hour to blow out…a very long hour.  Small chunks of Florida were hitting the van and we rocked a bit. No hale…that was good.

Just as we climbed back into bed around 4AM…one more alert goes off. What now… oh, just a floord warning for the area. But of course.  We turned on our big outside spotlight and looked around.  Looked OK.

This morning, there were sounds of chain saws. One pine went down a couple of lots away. A really big pine in the park was leaning and road was closed as a precaution.  A few sites were ankle deep, but nothing too dangerous.  

Thank you El Nino for giving us this wet and wonderful winter.  

Birds of the Gulf Coast Winter 2015-2016

LIFER Purple Finch

LIFER
Red-Cocaded Woodpeckers

Ed's Best Belted Kingfisher ever!

Evn an Anhinga can be beautiful....in the right light

American Bald Eagle  Always a wonder

And What size shoe does this Little Blue  wear?

A common Crow is hard to capture...too black!

Eastern Towhee M  Yellow Eye subspecies...seriously !

And you thought a Black Vulture couldn't be proud!