The Ray Adventures: Pensacola, Florida to Mongtomery, Al.

We've had an issue with our laptop, it had to go back to Geek Squad for several days. Our weather is finally warming up, Gary had to drag me kicking and screaming from Blue Angel Recreation Area. Timing is everything, we left Pensacola on Monday, Tuesday the Blue Angels are back in Pensacola for training. Dang.

Thursday, Mar. 5th, The day started out pretty nice, 69 degrees when we got up, how things change, by later afternoon it was down to 55. I did laundry while I worked on my last blog. In the afternoon we went to the Commissary for groceries, on the way home we did a little geo cacheing. We found two then two dnf's, it was so cold and windy we just bagged it and went home.

Friday, Mar. 6th, My day started off just great, I bumped the shower caddy off the wall, spilling shampoo and shower gels onto the seat and breaking the caddy. I didn't want all that soap going down the drain so I had to hurry and clean up the mess, naked of course. The air turned a little blue for a while. It was one of those days you don't want to leave the house, I stayed in to do some quilting while Gary went back to the National Naval Aviation Museum., he'd been wanting to go out to the flight line but the trolley you have to take was having mechanical difficulties. My Red Hat chums are at the Oregon coast this week for quilt camp, thought I'd join them long distance. On his way home Gary stopped at the exchange to find a new shower caddy, no luck he had to drive clear across town to Bed Bath and Beyond at the mall. I made a lot of points today.

Sunday, Mar. 7th, Yea!!! Warm and sunny, we are off to Fort Pickens on Gulf Island National Seashore. A trip across Pensacola on a toll bridge take you out to Gulf Breeze, a big tourist area. We were geo cacheing on the way, we were surprised to find a dog park on the beach, dogs are not allowed on beaches in the area, but you had to keep them on leash. Well that's nuts! A few other dogs were running loose, we decided to live dangerously and let Luci off. She had a great time, running with two 10 month old black labs chasing into the surf after a bumper. As usual she got over stimulated, we had to drag her off the beach before she turned herself inside out. When we got to Ft. Pickens we found out dogs aren't allowed their either. Gary went in while Luci and I walked on top of the wall surrounding the fort, there were no signs that said you couldn't, it was about 6 feet high and 4 feet wide. We stopped at the fishing pier, walked within 4 feet of a blue heron standing in the grasses, watched scuba divers and walked around the fort as far as we could then back. On the way b I was looking out at the bay, a strange looking boat was offshore, all of a sudden a blue heron started squawking and flew away, it startled both of us, I was glad he flew away instead of toward us. Fort Pickens is the largest of four forts that guarded Pensacola Bay and the Navy shipyard, it was in service for over 100 years. Work began on the fort in 1829 and completed in 1834, over 21.5 million bricks were made locally and barged across the bay to the island to complete the project. The only action the fort saw was against the United States during the Civil War. On our way back to Fam Camp we stopped at Al Fresco Pensacola, a quarter block with 4 food trailers, you could have BBQ, Mexican. Asian or Gouda cheese, we chose the cheese, yummy sammiches! Tables and chairs were under palm trees to sit at while you eat.

Monday, Mar. 9th, Oh Jeez! The weather is cruddy again, very thick fog you can hardly see your hand in front of your face. I never heard the official cause of the Marine helicopter crash off Navarre Beach, but most likely it was the fog. Two copters that took off but one of them turned back to Elgin Air Force Base. We braved the cold to geo cache, we wanted to reach 2,400 finds before we left Pensacola, we found a "string" of caches out in the country, we put into the coordinates in the GPS, well we ended up way out in the country in Alabama near Wilderness RV park, our last "home". We were both getting "hangry", that is hungry and rather impatient with each other. We went back to the De-Railed Diner for a bite to eat, we'd found another "string" nearby to find our 2,400th. Sometimes those darn GPS's fool you.

Tuesday, Mar. 10th, I had a 10:00 appointment to get my hair cut, Gary dropped me off to take the laptop across town (again) to Best Buy. My hairdresser had turquoise hair and many tattoo's. A little frightening, I did not say "be creative", it must be a good hair cut, Gary complimented me on it, that is rare.

Wednesday, Mar. 11th, still foggy but warm and sticky. Gary went back to the museum for the fourth time (still no trolley) while I quilted. I am notorious for not measuring twice and cutting once, I cut 6 pieces a quarter inch too short and of course I didn't have any more of the fabric that I'd bought in Gulfport, Ms. I must be living right, I went to the local quilt store and found the exact fabric. The store was a combination quilt store, pharmacy and hobby shop all rolled into one, the store has been in business for 70 years.

Thursday, Mar. 12th, We went back to Tarkiln Nature Preserve to pick up the last two geo caches we were too tired to pick up last week. This time we took water to drink. The first one was 4 miles round trip and the second was only about a mile rt. In the afternoon we went historic downtown Pensacola to visit St. Michaels Cemetery established in 1809. The oldest date we saw on a headstone was a birth date in the 1700's. A prominent businessman in the 1800's had a tall monument for his family plot, some vaults were above ground like New Orleans, a couple looked like they had basements. The Moreno family plot had a marker "Theresa", she was purchased by the family when she was 7 and stayed with the family for 65 years, the family loved her so they buried her with them. We found a geo caches at the farthest corner from the entrance, of course we forgot our pen to log in, had to walk clear back to the car, get the pen and then clear back to the corner.

Friday, Mar. 13th, Most people think Friday the 13th is bad luck but I don't, my daughter Chris was born Friday the 13th in August many years ago. The day was miserable, rainy, cold, windy YUK! I'd heard from one of our neighbors McGuires Irish Pub was a great place to go. We thought if we got there early, around 4:30 we could beat the crowd so we didn't call for reservations. Wrong, we couldn't even find a parking spot. We went downtown to Jaco"s right on the bay front. It must be a great place to go in good weather to sit outside on the patio. We had great food, I had Plaza de Luna lasagna, it had Portobello mushrooms, zucchini, artichoke, spinach and arugula. Yum, Gary had seared Ahi Tuna, yum yum yum. We were commenting on our way back to Fam Camp that we hadn't seen much wildlife in the forest. Almost as soon as we said that 6 deer crossed the road in front of us. Ask and ye shall receive.

Saturday, Mar. 14th Yea, it's a nice day at last! The forecast looks good for the next week, maybe spring has sprung. We walked around the camp taking pictures to share with you. We spotted a couple of Osprey in a nest close by. Later in the afternoon a couple pulled in with a tiny teardrop trailer right next to us. As they were setting up we could see a tiny puppy ahhh so cute. Dan and Kim, from Michigan, had driven down to Jacksonville to pick up the puppy from the breeder. They also had a 9 month old puppy from the same breeder. I'm not a great fan of Jack Russell's but these guys were so cute and had calm temperaments. After dinner they came over for adult beverages with Lily and "Nug", I had a hard time keeping my hands off them.

Sunday, Mar. 15th, It was cloudy until about 11 but warm. We started getting our "stuff" together for our departure tomorrow. Gary rode around the park with Dan while I did laundry and cleaned. What is wrong with this picture?

Monday, Mar. 16th the weather was just beautiful, no wind, not a ripple in the bay. We left about 10, driving only 170 miles to Montgomery, Alabama. We are staying at Maxwell Air Force Base for 4 days. As we were walking alongside the lakes signs were posted "Caution Snakes". I hate snakes! Montgomery has a population over 200,000 at an elevation of 191 feet. We're liable to get nose bleeds from the altitude, we've been on the Gulf coast since Nov. 1st. We took I-65N, the route to Indiana. The hairdresser back in Pensacola said it was only a 12 hour drive, we're taking 18 days. After getting settled we drove downtown Montgomery to the visitor center. We drove around a bit and ended up at a (surprise) a brew pub in a historic building. Gary said the beer was "ok", I thought the water was delish. I had a chicken kabob that was over cooked, Gary had a specialty of the house, a burger on a pretzel bun that was dripping in pimento cheese. Yuk. After we got back to the coach we enjoyed the evening sitting outside.

That's it for this week (and a half)

TTFN

Gary and Pam