Summer of 18-#3-Leaving Blue Angel and arriving at Lakeside RV Park

April 8th, 2018

We spent our last day at Blue Angel Campground in Pensacola watching Nascar & Golf but also went for a walk around the campground.  They have a lot of amenities here, including a great beach!!!

I am still getting used to my camera, so a lot of practice shots!!!

They were having sailing lessons.

Got this picture through the reeds

Bryan caught me trying to adjust my camera

Squirrel on the beach

Bryan watching the sailing lessons and taking pictures

Flowers on the beach

Picnic area overlooking the beach

Perdido Bay from campground beach

Peek A Boo

More beach & bay

Bird steps in the sand

Bryan found a seat

The water is very clear

Practicing with my zoom lens.  

The birds in the picture above were perched on a log at the right of the row of logs here.  My zoom worked quite  well.

Brrr, the water's cold.  Shall I???

Another picnic area

Unusual trunk

It was quite cold and rained on and off but we were glad we managed to get out and take some pictures.

April 9th, 2018

Today we were leaving and going to Lakeside RV Park in Livingston, Louisiana which is near to Bryan's moms so we can visit with her and Bryan will help her with some odd jobs around the house. They know us at this campground as we always stay here whenever we visit mom.

We took a picture of Lily(motorhome) & Tilly(car) before we left.

 and me, waiting to check all the lights were working before we left.

 We stopped a couple of times to stretch our legs on the journey.  This was lunch at the rest stop at Pascagoula.

April 10th - 21st, 2018

The weather was beautiful the first couple of days here and we sat on moms porch watching Bryan clean up the yard, burn leaves and cut the grass down.  I love the yard here, the birds sing and the squirrels climb the trees and I usually see butterflies.  Unfortunately the squirrels seemed to be hiding, I only saw a couple and no butterflies so far.

Bryan burning the leaves in the ditch

Keeping an eye on the leaves burning 

Trimming the grass

They have repaired the wall in the living room, replacing the sheetrock and a couple of beams that were damaged due to a leak.  Mom has been leveling it out and then it will be painted and the wainscot will be replaced.  The ceiling will also get another coat of paint.

We woke up one morning to a tornado warning.  We did know there was a possibility of this when we went to bed and we had already brought the bikes in the house and cleared everything away outside.  We quickly put some clothes on and prepared to bring the slides in on the motorhome if we had to.  The office is directly across from us and we would go there if the winds picked up or we felt we needed to.  We watched the weather approaching on the TV where they were reporting where there was a chance of tornadoes forming.  It went right over us and fortunately no tornadoes formed.  It got very dark, still and torrential rain, and then windy but the wind wasn't as bad as when we were here once before and we had gone to the office on that occasion for shelter.  The rain continued but the warning and then the watch were lifted.  It wasn't a nice way to be woken up though it could have been worse.

We had a little stream appear behind us but it quickly drained away after the rain stopped later in the day.

View from our back window

I heard that a friend of the family, who we had visited when we were over last year, had been admitted to the hospital and sadly she passed away.  She was such a fun, bubbly person that it's hard to believe she is no longer here with us, but no doubt her spirit will always be with us.  My thoughts are with her family.  Rest in Peace, no longer suffering.

Summer of 18-#2-What a difference a day makes - Sunshine to rain!!!!

April 4th - 7th, 2018

Wednesday

Well despite my good intentions of keeping up to date with the blog, my internet connections have been really slow and have prevented me from doing it!!!  Good excuse, eh!!!

Anyway, what a difference a day makes.  Sunshine to rain!!! We woke up on Wednesday to the sounds of a speedboat racing by.  Boy, was that engine loud.  At about the same time, the heavens opened and rain pounded on the roof.  At first, keep in mind I had just got woken and so was not fully alert, I thought the boat had caused a tidal wave and it was pounding down on the motorhome!! 😟  Fortunately, it was only rain, whew!!!!

By the time we had our breakfast and got ready to start packing up, the rain had stopped.
We headed out on our way to Blue Angel Recreation Area, Perdido Bay, Florida and we encountered a few showers along the way.

One of the worst things about traveling in the motorhome is filling her up with gas(petrol).  We have to find gas stations that are big enough to be able to get in and out of easily, especially as we are towing our car behind us.  Not always an easy thing.  I use Gas Buddy to find the best prices for gas and it used to have pictures of some of the stations, so I could see what they looked like, but now I'm unable to see the pictures so have to go on google maps.  This is quite helpful as I can usually tell if we will have problems getting in and out and choose places that look as though we will be ok.

Filling up!!!!

 Next stop was for lunch at the Ponce De Leon Rest Area.

Nearly there, going over the bridge into Pensacola.

We've arrived at Blue Angel.

Thursday

The temperatures had dropped this morning and I put the fire on in the living room to take the chill off.

I had my appointment on base to get my ID card renewed.  We arrived early and as there was no one waiting we went straight in.  They were apprehensive that my information from medicare would be in the system, as I'm not due to start until June 1st and some people have had problems getting the information to "talk" to the military side!!!  Guess what, mine was there.  They were totally amazed and said it was the first time it had happened.  They usually have to ask for the information.  

They told Bryan that he should listen to me as I must know what I was doing and had done it right.  He pulled a face!!! 😜  I told them I hadn't done anything.  The card was sent to me in the mail with all the information and basically after reading everything, the only option I had, was to do nothing.  As I understand it, I have to pay the supplement in order for Tricare to pick up any remaining expenses after Medicare has paid.   If I don't, Tricare won't pay and I would need to buy a supplementary insurance anyway!!!  

Anyway, I got my ID card and so I'm set.  I will look to see if I can get any help with the new monthly expense but I doubt it.

We were finished there before the time of my appointment was supposed to start.  A first, we have been known to have to wait up to 3 hours for this, at other places.  It might have something to do with it being Pensacola as well though, as the service we have received here at the base has always been prompt.  Oops, probably jinxed us now!!!!

We stopped at one of the beaches on base to get some pictures as the water is so blue and clear.

Last September, when we were here, the beach was closed as they had sustained damage from one of the storms that came through.  That's probably what happened to this tower.  The beach is still cordoned off in places.  The black tower in the background is the lighthouse on base.

We stopped at the commissary and got our groceries for the next couple of weeks, always such a joy!!!!

Friday

Today we decided to go and pick up our mail at Crestview.  It is a little way from here but gives us a chance for a road trip.  I'm having a little problem with my pension from the UK.  They have stopped it as they need proof I am alive!!!  It is a form that they send periodically, that I have to get signed by a professional to certify I am indeed alive.  I have no problem with that, as I'm sure there are some scoundrels out there who would forget to advise them that the recipient had died.  

However, I have not received the notice, or any information from them since they changed administrators early last year.  I eventually had to phone them and they told me they would send another form.  I expressed my concern that no mail was reaching me, but was hopeful that I would receive it.  I did manage to get my new account information so I could sign on to the website and access my account.  I found out that when they transferred the information from the old administration to the new, somehow my box # got deleted.  Hmmm, that's why I haven't received any mail.  I updated it online and sent a message to tell them.  Anyway, the form was not in the mail and it has been a few weeks so I will have to call them again next week, ugh!!!!  

We decided to visit the Air Force Armament Museum, near Shalimar, Florida on our way home.  We have been here before and it is a small well organized place that we enjoy.   Here's the BLOG from our first visit on December 16th, 2013.

                                       

There is a memorial to all Military Florida residents who have died in battle.

In the background they were setting up for a retirement ceremony for an officer.

Mural on the wall

 F-111, Bryan worked on one of these at Upper Heyford.

We decided to stop at Red Lobster at Fort Walton Beach for lunch/dinner.  The window seat was amazing.                        

Our welcoming party

I have been trying to figure out the zoom on my new camera and think I finally have it worked out.  

No zoom

x30

x60

Not bad.  I'm quite pleased with that.  The test will be when I see wildlife in the distance.  I need to find a Bald Eagle sitting at the top of a tree or a bear in the distance.  The object has to be still though!!!  😆

We got caught in traffic on the way home so it took us a bit longer than we anticipated, but we weren't really in a rush and so it didn't really matter.  Had to pass a really nasty accident though, that looked as if it had just happened and emergency services were just arriving.

Saturday

We had heavy rain and thunder during the night and this morning, but it stopped long enough for us to get out and go drive around one of our favorite housing places, Spanish Cove at Lillian, Alabama.  I had a list of properties to drive by and have a look.  This development is one of the few that you can have either a RV, mobile home or house on the lot.  The lots are small but some have bought two lots together which then makes them a better size and you can get a mobile home and have room to park an RV if you want.  The prices and community fees are reasonable and they have access to Perdido Bay.  This one was the winner today, although we're still not ready to say yes yet!!!  I'm sure it will sell before we are ready and that's ok.  I'd still love my dream home with a water view, but don't think that will ever happen at a price we can afford.

That's about it for today, we delayed leaving here until Monday so we can watch Nascar and the Golf tomorrow.  If the weather cooperates I will go for a walk around the park here.  Ta!! Ta!! for now. 😀

Summer of 18 -#1- On the road again..........

Tuesday April 3rd, 2018

We're baccckkkkkkkk!!!!!  I'm not sure how long this will last but I'll try.  You all need to give me some encouragement by letting me know that you are reading this, as it sometimes feels as though I'm talking to myself. 😞

We are on the I10 traveling West from Jacksonville, Florida on the way to mom's in Louisiana.  I'm writing this while Bryan drives.

Our stop overnight will be Coes Landing Campground, just outside of Tallahassee. It's our first time at this campground so we will see how it is.  They only have 30amp electric and no sewer so will have to watch the electrics running and not overload the system.  We have got quite good at juggling everything.  The sewer connection isn't a problem for one night we are actually self sufficient and could operate with no connections but we prefer to have the convenience.

It's the usual drive along the I10 although there are some pretty purple and yellow spring wildflowers out which adds a bit of color in places.  

Lets go across the Suwannee River!!!!

We just had lunch at this rest area and have about an hour to go to the campground.

Our plans are to spend a few days at Blue Angel Recreation Area in Pensacola.  I need to get my ID card renewed to show that I'm getting old!!!  Because I will be 65 in June I will officially go onto Medicare and so my ID card needs to reflect that.  Oh joy!!!!!

From there we will go to our usual park near Mom and stay for a month before heading north towards Michigan where we will spend some time visiting with our friends Johnny & Kathy before doing some lighthouse touring around the Michigan coastline.

We're also hoping to visit Niagara Falls for my birthday.  Well this geriatric needs to see them before she gets too old!!!! Ha!! Ha!!  Age is just a number isn't it???  I have to keep reminding myself of that.

I have been working!!!** hard, researching campgrounds and booking sites.  Have got us booked through July 5th and need to get a move on to get the rest done as summer will book up quickly in Michigan.

I will update the map on here so it shows where we hope to be.  I always wonder if we will get to complete our plans, as so far we have only had one summer that went to plan. Life happens and sometimes you have to adjust and go with the flow.

We reached Coes Landing.  It's a small park but nice, quiet and on Lake Tarquin, west of Tallahassee.

The view from our back window, lake in the distance

 After dinner we went for a short walk around the campground and the nearby boat launching area.

At sunset I walked down to the boat launching area and got a picture of the sunset.  It wasn't the most brilliant I have seen but not bad for my first sunset picture with my new camera.

Oh,the electrics are working well.  We haven't overloaded the system yet and have had the air conditioning on as well!!!!

Well, until the next time........Goodnight to all........zzzzzzzz