We drove past bayou's and rivers who's names we could not begin to pronounce, let alone spell, past little unfortunate armadillo's lying feet up in the road and over dead, dark, still water that looked so dense and ominous that I was glad we did not have to wade through that lot - some were scattered with brilliant green algae that just looked as if it would perfectly hide that ginormous alligator! The swamps were littered with stumps of dead trees and created a beautiful scenery of a very different type inbetween all the full green trees around it. The traffic over one long bridge was really slow and I had a good amount of time for some really nice shots. And on we trundled into Mobile, Alabama where we went in a tunnel that goes under a river, but cannot find the name of it right now - over the Battlefield Parkway bridge where we could see the big battleship parked way to the side in the bay. I have always loved that bridge - it seems to go on and on over that water, is so smooth and easy to drive. Just nice. And then we came into the Gulf Shores and sunshine again. The big billowing clouds were decorating the sky again and seemed less threatening this time. We heard on the radio that some of the storms we had been running just ahead of, had created some havoc behind us and we were really glad to be ahead of most of these storms.
It was really great to have all the windows open, feet on the dash with a beautiful breeze floating through the house. At times the noise of the traffic became a bit much and we reverted to the airconditioner, but it was a good drive into Florida. More people were waving and honking at the rv and it is quite amazing how different people bring different reactions to me. One lady gave me goosebumps the way she waved and turned and waved again..... I knew we were driving past some people I would have loved to meet but had no way of contacting them and also needed to get to the beach again. We dropped south off the interstate west of Panama City and saw a billboard of a campground in Destin that looked really lovely. And so we are here.
The water is incredibly clear with little fish swimming in clusters, the bigger fish just a tad deeper than these little ones as if protecting them, but Frank says they are waiting to eat them! That is like Laura and the 'strangle tree' in Oregon. Right before the waves broke, I could see clear through them and watched as the sea sand was sucked up into the wave before it crashed down, crushing any chance of finding any whole shells..... It is truely lovely here - the sky and the water have a kind of crystal look to them and just looking that far over to the horizon is such a wonderful feeling - free and open and breathable! The waves crashed unendingly on the shore, almost becoming too loud at times and the fine white sand sifted over our feet as it sang as we walked on it. We saw dolphins playing way out and they jumped a good few times while gently moving on their way. There was almost always a butterfly flittering over the shallow water - not close at all, but determindly heading one way or the other......
Early the next day we headed down to the store on the bikes. We found the store but kept riding for a good long way to see what there was to see. It is so sad that so much of the beach is fenced off to the general public. We rode for about an hour without finding any place we could get onto the beach - all entrances were posted as private or for exclusive use by the guests of enormous hotels and resorts all along the road. There is a tremendous amount of construction going on here, all slowly but surely totally blocking the view of the ocean. We passed one open lot that had a for sale sign on it and checked the listed price - one and a half million dollars! For just the land that was not even on the beach and had houses going up in front of it which would totally block the ocean view! We gulped and figured that we could come down here once a month for a week for the rest of our lives and the kids lives and still come out cheaper than buying that lot! So we did our megre shopping and headed back to the RV thinking that we are really fortunate to be able to move around in the way we do, finding new 'back yards' and lots almost every day.
Then we headed to the beach again for another walk Frank went in the water pretty early on, but I just got my shorts wet - at first. I walked in the shallow water while Frank floated like an otter in the rollers with his head up and the tips of his toes also sticking straight up and an enormous grin on his face - it looked so relaxing so I joined him! We floated around there for about an hour acting like kids and having a wonderful time. The waves kept pounding and throwing us up on the beach like flotsam, sandpapering our legs and letting free so many laughs. The purple flag was flying but no sharks came for dinner - the water was warm and clear and it was so beautiful to see the world totally dissappear behind a wave or roller......... just lovely. I have not felt that free in a very long time... we laughed and floated and dug out many broken shells - the best views those of our smiles and freedoms in our eyes. The taste of that sea water was not something I thought I missed, until I got a mouthful again. Funny how that brought back so many memories of endless days at the beach so many years ago. Lovely memories. I also wondered just how much sand each person carries out in their clothing when they have finished swimming..........
Later that night we walked to the beach for the sunset - again with no camera. It was awesome but happened so fast! The clouds were amazing wispy shapes all across the sky that picked up the different shades of the setting sun. The sun itself was the most incredibly bright orange ball, painting the sky all around it in the same color and putting a touch of gold on the ocean. Pelicans flew across this picture making me scream inside for my camera! Simply lovely. People stood dotted all over the beach, quietly in awe of this display......... The setting sun is the end of something, but also the beginning of another set of trusts and beliefs - one being that there will be another tomorrow. So much hope in a sunset.
Today we went for a bicycle ride down the other way to see what there was to see. We should have looked at a map first or at least remembered that this road took us further away from the beach. We passed a dead, possum, racoon and a beautiful colored fox that was also now no more. Its not easy to hold ones breath for as long as it takes to get past the smell and we both stood on those pedals and sped on by as quickly as we could. I wondered where these creatures had left to live. On one side was the six lanes of traffic and the other was a thin band of trees, behind which enormous vacation buildings loomed up tall again. The skies regularly reverbarate with the thunder from the fighter jets screaming overhead - they look like they are having an enormous amount of fun but I am sure they are doing something serious up there.
And then at one cross road with me following reeeeaaally close behind him, Frank came to a screaming stop thinking that a van had not seen us. I did not have the time to get my brakes working and ended up stopping pretty well after crunching into Frank at full speed. I am sure we compacted into an interesting bundle judging by the guy in the van's eyes, but we managed not to fall down. It felt as if we connected in at least ten different places, jarring everything from ankles to chins and something scratched Franks back open and a sad little trickle of blood dripped onto his shorts. But we survived, laughed and kept going. With me a tad further behind him than before....
I managed to load a good few albums of photographs from the trip onto the website - almost caught up! And tomorrow we move to a campsite that is right up on the beach and I plan to spend the whole day in or near the water, filling up the camera again and I really want to see at least one sunrise over the ocean - that will take some doing for Frank to wake me up on time! It really is beautiful and relaxing here...
With thoughts of all of you.
Especially U3
Annie and Frank
XXXxxxxx
www.RoadrunnersUSA.com www.livingwithcml.blogspot.com www.PenniesforCancer.com
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