FLORI-BAMA

Orange Beach, Alabama is adjacent to (the more well known) town of Gulf Shores.   Both towns are right on the Gulf Coast of Florida and Alabama.   A short drive from our RV resort (you will see from photos below why where we are staying cannot be referred to as a campground!!) is the Perdido Beach Blvd., which hugs the gulf coast from Gulf Shores some 30+ miles east to Pensacola.  The beaches all along the coast are wide with many dunes and sand that is talcum powder white.  There are some beautiful high rise condos along the blvd......the nice ones constructed of a 'sea foam' colored glass that is gorgeous.   Then there are those that if they were not located on the beach might be confused with Cold War apartments behind the iron curtain....just drab looking.   Unlike Myrtle Beach at least here there is space between the buildings so one can see a lot of beach when driving alongside.   There is a wonderful and very large Alabama State Park campground called Gulf Park that has a few miles of frontage along the blvd......the campground is fully booked out through mid March of 2014!   The snow birds have discovered this place. 

Here we are nicely in place in Lot 5A at Terry Cove Motorcoach Resort here in Orange Beach.  The resort is a private community where the 40 odd sites are individually owned and managed by an association of the owners.   Each site has full electric (50amp), water, sewer and cable tv hookups.   The community also has a strong wifi for internet access.....giving our Verizon Jetpack a rest for this week.  The facilities also include two pools, a recreational center and a full sized (free) laundry setup.   We are doing laundry  today for the second time this week....the operative word is 'free'.   (Some MHs have washer and dryers in them.....the Tuscany has a place for them, but I wanted the extra storage space to use for other things.....sometimes you do wish you had them for convenience, though).



The sites can be rented out by their owners, which is how we came to be here this week.   Each site has a shed for the owner to keep whatever items he / she wants on site while they are traveling and not here.   Each site also has a screened 'casita' or gazebo that is furnished....and some, like ours, inlcude a firepit.  As you can see, palm trees abound and the lawns are very well manicured....not to mention all sites are concrete and the roads are all brick.  Some folks own mulitple sites....one fellow owns 5 of them...mostly for rental income.  Not too shabby a place to find to spend a week on the AL coastline.

                                                                                                                                                                       

  As an aside, here is Ali with a front seat view out the MH windshield as we drive along the Florida Gulf Coast.   While she most often alternates between the blanket covered sofa and her 'throw rug' on the floor, sometimes she wants to be front and center.   To Ali's left is 'Randi', our Rand McNally GPS made specifically for RV's.   It is an amazing piece of technology that is programmed for our size, which then keeps us off certain roads where we may not have clearances, etc.   It is also connected to our Jetpack (wireless router) as are our computers and kindle, so it can alert us to both weather and traffic concerns up ahead.  Just amazing how things work today!!

While here we met up with Ron and Claudette Brown from Twin Mtn.....back home!!   We spent the day with them...visiting and touring the area.   They are here for their 5th consecutive year in a campground about 15 miles from where we are.   They treated us to a very nice lunch at a favorite haunt of theirs....Duck's Diner.   Easy to tell they are regulars as all the wait staff stopped to bestow hugs and kisses with them!!   The Browns are very nice folks and Ron in particular has a wonderful sense of humor.  He told me a story about Pam when she was with the bank in Whitefield.....Ron phoned the bank and Pam answered the phone saying "How can I love you today".....not how can I 'help you' mind....Ron and Claudette laugh like crazy whenever they think about that.....ha ha.   Good folks indeed.

This is our last stop at a beach location for awhile.....maybe for the remainder of this trip??   From here we push on into Texas, which is so big you have to be there awhile!!   Not all one sees at the beach is always a 'welcome sight'......here is an example:

Jellyfish

We like this area well enough to come back again next year for a longer stay.   To that end, we have booked the month of February next year at Perdido Cove RV Resort and Marina, a wonderfully located small campground with 9 pull in sites facing the intracoastal waterway.   We will have one of these sites to sit and while away the time watching all manor of watercraft go by...and if lucky, we are told one can be treated to dolphins swimming and jumping out of the water. 

The next several blogs will come from the big state of (Don't Mess With) Texas....with highlights from San Antonio (remember the Alamo!) and the Texas Hill Country.   Stay tuned to see if the penguins show up with their Stetsons!!!