Exquisite Camping Weather!

Well, I must say, I enjoyed this camping trip 100% more than I did our last one due to the fact that I was well this time and did not have pneumonia. We had absolutely perfect weather for enjoying the great out of doors.

Randall and I got up early Friday morning. After Randall got the boys ready with their jobs for the day, we were ready to leave right at 9:00 a.m. Randall already had the few groceries we were taking and since the trailer was already at the campgrounds, all we had to do was load the truck. We arrived at Gulf Breeze RV Resort around 10:10. I was hoping for a site on the lake, but all of those sites were occupied. We got an end site with a slight view of the lake. It was just fine. First of all we went to the storage area and picked up the TT and delivered it to the site where set up went very smoothly. Randall handled the outside while I moved things from the truck to the inside of the camper and then made all the beds with the sheets we had taken home to wash. Making the beds is one of my least favorite things to do because of the positions of the beds. They are very hard to get to!

Once we got set up, it was lunch time. We decided to go to Foley and have lunch at one of our favorites....The Mellow Mushroom. We split a small Caesar's salad and an order of Humus for an appetizer and order a small white pizza which we also split for our main meal. We still had enough left over to take back to the TT and have for another time. After lunch, we ventured out to find Bella Terra RV Resort that just opened recently. Evidently this resort is only for expensive Motorhomes only. That is all we saw when we rode by and all that is shown on their website. I don't think they even allow nice Fifth Wheels to stay. I believe their lots are mainly for sale and not so much a place just to spend the week. Their rates are extremely high, but what we could see from behind the iron security gate with guards, this didn't look like anything that we would be interested in anytime soon, if ever.

After relaxing in the sunshine back at the campgrounds for a couple of hours, we drove just over the bridge at Orange Beach and walked the State Park wooden hiking trail down to the beach. This was such a nice walk. We remembered the time when our boys were younger that we walked with our boys out to these same jetties and fished. This wooden walk path had not been built at that time and walking out there in the sand with all the fishing equipment was a very difficult walk. With this wooden walk way, it would be a piece of cake! Oh well, we were younger then and it wasn't so bad.

On our way back to the camp, we decided to go to Gulf State Park campgrounds to see if we could spot our friends, Richard and Valerie Jackson, who were supposed to be arriving there Friday as well. After driving all over the campgrounds, we determined they had not made it yet. Then as we were driving out the entrance, there was their truck and fifth wheel parked at the check in office. So we waited on them to come out just so that we could speak to them. They were staying all week.....those lucky dogs!

Once back at the campground, Randall grilled some sausage dogs and we had them along with potato salad. We also picked up some Cheesecake Cupcakes at the Cheesecake Factory on our way back to the campground and we had them for dessert...yum. It was such a nice evening outside, we ate out on the patio. After sitting outside a little longer, riding my bike, walking around the campground and sitting a little while longer, I finally went inside for the evening. We watched the movie "Marley and Me" which is one of the best, but saddest movies I have seen in a long time. I hate it when dogs die.

Saturday morning, we got up and headed to Hazel's for breakfast. When we eat Hazel's for breakfast, we skip lunch, because we eat so much that it holds us until dinner. After Hazel's, we went back to campgrounds for a little while and then we went to Tanger Outlet just to do some window shopping. We ended up only buying things for Camp. We have tried several different collars and harnesses on him and nothing just seems to fit right. The one we bought last time we were at the Gulf, choked him because we had to velcro it so tightly around his neck. When we left it loose, he was always able to get out of it. We used this new one several times and I think it is going to work. I sure hope so. We also picked Camp up PediPaws to groom his nails. He really needed this and it worked well. His nails look and feel so much better:)

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing, walking, bike riding, visiting with neighbors, etc. It was nice to see the Lutz's, the couple that had been next to us the last time we stayed at the park. We thought they were leaving to go back to North Dakota on April 1 and we didn't expect to see them. But they had a change in plans and were not leaving until this Wednesday. Many of the snow birds in the park had left earlier in the week and many were leaving this week. I think most of them leave before Alabama Spring Break which will begin next week. They know when to get out of Dodge!

Saturday night for dinner, Randall grilled chicken and I had the leftovers from Mellow Mushroom. After dinner, we began the tearing down process since we were leaving early the next morning. We packed everything into the truck except the refrigerated items and what we were wearing on the way home. We were leaving the camper on the site for the park workers to move it back into storage for us because we were having to leave so early in order for us to be back for me to work at church. But everything had to be unhooked and disconnected ready for them to move. We were able to do most of this Saturday night.

Sunday morning we woke at 6:30, got dressed and unhooked the final connections. We were on the road by 7:00 and we were home by 8:10 even with stopping and getting gas. There is no traffic that early in the morning, especially on a Sunday morning.

This was a quick trip, but we had a wonderful, relaxing time. It's always good to be able to pull away from everyday life and do something different. It seems everytime we leave, we begin planning when the next time will be when we can come back. Since we are going on the cruise next month, it will probably be June or July before we can get back over. We'll just have to see!