ALABAMA WEEK 11: ORANGE BEACH, AL

On a warm low 70's degree day, we decided to head to Orange Beach. When we arrived, there was about twenty cars in the parking lot, so a few other people had the same idea we did. Orange Beach has a clear white sand that seams to stretches forever. With wildlife and humans flocking to this beach, it seams to have put the BP oil spill behind them.

Before calling it the day, we stopped by the American Legion where they were having a pot luck dinner. We swung by Walmart to pick up potato salad and that was our dish. Lot of the people jump the line and by the time we got there, the chicken and deviled eggs was gone along with a lot of other dishes. We ran into the couple from Iowa again and made a night of it. After dinner I line danced while the wife watched me from the sidelines. 

ALABAMA WEEK 10: HIBERNATION OVER!

The NFL season is coming to and end with the Super Bowl about two weeks away (about one week after I post this). That means the weather is getting warmer, and the MLB spring training is just around the corner. All I had to do was just poke my head out the front door and take a look at the sunset the other night to know it's getting warmer  For the last couple weeks I have been taking advantage of the warm weather and riding my bike. I started off with only riding for 4 miles, that now turned into 8 miles. Just this week I have added a 2 mile run after my 8 mile bike ride. I have also, started to watch what I eat and drink. I have cut back on a 4 to 6 cans of soda a day to just two cans and the wife shares one with me at dinner. It was hard for me to cut back and drink just water, so I also drink instant Gatorade. This way I can control how much powder I use and cut back on the sugar too (I use less than the recommended scoops).

My hibernation came to an end too. After 3 and half months I have shaved my beard off. It was a little over  3 and half inches long. It grew almost one inch a month. The hair.... is a different story... There is no plans of getting my hair cut any time soon. After having to get a hair cut every three weeks in the military for twenty years, I have earned the right to let it grow out.... for now!

Friday night we went the American Legions Post 44 in Gulf Shore, AL for their steak dinner. We met a couple from Iowa (I will not post their names) and just started to talk. After dinner was completed, there was a live music and dancing, so we stayed about one hour before heading back to the RV Park. There is a pot luck on Sunday night at the Legions and this couple said they will be there again, before going to their next adventure  Hopefully, we can met and talk some more. They have been to a lot of places themselves driving a Harley across America. I was picking their brain all night to get some ideas on where to visit and stay so we can add to our list. There is no better way of getting good information, then from others who have already experienced it. 

ALABAMA WEEK 9: WIND CREEK CASINO, AL

For a day of fun and relaxation, we went to Wind Creek Casino. The drive is about one hour fourth five minutes away. We wanted to see what kind of restaurants they have. After we arrived we went right to the counter to get our slot cards. There was no free play on the card, so we just played with $10 each that was in our wallets. In three spins, the wife won $6+. She cashed out. I played for about 10 minutes and almost tripled to  $29+. Needless to say, I too cashed out and we took our winning and headed for the doors. We did walk around the casino just to see what else they had, I was surprised that there was NO card tables. We saw a map of the casino and hotel on the wall and went outside to see the water pounds. The casino is building a movie theater and bowling ally in the back by the pounds and paring lot. There must have been lots of people who did not take the money and run. Since we were only in the casino for less than a hour we did not stay and eat at their buffet restaurants.

The RV park had it's second pot luck of the month. This time the wife made hand made egg rolls (Not store bought). I guess it was a popular dish for everyone to eat, because the dish was empty when the meal was over and headed back to our RV.

ALABAMA WEEK 8 (PART 2): DAUPHIN ISLAND, AL

We enjoyed another local day trip to Dauphin Island. The drive was about 1 hour 45 minutes South-West from the RV park. You can take your car via fairy boat, but we did not know where the pair was located, so we took the scenic route around the Mobile Bay. You have to cross a large high road-bridge to get over to the island. The island town is about 5 miles long. One end has Fort Gains where the battle of Mobile Bay took place and the other end is a beach that look like it goes on forever. On either side of the island you can see oil drilling stations one after another off the horizon. As we arrived at Dauphin Island beach we saw a hole in the sand that looked like it may have came from a turtle nesting. Then, what we saw next was shocking. After Katrina the sea reseeded and the fishing pier stands alone on the beach. As we walked along the beach I could still see what looked like round balls of oil and even some spots where the oil has left it mark in the sands.  At least the seagulls remain. There was still people walking the beach and even some laying out to catch the sun rays. As we drove to the other side of the island the streets was full of ocean water and there was home after home that looked like no one was living with for sale or rent signs. Or maybe it's still winter and the owners are waiting until summer to return. I collected some sand and three medium size sea shells.

UPDATED NOTE

I'm a few weeks behind on posting to the blog. Rain and windy weather so the internet connection not the greatest on the backside of the RV park. Also, on the days that the weather was nice we get out of the RV and took day trips. I will be making small post highlighting my weeks instead of one large post with two or three weeks of stuff. Trying to keep the blog simple and  easy to follow along. Keep your eyes open in the coming days.

ALABAMA WEEK 8: FAIRHOPE

A small, quite, hidden town about 45 minutes west from Azalea Acres that has one foot in new trends and the other in the good old south. As we drove into the town, it reminded me of  Mayberry, the 1960's TV Andy Griffith Show. Street parking at no cost in front of all the Mama and Pops stores. We arrived around lunch time and ate at the first restaurant we saw, Pelican Patio. Pelican Patio, is located on back street of town next to one of two parking garages. It look like a home that the front porch was closed off for dinning and a patio for outside dinning. The food was good, I had 10 piece HOT wings, while the wife had steak wrap with curly fries. I finished mine, but the steak wrap was too big for the wife, we had to take half of it home. We walked around town, looking at the stores and other restaurants. We found Gumbo Shack. This is where Guy Fieri  the host of Diners, Drive-in and Drives visited to film one of his episodes. We found this restaurant AFTER we just ate, so we just went inside took some pictures and left. Fairhope is not far away, so next time the wife wants to eat at Gumbo Shack. I'm not a Gumbo lover, but I'll eat there with her.