Gulf Coast

I spent the final two weeks of my marvelous 2007 Trek on the Gulf Coast. Camped in Styx River, Alabama I enjoyed sitting on a beach in both Alabama and Florida. This is a glorious area—if you enjoy a beach, which I do. The sands are the texture of sugar and are that pristine white. The communities that enjoy the asset of a beach also take great care to make sure they are clean and have all the facilities to encourage the influx of a tourist.
Gulf Shores was hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma, fortunately they did not receive a direct hit, but they were affected nevertheless. But have they come back—there is building going on everywhere, and a lot of folks are back and buying homes on the beach. It really is lovely.
In the past 8 years Pensacola, Florida was hit by Hurricanes Ivan, Charley, and Wilma. The Interstate-10 Bridge over Pensacola Bay was destroyed by Charley, it reopened in late 2006. I tried to take pictures of the reconstructed bridge from the 3 miles bridge over to Pensacola Beach but I was too far away.
The Pensacola Beach area is beautiful; I think my pictures are evidence. They have made parking and access to the beach easy, and have an abundance of facilities right there. They don’t gouge you either; the Beach Bums (official name) were selling beer for $1.50, hamburgers for $3 and hot dogs for $2. Service provided with or without a shirt and shoes! Server as well as patron!
I moved to Biloxi, Mississippi on Saturday, October 13th, to a park about six miles north of Ocean Shores on the Gulf of Mexico. We had stayed in Biloxi on our way back from The Masters in 1998 and had parked in an RV resort just off Hwy 90; we walked across the road to the beach. We also walked to the Treasure Bay Casino for the evening. (I’ve included pictures.) I have a great deal of respect for the people of Mississippi, after Hurricane Katrina they rolled their sleeves up and were not going to let this set back beat them. Goodness knows they could’ve been excused. My opinion --it is going to take 20 or more years to bring this coast back to where it was on August 28th2005. Driving on the coast road you pass miles of devastated lots with “For Sale” signs. BUT, there is a lot of new construction as well as reconstruction, repair, and revival, evident everywhere even though the problems are daunting. Rebuilding is easy if you are rebuilding exactly what your slab dictates. If you want to reconfigure your home the original slab may have to be removed and in addition there are most certainly some trees that are dead and root removal is necessary.
On October 20th I took my motor home to Picayune, Mississippi to have the warranty work done, have a satellite dish installed and have a bunch of regular maintenance work done. I left the motor home and went to stay with Debbie and Bobby for a week (or so I thought). What a frustration, talk about a bad decision. Anyone who wants a recommendation for Paw Paw’s Camper City better not look to me! I went to pick the motor home up on Friday, November 2nd, the work is still not complete so I have to take the it back there in a couple of weeks, but once that is done I am certainly going to let all ‘n sundry know about my experiences.
I enjoyed my two weeks with Debbie, Bobby and family and I am very grateful to them, spending time with the kids has been great. I got to enjoy Halloween, which is always fun when the kids are younger. I am now back in Abita Springs RV Resort and will be here through the winter. I have a great spot (picture through my window.) I plan to do a bit more sight seeing in this area than I did last year and will up-date my Blog from time to time with whatever I think is of interest.
I haven't mentioned the price of gas because during the summer it settled out to between $2.79/gallon and $2.89/gallon, which is pretty much where it still is. I found it to be most expensive in Colorado and Utah and was delighted when I pulled into Montana and paid $2.99/gallon, so I guess $2.79 is pretty good!! I covered 7,000 miles so it hurt me a bit, but then I am not paying property taxes or a regular utility bill for that matter so am not complaining.
This Trek wouldn't be complete without mention of Wally. I wish I could say that it is getting easier -- it's really not. BUT I don't think I could have accomplished my travels this year without feeling his presence and encouragement. I've done my best to live for both of us and hope he is proud of me.

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