We had two days to get to our next park, 700 miles away in Alabama, when we left Lazydays. We had planned on staying in a Walmart along the way. But, I should have known that I couldn't get Terry to stop once he was on the road. We headed out and 9 hours later we were in Robertsdale Alabama! Terry says that driving while sitting in your living room recliner doesn't make you as tired as driving a regular vehicle!
We called the Styx River Resort to make sure they had room for us to come in a day early and got there about 5:00pm. Styx River is a park in our ROD system and we stayed there for two weeks. It kind of sits on a bit of a slope toward the Styx River, which is a good thing because is rained five of the days we were there and it had really good drainage so we were not flooded.
There is a beautiful outdoor pool, but the water was very chilly.
The indoor pool was really nice, with a nice hot tub, which we used.
The facilities were really nice. We went to two potluck dinners there and some activities. For one of the dinners I made whoopie pies--a recipe from the Amish people in Pennsylvania. They were a big hit. I can't wait to make them for our kids when we get home!
One day we were looking out our window at our neighbor's place and Terry saw this HUGE spider. Of course, he sent me over to check it out. It was a joke on us because it was a plastic spider--good thing because we were about ready to move!
There was a crafts activity at the Club House one day so I went over. They were making "stitched cards." I made an angel and a cross during the class. I get a little ambitious when I learn something new, so now I have a little tote filled with cards, embroidery floss, and other various supplies to make stitched cards. I got some free patterns off of the Internet and had fun making these. I try to talk Terry into being crafty with me, but he doesn't ever seem to be interested. At least he lets me find room for another box of supplies!
One of the nice days in between the rain, we drove to the Gulf Shores. They are some of the prettiest beaches we have been on. The sand is very white and so soft it feels almost like you are walking on powder. The water wasn't quite as blue as ocean water and was quite cold.
We met another couple who took our picture for us, and I took theirs for them.
The water was quite cold, but never cold enough to keep me from wading in it. I ended up getting caught by a surprise wave and got wet up past my knees. Along with my usual sound effects when it happened, Terry thought it was pretty funny!
There were a couple of men fishing off the beach. They had caught several fish--some of them kind of odd-looking compared to Idaho fish!
There were some beautiful homes built right off of the beach--all on stilts.
I told Terry he could buy this one for me and we could finish it and use it as our winter retreat! In this picture you can see an oil drilling platforms out in the water. They were everywhere. I guess one of these is where the oil spill in the Gulf came from several years ago.
We followed the Gulf Shore around and then took a ferry to Dauphin Island. We just missed the ferry that had left so we had to wait for almost an hour for the next one. There were several other cars there waiting so we had a good time getting to know the people there. The ferry holds up to 26 cars, but we only had about 12 on when we crossed.
The gulls followed us the whole way over (it took about a half hour to cross.) They left little gifts on some of the cars--but not ours! At least none of us riding outside our vehicles got hit!
There was a big oil drilling platform close to the loading area of the ferry. There was a fishing boat out by it, so you can see how big it is. There were some that were smaller and some that were bigger. I think this is maybe like the oil drillers that my brother, Ron, worked on before he went on his mission back in the 1970's. I will have to ask him.
From Dauphin Island, we drove over a long bridge to get to Mobile, Alabama. Part of it was really high to let the large ships under it.
It amazes me how much of the highway system is above water in this area--both bodies of water and also swamp land.
As we traveled through Mobile on the way home, we passed the port where the Carnival Triumph was dry docked, starting it's two-year repair after getting stranded out in the Gulf of Mexico. We were glad that we had taken the Carnival Valor on our cruise just a few weeks before!
I didn't get a picture of the Styx River before it flooded, but when it did flood, the water came all the way up into the picnic area and almost covered this large garbage can! When it rains in Alabama--it really rains. I think we got about six inches in the few days it rained. Travis spent 2 years on an LDS mission in northern Alabama and he told stories about getting caught in rainstorms and having to stand in the bathtub to take his wet clothes off. He talked about the "empty" canals and wondered why they were not filled with irrigation water. Well, after it rained once, he realized they were drainage canals!
We were only about 30 miles from Pensacola, Florida, so one day we went to the Naval Aviation Museum.
We didn't realize that the Navy had so many airplanes, but all of the plains on the aircraft carries are Navy planes. This is one of the first ones that the Navy bought.
The Blue Angels are also Navy planes. Terry tried out one of them and said the seat was a little tight! I told him that it had to be tight to feel like you are part of the plane and didn't fall out when they do all of their loops and fancy flying! I went on a Blue Angel simulator ride. It made you take a gasp as you dive towards the ground and then go straight up just before you hit the ground! Terry said that even simulating that was too much for him.
The Navy has a U S One helicopter. If you look closely in the window on the right, you can see that I am going on a ride with President Nixon!
They had a POW display. Look behind the glass and you can see Terry perusing all of John McClain's medals. He was a prisoner of war for six years during the Viet Nam War. Terry has always admired him and thought he would make a good President.
Two weeks went by fast at Styx River Park. We met some really nice people and saw a lot of things. But, the night before we left, Terry got a little antsy and had to hook the car up so we could get an early start on our next adventure.
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