Big Bertha & Taj-mah-Hauler Go To Florida Coast (part 2)

September 6

It was nice to wake to sunshine this morning. 
The only problem with that is it makes the humidity go through the roof. 

By the time we are unhooked and ready to leave we both could use another shower. 

We get away from the RV park by around 9 am

As we make our way down Highway 98 I totally understand why this area is called the Pine Belt. 
The pine trees can be seen as far as the eye can see.
Of course your vantage point has to be on a hill to see very far as the road is lined with pines. 

We have a nice cloud cover this morning and it makes driving easterly towards Mobile, AL quite nice.
The roads were a lot better today and before you know it we are in Florida.
Our travels down Highway 98 were very slow but I enjoyed seeing how much the area had changed from our last trip this direction.
Not sure that Chuck enjoyed all the stop and go traffic, which was due to all the traffic lights! 
He says we will not be taking this road on the way out next week for sure.
Once again Lupi tells us our destination was on the left, and you guessed it, she is wrong.
We have to go past our turn and make a U-turn!
We find an area that will allow us to do the u-turn, and go back to the entrance of Topsail.

We are checked in and in our spot around 2pm. 

The park is beautiful, and all the spots are so wooded and secluded. 

There really doesn't seem to be a bad spot in the park.

Our friend Craig Dickinson was out walking his dog as we start to pull into our site. 
He and his wife Debra are not but about 6 sites down from us.








We are using every inch of the site because I am wanting to be able to open the back of the trailer so we have our patio area open.

After we get setup, we take Bronco for a walk and check out the area. 

Chuck wants to walk towards the beach so we set out to do just that. 

It's probably about a 2 mile walk of which didn't bother either of us but Bronco was really struggling with it. 

As we make our way to the boardwalk we see "no pets" are alloyed on the beach.
Bummer for Miss Bronco!

We take advantage of the area they have set up for showering off the sand when you exit the beach and wet Bronco down. 

Bronco was worn out and she was ready to chill inside the trailer. 

Chuck and I go to the local Walmart to get some food and end up bringing home brauts to cook on the grill. 

This day is about over and it is time to get some rest cause tomorrow we are hitting the beach. 

Sept 7th

This morning Chuck is on top of the trailer getting the satellite set up.
I am busy packing the things we will need to take to the beach. 
There is a tram that you can ride to the boardwalk, so we make our way to the closest tram stop.
It runs every 30 minutes during the peak season, but after Labor Day, it only runs every hour.

We make the 12pm tram, and enjoy the 1 mile ride. 
We have our little red wagon and our chairs with us, but as soon as we get to the beach area we realize we should have brought our umbrella!  

The water was beautiful and relaxing. 
There will be another trip to the local Walmart to get an umbrella and noodles before our next trip to the beach.
The day was a lot of fun.
I can't say enough about the area we are staying at. 
One thing we noticed was that everyone seems to have a bicycle, and they use them!
The boardwalk area has a nice area for leaving the bikes when you are on the beach.
We will get the hang of this beach life very soon, promise! 
Back at the trailer we take Bronco out for a walk and exercise.  
Chuck cooks some steaks on the grill tonight, and we settle in nicely to our site for the next 5 days.  

This vacation stuff is exhausting, but oh so fun!

   

Sept 8th. 

The Highway 30A is our road to explore today. 

We took a joy ride to check out Rosemary Beach. 
Our kids come to Rosemary Beach every year, so we have to see what it is all about. 

 The road to Rosemary Beach is a two lane road and everywhere you look they are building new homes and condos.

Most of the access to the beach is private as we make our way through the small areas known as Grayton Beach, Seaside, Seacrest, Alys Beach, and finally Rosemary Beach.

We stop at Rosemary and I run into the Rosemary Beach Trading Company and pick up a license plate for our granddaughters bicycle. 

The town of Rosemary Beach is so cute. 
I understand why the kids love coming here. 

We drive a little further and get back on Highway 98.
 I spy a Walmart so I run in and pick up the supplies we are needing for the beach. 
Equipped with noodles, umbrella, and a few other necessities we head back towards the trailer and Chuck makes a quick stop at an Ace hardware we had seen earlier.

He is picking up a couple of cotter pins to replace two that are missing in our hitch. 

He had been inspecting it earlier this morning and we are missing the two pins that hold the pivot head of the hitch. 

This is interesting and a bit scary that these are gone. 

There is no sign of them and now we are wondering if they were removed during our couple of nights stay in Mississippi. 

Just a very strange thing that we can't explain. 

So glad he noticed as this could have been catastrophic. 

It is time to think about eating lunch.  A friend of Chucks, along with our son Anthony, had recommended "The Red Bar" so we drop Bronco back at the trailer and make our way back to the Grayton Beach area for lunch. 

I had fish and chips and Chuck had a salmon salad. 

I think my plate was better!  

Had a margarita as well. Wow it was stout!  

Finished lunch off with our first piece of key lime pie.

Yum!


















So excited to see that Starbucks has the "you are here" cups for Florida.  
Just one of the little things I have started collecting with our RV travels.  

Back at the trailer we chill for the afternoon and watch a movie in the nicely cooled trailer. 

We cook burgers later in the evening and enjoy a nice relaxing day. 

Tomorrow we go to the beach with umbrella and noodles!!!!