First Pictures of Gulf Shores

Here are a few pictures taken of our RV site and a few of our 16 mile bike ride we took to the local Walmart this afternoon.  Our site is situated on a lake but we are about 50 yards or so away from the actual water which is all right with us since it is inhabited by alligators.  Beyond the lake about a mile away is the Gulf of Mexico.  Looking out our back window we can see some of the large condos that sit directly on the gulf.  The largest one behind us is actually empty.  It has sit several years in an uncompleted state.  At night however it is pretty since they have it lit up very well.  Below are the pictures with captions where necessary.

Looking out our front window

Posted in the field between our rv and the lake behind us

Bunny meets coyote.  The night we arrived a coyote laid down in the field behind our site while we were getting set up.  Later we confirmed at the park office that yep it was a coyote.

It was in the mid 60's today but this didn't stop Hulio from wearing her monkey hat.  This hat made me peddle faster because I didn't want people to think I was with her. 

Behind the state park are several different bike trails that connect the state park to the cities of Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, and to the Gulf of Mexico.  Today we rode to Walmart in Gulf Shores which was eight miles each way.  Three fourths of the ride is on dedicated bike trails through woods and wilderness areas.  The balance is on a bike path on the edge of the road that leads to Walmart.  On the way is a sport complex that is awesome with a soccer field that holds the SEC soccer tournament.  This soccer field is shown below.  On other area fields in this complex they hold car shows and other activities throughout the year. 



We arrived at our winter home Sunday October 28th

We made it to Gulf Shores and to Gulf State Park.  We originally requested the site we had a couple of years ago but after talking to some of the people who work here we learned of some other exceptionally great lots that were still available so we requested to change to lot 277. This lot is very large and is lakeside.  I will try to take some pictures to post tomorrow.  Due to trees between us you can't see the neighbors beside us who are probably at least 50 feet away.  We have a large field behind us between our rv and the lake that should be good for walking the dogs when we don't want to go too far.  This assumes they don't get hauled off by the resident coyote that we saw last evening.  All of the systems are up and running and we are getting 200 channels on our satellite dish so we have all the comforts in our little rig.  The weather has been a little cool the last couple of days with highs in the mid 60's but it is suppose to warm up tommorrow to the mid 70's.

Bye for now,

Jack & Janet

It's About That Time and I'm Ready

This summer Janet and I were busy working on projects around the house.  Seems as if every time we would plan a trip another project would come up.  In the last few months we have repainted the interior of the house both upstairs and down.  This summer we took advantage of the drought Indiana and most of the country experienced and cleared and cleaned up the so called wetlands we own behind our house.  I really think this was some kind of a dump for the farmers that owned the property before it was developed.  After it was developed someone said it was a wetlands area.   I am not sure how many laws we broke by cleaning the junk out of this area but I figured it would be better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.  Janet worked me like a rented mule and I'm ready to head south.   We are leaving the week of October 21st to head toward our winter hibernation destination of Gulf Shores, Alabama.  To get into Gulf State Park we had to make reservations a year in advance and felt lucky to get in.  This is a very popular park for a number of reasons.  We stayed there in 2011 for a couple of weeks and had a great time.  Some of the attractions that make the park so popular include several paved bike trails that are each several miles long that wind through very beautiful scenery.  A town close enough to the park to easily ride bikes to.  The park is also on the ocean so you can walk to the beach.  The state park also has a golf course on the property which is very convienent.  Great weather that is a little cooler than Florida but is still nice.  Very nice camping spots that will seem very large compared to last year.  In Gulf State park the last time we stayed there our closest neighbor was probably 50' or more away compared to 15' in Florida.  So we are packing things up and are looking forward to hitting the road in a couple of weeks.  We plan on making our first stop somewhere in Kentucky around Bowling Green which is about six hours from Warsaw.