Great Music-February 27, 2012

I have not been blogging lately because there was nothing to blog about. We have had only one beautiful day since we got here, then there were 3 or 4 so-so days and the rest were blah, blah, blah. You didn't want to hear that did you? But tonight is worth sharing. We went to the Raindrops & Boondocks concert in Gulf Shores. Raindrops is B J Thomas and Boondocks is Billy Joe Royal. I asked Jerry as people were coming in where on earth did all those old people come from? It was unbelievable. Billy Joe was first to sing. I gasped when he walked on stage. He looked awful and he looked very very ill. He can still sing. But he could barely walk across the stage. At one point he was holding his chest and trying to breathe. Jerry said, "I hope somebody on the front row knows CPR. He's not going to make it". But he did. He lasted about 45 minutes. After a 10 minute intermission where everybody (not us) had to get coffee because they were up past their bedtime, B J came on. He has aged. Say it ain't so! But can that man ever sing. His voice is better than ever and is still just as unique as it always has been. He sang 3 Christian songs, all A capela. It was just unbelievable. B J was even gracious when a snowbird ran to the edge of the stage and asked for an autograph right in the middle of band member introductions. Well, golly, if I had known that I would have pulled out some of my albums and had him sign mine, too!! No, I would not have done that. Way too rude for me. We had such a good time. And it was such a welcome break in all the dismal weather which is supposed to continue through Sunday. It will clear up for sure the say we leave. Such is life! I can still hear Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head..........

Claim to fame-February 22, 2012

Yesterday, while doing color commentary on a Mardi Gras parade, an Orange Beach official said this city has more elevators per capita than any other city in Alabama. Isn't that a wild claim to fame? Our tax money paid somebody to figure that out. One would expect him to comment on the beautiful water or the sugar white sand beaches or the good food, but elevators? I don't know what to think. He's on television with an opportunity to sell the city and he talks about elevators. To each his own, I guess. I'm spending today in Pensacola. Hope you have a great day.

Beautiful day-February 20, 2012



It was just too nice to stay indoors. We finished our tax returns and filled in an absentee ballot. Then we went for a very nice long walk. We walked down streets we've never been down, saw condos we did not know existed and enjoyed the view from Terry Cove.

Perdido Pass bridge from Terry Cove

This bridge is actually out on the beach road, but is still a nice picture from this side of the water.

As we returned I looked up and saw this beautiful sky. I wanted to share it. Yes, you've seen a sky, but I just had to take a picture. These clouds normally have a base elevation of 15,000 feet. Almost 3 miles up.



Cirrocumulus Clouds aka Mackeral sky

I hope you had the opportunity to enjoy this beautiful day, especially those of you who had today as a holiday (Presidents Day).





Waterlogged-February 19, 2012

The rain yesterday and into last night was absolutely unbelievable. We have always liked the sound of the rain on this roof. Not yesterday. It was raining so hard and the noise on the roof was so great, we could not even talk to each other. It was deafening. We were glad when that was over. They did cancel the big Mardi Gras parade in Orange Beach last night (Mobile, too). They are set to roll at 2:00 this afternoon, but as of this moment very dark clouds have moved in and the wind is starting to blow rather strongly. This is a good day to catch up on rest and relaxation. We'll skip the parade today as we have no need for Mardi Gras beads. Here's wishing you a day of peace and quiet.

They're everywhere!-February 16, 2012

I went to pick up a friend today to go to lunch. I went in with the intentions of taking pictures of her adorable dogs, Bama and Missy. Imagine my surprise when I saw this monkey sitting in her living room chair. I felt the call to take a picture and share it with you. I can only add, on a different subject, that it rained so hard and so long last night that Jerry got up at 4:00 AM to see if we floated into the bay and if so, were dolphins swimming around us. Negative on both, thankfully. We can feel another storm building right now so we may have another one of those nights. It's fine, at least the water runs off and into the swamp. 

Sock Monkeys-February 15, 2012

Aren't these adorable sock monkeys?

Dear friend, Nancy, gave me the slippers to match the socks that also dear friend, MK, had given me earlier.  Those who do not know will probably figure out soon why I'm hung up on sock monkeys. I do remember them from my youth and thought they were horrifying things. But then they were made out of those ugly work socks. Now they make adorable things out of them. I'm so proud of my gifts and have had a great laugh. Hope you laugh, too!

Traveling gnome-February 14, 2012

O'Choppers in Orange Beach, AL



MK, I am posting yet another picture of that infamous button and bumper sticker you dared me to show in public. We went to O'Choppers tonight, for Valentine's. We had Chopper's permission to take this picture, so he knows what it said and he loved it. I told you that this was like that traveling gnome from the Travelocity commercials. You never know where it will turn up. It is planned for at least one more great spot. We have always thought O'Choppers was special. And our favorite waiter is Miro. He has waited on us for at least 5 years, if not more. This is our Valentine's celebration. And we had a great time. The gnome is on the roam.

Happy Valentine's Day-February 14, 2012

It is a dreary day for us. But we will find a place tonight to celebrate the day. We have fallen into a distinct weather pattern. It warms up and humidity increases, then it rains. It cools down for a day or two. Then it warms up and rains again. We seem to be stuck in this pattern. Odd and boring, but it is what it is. We have found that when the wind is out of the south, we can hear the roar of the water in the Gulf. When the wind is out of the north we can hear the barges being pushed through the Intracoastal Waterway. Most of them seem to be heading west. So, that makes this a very interesting spot to be parked. There's still only 6 RVs in here. Tourism seems to be down this winter. We're still having a hard time calling ourselves snowbirds. We still prefer to be called geriatric gypsies.
I wish each of you a very Happy Valentine's Day.

Another thing I forgot-February 11, 2012

First let me say it is so windy today we shiver just thinking about going out later this morning. It is supposed to be in the mid 20s tonight. That is cold! Now, I want to tell you something I forgot to mention about the pistachio trees in New Mexico. They are such pretty little trees. They do not attain the height that pecan trees do. When the pistashio nuts show signs of ripening, people sit in the orchards at night and listen to the nut shells pop open. When a certain number of pops per minute is reached, they harvest. A fully ripened pistachio nut is widely split open when you buy it. If the shell is closed, it was picked too green. Now you have that tidbit of information to share the next time pistachio nuts come up in a conversation! I will tell you that the pistashio nuts from New Mexico are so much better than the ones from California. They harvest in early fall so if you can order them right after harvest, you will love them. I was not paid to make that statement, honestly.

Interesting lunch-February 9, 2012

I was having lunch with my dear friend, Nancy, when our former next door neighbor, John, walked in. I can say "our" neighbor because Nancy and her husband lived in our house also. In fact they built it. So when I say our house, I mean all 4 of us. But not at the same time! John was a great neighbor and it was fun to visit with him. I bet he wondered what were the odds he'd see TWO of his former neighbors from the same house in Grape Escape? Then Lynn, whom I worked with at Re/Max came in. Lynn is one of the nicest and kindest ladies I've ever worked with and it was so good to see her. If you have followed all of this, then you know how small the world is in this little city. Everybody knows everybody or is connected to everybody in some way. What fun. And to make it even better, lunch was excellent!

I forgot this, too-February 8, 2012

As we have traveled across the country, we found that every RV park offers something unique, whether it be people or animals. We've stayed in parks that had wild turkeys, peacocks, deer and of course, all sorts of squirrels. Many had tiny lizards. Even this park has lots of lizards in several different sizes. But in Camp Verde, Arizona, we missed the javelinas. What's a javelina? It's a wild pig that's actually a member of the peccary family. I'm quoting that from the internet, not from my memory. They don't exceed 80 pounds and they are nocturnal. So, when we checked in we were warned not to be alarmed if we saw them at night. After researching them we know they have migrated from South America and they are warm weather animals. It was quite chilly in Arizona at night so we never saw them. We don't know where they go if it's too cold to roam. So now we want to go back at some point in the future so we can see them. Sometimes we did not want to know what roamed around us at night. That applies here. Staying near a swamp does not make one want to meet the nocturnal creatures. That applies only to animals. People are a whole story in themselves. I have blogged about some of the people we have met but could not tell you about all of them. I think I could write a book about the unusual humans we have met. It's all part of the adventure. We are starting to get in the mood to move on to see what or whom we will meet next.

Great dinner-February 4, 2012

Friends on Ono invited us over for dinner tonight. Maureen made marinara pasta for us and Jammie baked lemon meringue pie. Both were fabulous and we had such a good time. Things have changed on our "old" island. Lots more building than we expected but that is actually a good sign. They know the story of the bumper sticker so here is one more picture. Remember there will be more to come.

Ono Island friends Jammie and Maureen

Dare me?-February 3, 2012

First, let me say that I promised this would not be a political blog. And I don't want it to be, however, a friend in Colorado whom I shall call MK sent me a very big button (like a campaign button) and a bumper sticker.  She dared me to display them in a public place. Neither of us has ever put a bumper sticker on a vehicle, so we are still searching for a safe place for it. The big button makes reference to a nasty habit monkeys have. I will not state that here. I will show you the bumper sticker. If any of you are offended, it is MK's fault, not mine. Daring me to do something or to not do something is like waving a red cape in front of a raging bull. So, here you go MK. And this is just the beginning. These two items will be like the traveling gnome. Look at the pictures, if you choose to do so.

Big Daddy's on Fish River, our favorite place to eat

Colony Motors in Daphne, AL (it was very windy)

And here is the bumper sticker:

There will be more. You have been warned. We certainly had plenty of laughs today!

 

C'est Finis-February 2, 2012

C'est Finis is French for it is finished. We have moved everything from a big storage unit to a smaller unit with so much room to spare, Jerry said we need to go shopping. Personally, we do not agree on that suggestion. That has been the hardest physical work we have done in quite a while. We also got out teeth cleaned today and the work done on the car yesterday, so we are working our way through our very long
"to do" list. You cannot imagine our joy will be when it is all done and we can be tourists who go see their friends and go to great places to eat. It is on our horizon. The rain yesterday was so unbelievable that we gave up and came home early. Our unit is enclosed but the parking lot is not. The water was up to our ankles. It's been a long time since we have seen that much rain fall so quickly. Still no rain today but no sunshine either. Such odd weather. I've got much more to share with you when I get time. Plus I need to tell you what someone dared me to do. Info coming soon..........................

Rain-February 2, 2012

While we were waiting on the Cute Red Vehicle to get its oil changed, tires rotated and two software adjustments (recalls) completed, we were watching TV and having a cup of coffee. A lady sitting next to me was reading some type of health book. Every few minutes, she'd get up and stretch and then do some form of yoga. We could not believe she was comfortable doing that. I can see doing that in one's home but to do that in a car dealership waiting room seemed way beyond odd. And it wasn't even a full moon. A couple came in with bags of fast food that smelled just awful and carrying 2 wild toddlers. We were so happy our service writer called our name before that fun started. We made several more stops before we came home. It is raining this morning. We are thinking this is not good for moving our belongings from one unit to another. However, today is the day we agreed to do just that. We'll wait a little longer and see if it lets up. Enjoy your day!