Florida
Labels:
beach,
c r albritton,
camping,
chairs,
couple,
Florida,
Gary Rabalais,
motorcycle,
peninsula,
St Joseph,
storm
Gary, my brother-in-law just bought a new (to him) Harley Street Bob and according to research, got more than a fair deal on it. "JimBob" is not very experienced, mileage wise, so we thought an initiation run to Florida would be appropriate.
Early Wednesday, we headed east with intentions of meeting up with my wife, sister-in-law, grand kids and nieces and nephews in Destin for a brief visit. We thought it would an amazing trip to cruise down the beach roads, wind in our beards, sun on our faces and feel the spirit of the open road. All that seems nice until you run into summer beach traffic and feel the heat as you stop at every other traffic signal from Waveland, Mississippi to Destin, Florida riding along US Highway 98 even through Gulf Shores, Alabama.
After a few hours of stopping and starting we agreed we should have only ridden a portion of the beach road and taken I-10 a part of the way. Oh well, we will just have to chalk that one up to experience.
Destin was really nice but there were lots of people and traffic. Heck, we even saw a beach wedding. We had no clue as to who they were.
The next morning, we arose early and hit the road toward St Joseph Peninsula State Park, near St Joe, Florida. We probably chose that location because it looked interesting on the map but I can honestly say, were it not for the ocean, it would not come close to competing with the State Parks of Louisiana. Nevertheless, we pitched our tents for the afternoon and a night under the stars.
As you can imagine, the peninsula was the home of a lot of wildlife, including noisy Crackles (a type of blackbird), coons, pigmy rattlers, salamanders and mice. Mice were everywhere. I was told that the Oldfield Beach Mouse is on the endangered list and is protected by the government so we dare not lay a malicious hand on one. I say one man's beach mouse is another man's baby rat. Rats!...but they nor the snakes didn't bother us. Perhaps they afford Harley riders, professional courtesy.
One redeeming thing was amazing sunsets for which many campers came out to witness.
Young and old, they brought their boards and chairs. That was great and worth the mosquitoes!
Hearing news of nasty weather brewing in the gulf, Gary and I struck our tents early Friday morning and came home in one day.
The trip was a thousand miles.
Early Wednesday, we headed east with intentions of meeting up with my wife, sister-in-law, grand kids and nieces and nephews in Destin for a brief visit. We thought it would an amazing trip to cruise down the beach roads, wind in our beards, sun on our faces and feel the spirit of the open road. All that seems nice until you run into summer beach traffic and feel the heat as you stop at every other traffic signal from Waveland, Mississippi to Destin, Florida riding along US Highway 98 even through Gulf Shores, Alabama.
After a few hours of stopping and starting we agreed we should have only ridden a portion of the beach road and taken I-10 a part of the way. Oh well, we will just have to chalk that one up to experience.
Destin was really nice but there were lots of people and traffic. Heck, we even saw a beach wedding. We had no clue as to who they were.
The next morning, we arose early and hit the road toward St Joseph Peninsula State Park, near St Joe, Florida. We probably chose that location because it looked interesting on the map but I can honestly say, were it not for the ocean, it would not come close to competing with the State Parks of Louisiana. Nevertheless, we pitched our tents for the afternoon and a night under the stars.
As you can imagine, the peninsula was the home of a lot of wildlife, including noisy Crackles (a type of blackbird), coons, pigmy rattlers, salamanders and mice. Mice were everywhere. I was told that the Oldfield Beach Mouse is on the endangered list and is protected by the government so we dare not lay a malicious hand on one. I say one man's beach mouse is another man's baby rat. Rats!...but they nor the snakes didn't bother us. Perhaps they afford Harley riders, professional courtesy.
One redeeming thing was amazing sunsets for which many campers came out to witness.
Young and old, they brought their boards and chairs. That was great and worth the mosquitoes!
Hearing news of nasty weather brewing in the gulf, Gary and I struck our tents early Friday morning and came home in one day.
The trip was a thousand miles.
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