Travel through Alabama at Mobile and on into Florida at Pensicola on Interstate I10. about 5 miles east of Pensicola, turn to the right onto highway 281, a toll road. Crossed a 4 mile long bridge, hence the $10 toll, and joined highway 98 on the south side. I will tell you one thing, “They sure do know how to build bridges here”. Several have been over one mile long, and the one across some wetlands and waterways near Mobile was over 8 miles long!! From there followed 98 through many small adjoining towns for about 50 miles. Speed limit for the most part was about 45 MPH. This is mostly an upscale touristy area featuring large hotels, grand shopping, and beautiful beaches. That is one thing that stands out in my mind is the beaches on the Gulf of Mexico. They are wide white sands and never ending, and it seems at this time of year basically unused. I suppose for the resident population here that it is too cold to enjoy them, but for us northerners, it seems quite warm and inviting. After passing through Destin, Florida, the largest of the towns, or I guess cities, as I am sure they are large enough for that status, we travelled another 7 miles and then turned right onto 30A. Only needed to go 1/2 mile and then arrived at Topsail Reserve State Park where we have reserved for 2 weeks, and over Christmas. Initial reaction is that it is pretty upscale. We checked in and then went to our reserved spot,number 48, a back-in site. It is very nice, cement pad with evergreen trees around us. Neighbors are a fair distance away, and we are not impacted by them.
Our closest ones immediately to our left are from Tennessee, and have a couple of huge dogs, Newfoundlanders we think. Not our choice of travelling companions, but each to his own. After getting setled in, I took a walk to the beach, a distance of 7/10ths of a mile down a paved road, and then a couple hundred meters of boardwalk. Looks like a great place for sunset pictures!! A shuttle runs back and forth to the beach, no cars are allowed, every two hours, with the last return trip at 4:30PM. So will have to walk back home after those great sunset pics!! Build appetite for Dinner!! Only drawback to the park is no WIFI. Apparently they are trying to have it installed, but so far none. They advise us to go down the road to Miss Lucilles, a coffee shop that has free internet , or back to Destin at a mall there that has access.
Dec 17 – Cool weather again, so didn’t do a lot. Went into Destin and bought some groceries at a grocery store called Publix. Nice store, good meat. Once home and Denice was re-stocking the shelves, I went for a drive to find WIFI. Found Miss Lucilles, and are easily able to hook up from inside the Jeep. Not too much of an inconvenience for us. Amazing how much we rely on the web these days. News, weather, contact with friends and Family, SKYPE, RV Reservations. The list goes on and on.
Dec 18 – Heavy rain overnight again – Come on Florida – Lets have some of that southern hospitality, with some sunshine.
Our trip to Date
This leg of our Vacation
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