Steve – Robertsdale, Al. (Jan 17-Feb 14, 2017)

1/17/17. Bo and Sandy came over to see our Wazoo rv.  I think they were sufficiently impressed considering I paid more for my truck than is parents paid for their house!  We did emphasize that this is all we currently own. We had a nice visit and exchanged  sausages for shrimp.  It’s a Cajun thing!  Currently, we are sitting under our awning (could not do that in Houston – too tight), no bugs, mid 60s.  The rv park is nice (big spaces), good wifi, grass pad which might get muddy, inexpensive rent.  Life is good. 1/18/17  went to Bo and Sanday’s place for the afternoon.  Enjoyed a big meal of fried chicken with them and her son, Sean.  Great visit. 1/19/17. Went to Lambert’s Cafe (throwedrolls.com), came home, took a nap!  Sitting outside before some storms arrive later.  Music, cocktails, and good company (Deb) make for a wonderful experience. 1/20/17. Watched part of the inauguration then went to Bo and Sandy’s place for lunch. 1/22/17. Nice sunset tonight! 1/25/17. Today, we begin our journey back to Tennessee for my next doctor appointment.  I think he will tell me I need additional surgery to correct my astigmatism.  But, we will do that in the Spring when it’s much warmer! We are also going back to see a dear friend (Jeff) who is in failing health.  The doctors don’t hold much hope for him; however, if it is God’s will that he will survive this then he will live.  He is my closest friend in Crossville and I hate that he is so gravely ill.  My prayers go out for him and his family during this tough time. Shortly after I posted this we found out Jeff had died.  My thoughts and prayers to his family.  I was asked to be a pall bearer; however, we cannot leave the cats alone for too long so I declined.  I know Jef is in a better place now but I will miss you very much. We are in Birmingham, Al Druty Inn for the night.  Ok, you probably know something is going to happen.  We check in, take the elevator to our floor, Deb puts her key to the door.  Nothing happens.  We try over and over.  Nothing.  Eventually a guy walks out and asks what room we wanted.  We both say 322 (his room).  Deb finally realizes our room is 332.  <red faces>. 1/26/17  Dr appointment in Knoxville.  Dr wants to do “corneal relaxation incision” to loosen the muscles which are causing my eye to be shaped like a football instead of a basketball. 1/27/17  Drove from Knoxville to Robertsdale in one day. Tired! 1/29/17. Ate ate the Derailed Diner before going to church – very cute

1/30/17. Today was m day to fix lunch for Bo and SAndy,  As requested, I prepared a modified Paula Deen Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf.  They loved it!  I need addition to the original recipe I added a pound of breakfast sausage, a chopped onion and 5 T of bacon fat.  It’s  not healthy but it does make an impression! 1/30/17. Deb and I have gne to Gulf Shores and are enjoying Ths view at the state par know pavilion. By the way, it’s about 70F with a nice cool breeze.  Not bad for the end of January. 2/1/17  Visited Margaret Schoyer in Pensacola, Fl.  We had a great visit but she seems to have lost some weight.  She was in good spirits(as usual).

2/5/17.  Yesterday, Deb and I were supposed to meet Bo and Sandy at the pool. Deb gets into her suit, we get into the car, program the GPS and off we go!  But, there’s a problem….the gps directions are wrong!  We go up and down US 90a (which is an expensive thing to do in a one ton duelly) looking for the place.  A few calls to the Moran’s solves the mystery and we get there just in time for Deb to change back into street clothes and go to lunch.  My point is:  I love technology …  I am surrounded by it but sometimes it lets you down.  Lesson learned! Today is Super Bowl LI.  We are going over to the Moran’s place to watch the game…should be fun! 2/6/17. The sky is clear, no chance of rain, what do we do?  Go to the beach!  We get our electronics together and take the 45 minute drive down to Gulf Shores only to find sea fog has blanked the pavilion where we were going to sit.  We couldn’t even see the ocean!   Deb was so disappointed…but you know us!  If life gives you lemons, make lemonaide (or margaritas).  Bo told us of a restaurant we should visit (Tin Top – see our review under Favorite Restaurants).  It was wonderful and inexpensive ($11).  Here we are sitting outside still burping up our lunch…. 2/8/17. Going over to Bo and Sandy’s place for lunch.  I understand we will be having ribs and jambalaya.  I may need to add them to our favorite restaurant list! (Done) 2/11/17. Drove down to Pensacola today and found a great shady place to enjoy the beach.  Facebook calls it Chicken Bone Beach (mmmmm).  I don’t know if that’s rrue but we are kicking back.  It’s located down Ft Pickens Dt. Update:  Deb wanted to drive down the beach a bit when we found ourselves in a long line of cars outside Fort Pickens.  People were turning around on the street.  Well, we tried to do the same thing and got stuck in the sand.  Tried to rock it out….nothing.  Called roadside assistance.  It took about an hour for them to show up.  Meanwhile, a park ranger shows up and Deb tells him we are in a “pickle”.  He agrees and tells us we have violated federal law by driving off road.  (Ok…maybe 5 feet – it’s not like we were driving over the dunes). He informs us that we will probably be cited for this.   Oh great, didn’t see that one coming! We didn’t see a sign like this!  Evidently, going off road and turning around are the same thing. The wrecker guy gets there and pulls us out…5 minutes max.  One signature and we are done with him.  The officer comes over and brings paper with him.  Worst fears realized!  Turns out he gave me a warning ticket.

ok…we are safe and sound.  Is the pain over?   Nooooooooo  Want  to guess why?  We now have to wait in the same line we were trying to avoid!  Why?  Because we can’t turn around!  People who say God doesn’t not have a sense of humor don’t know what they are talking about. By he way, the ranger who almost gave me the ticket was now collecting money.  I don’t know about you,, it seems odd that he told us where we went wrong using our four wheel drive.  He actually gave me pointers on using it – which almost got me a citation.  If I was a dog, i would have turned my head sideways. Another thing while I’m on this rant:  what’s all this stuff about four wheel drive?  I sank like a hot knife thru soft butter. Deb actually told the ranger – she thought four wheel drive was the “bomb”.  Should one mention that word while on federal land? ok…we finally get thru the guard house but  it takes another 10 minutes of driving to find a parking lot to turn our tank around. We exit he park with sighs of relief. Ok, whats next…dinner.  We stop by McGuire’s … Deb got a burger and I got Fish N Chips.  I was expecting beer battered fish.  Did I get that?  Noooooo.  I got regular fried fish…sigh.

2/12/17. Went back to the Derailed Diner for breakfast before church.  The food is ok but the decor is great.

Later, we attended Robertsdale UMC.  They have a welcoming congregation, good choir and poor parking.

I think Bo has a Bro-mance with my truck!

2/15/17. Travel day to Breau Bridge