Enjoying a little downtime at home

Fall really is a beautiful time to be in Michigan.  We had a few cool nights in the 40s followed by several 90 degree days, but the rest of the time the weather has been great --  high 70s/low 80s during the day, high 50s at night, and abundant sunshine!

 

One of my favorite fruits is in season . . . and it’s just about time for apple-picking!

Too bad Nicolas isn’t here with us – he loves this time of year – but he’s finally enjoying some nicer temperatures in South Carolina, too!  We’ll save him some apples, and I’ll make him a pie when we’re there for a visit!

I started back to work on September 1st (temporarily, at least) and Bryce got started with his online classes.  We’re getting our doctor, dentist, eye doctor, financial planner, hairdresser and vet appointments all taken care of . . . and Bryce has a new look!

 

He didn’t get to any MSU football games this year, but he did get to one high school game and he’s got a couple more that he wants to go to.

He took the ACT again, and he has one more college visit and application to do, and then we just wait & see.

He’s back into his workout schedule, and happy to have a basketball hoop in the campground . . . and even other guys around to challenge him once in a while!

 

 

 

We’ve had lots of family get-togethers, and are helping my Mom and Tom’s Dad get some work done around their houses.  Tom is also doing some work around the campground to pay for our site, so that’s a bonus – and it keeps him out of trouble!!

 

This is our third year here at Camp Lord Willing, and we’ve settled in pretty comfortably!

There’s a really nice group of seasonal campers here that we’ve gotten to know pretty well, so we’ve been enjoying quite a few social gatherings – steak roasts, group dinners, campfires, and yesterday we all went to a local bar for their weekday special – half-pound burger, fries and a beer for $5.  Quite a good deal, and it tasted good, too!

It just so happened that Wednesday is classic car night at the North Side Bar & Grill, so we were able to walk around and admire the cars after dinner.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were a lot of nice cars,

and the cars guys definitely enjoyed themselves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a beautiful night . . . and I didn’t have to come home from work and cook!  We may have to do that again!

We’re enjoying our time here in Michigan, and getting lots of things done, but our time is quickly winding down and it will be time to head south again!

A quiet week in Florida

 

After the busy holiday weekend, things quieted down quite a bit last week, although there are still a lot of people around . . . and it’s still REALLY hot! 

Tom and Bryce have been working with Tim to build a railing along a new sidewalk, while I escape the heat in the Visitor Center, and we’ve had a few nice sunsets.    

 

I spotted this little bird flying over the marsh, and he let me get close enough to get a picture.

On Tuesday, Tim & Denise invited us to ride along with them to a Gulf Coast fishing seminar at Legendary Marine, in Destin.

 

It was hard to miss the fishing mural on the sides of the building!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday’s seminar was on the topic of fishing for dolphin fish and wahoo, and involved a lot of really elaborate and expensive gear – $1000 fishing rods, hooks that were made out of 1/4’' steel – this is some serious fishing, as some of these fish could weigh HUNDREDS of pounds!

We won’t be fishing for any of those big guys – don’t have access to a “small” boat like this one!

It was interesting listening to them, though, so we enjoyed it . . . plus they had free pizza, and every attendee got a $20 coupon to spend at the Half Hitch Tackle Shop.

This is quite a marina, with lots of really big, beautiful boats!

Later in the week, we went to the Half Hitch Shop in Panama City Beach to spend our coupons – we all got new shoes!

The giant flip flops are Bryce’s, and Tom & I both got CROC-type rubber shoes, but they have a much more substantial sole, and a removable insole.  They’re really comfortable, too!

On Thursday night, Tom and I went to the concert in Panama City Beach again.  Once again, there was a good crowd there to listen to this band from New Orleans.

 

They were good, mostly instrumental, not much singing though . . . 

 

. . . and REALLY loud!  We stayed for most of the performance, but left a little early to get a jump start on the traffic.  It was much easier to get out of there than it was after the fireworks!

We had some other adventures at the end of the week, but I’ll save that for another blog post!

Rainy start, but a beautiful finish

We woke up Sunday morning to clouds and thunder, although it hadn’t started raining yet when we left for church.  About a mile before we got there, though, it began to downpour and we got good and soaked running into the building!

The rain was expected to continue all day, so when we got home  I put “Les Miserables” in the DVD player and got comfy in my recliner!  Bryce retreated to the garage and the XBox, and Tom pretended to watch the movie with me, although I think we was mostly napping!

The rain did eventually stop, and it turned into quite a nice evening after dinner.  Tom and I decided to drive over to Rosemary Beach, which is right next to the park, and check out the sunset.

There are several beach houses along the coast,

and a small public parking area with restrooms. 

The walk to the beach is on a boardwalk that takes you over the shorebird nesting areas . . . which is a lot easier than the walk through the sand around the nesting area, which we have here at the park.

It’s a beautiful beach, and there were still a few people enjoying the water.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After all the rain, the humidity was gone and the temperature was back in the high seventies, making it a really pleasant evening on the beach, even thought there wasn’t much of a sunset.

A beautiful way to end the day.

Back at the beach! Camp Helen State Park–Panama City Beach, FL

Nicolas got a few more days of leave, so he drove out to Georgia to meet up with us – we had one day of playing in the pool before we moved on.

The boys had fun,

 

 

and Tom made a new friend!

Unfortunately, we do not have our truck back yet, so we once again had to find somebody to move us.

Given that, and the fact that we’re going to be waiting a few more weeks for the truck, we decided to bypass Gulf Shores (where we were supposed to meet up with Tom’s cousins for several fun-filled days at the beach!) and go straight to Camp Helen State Park, where would be spending the month of July.  It was actually a shorter drive, and we eliminated having to be towed again later in the week.

We made our way south through Alabama,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and arrived at Camp Helen State Park in the late afternoon.  With help from our friends, Tim & Denise, and the other volunteers, we selected a site and got set up for our stay in Volunteer Village.

We spent our first few days getting acclimated and familiar with the park -

the beach,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the nature trail,

 

 

and a few of the historic buildings.

 

After dinner on Sunday, Nicolas and Bryce did a little crabbin’ with one of the other volunteers, Mike.

It was slower than usual, according to Mike, but they did finally start to pull up a few crabs.         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bryce got the technique of holding onto them down pretty well,

 

but Nicolas was a little hesitant around those pinchers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He finally got the hang of it, though!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They continued to watch the traps until the chicken pieces were completely picked down to the bone,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

while I walked to the beach to check out the sunset.

 

It was a beautiful one that night!