The past 10 Days - where did they go?

The last ten days have been busy - there was no plan to be busy - it just turned out that way. We moved from the Gulf to the Atlantic. We thought we saw an alligator. And we ended the week with Steve Hamre and his crew. Here are the hi-lites:

On February 3rd, we left Louisiana and headed through Mississippi and Alabama to Florida. We spent two nights in Destin in the Panhandle on the Gulf. The area is called the Emerald Coast and there is no question why – the colour of the water is turquoise and the sand is white, white, white.

The weather across northern Florida was sunny but down to 30 degrees at night. Now, I know that’s not deemed ‘cold’ in the big scheme of things but, believe me, it can get pretty cold, pretty fast in an RV. Two good things on my side here - I live with a guy in the HVAC business + we have an expensive duvet! (Snuggle in, I say!)


From Destin we drove to Beverly Beach on the Atlantic (just north of Daytona) for 3 nights. The park where we stayed is right on the beach. It’s also across the street from where John’s parents spent their winters for many years. It’s always fun to go there. We know our way around and seeing and/or listening to the ocean on the shoreline is just a great sound at any time - day or night.

Last Friday, we drove into Daytona and spent the day just hanging around the Pier, eating at Bubba Gump’s and checking out the local preparations for the excitement/anxiety over the next 2 months. Race Week ends this weekend with the 500 on Sunday; Bike Week follows a week or so thereafter running till March 8; and March break brings the college students. The locals are clearly worried that the state of the economy will impact the number of tourists to the area overall. They have one of the longest beaches anywhere though - people need to come and check out this view:


Last Sunday, we drove the RV to Cocoa Beach (just south of Daytona) and we will be stationed here for a month. We stayed at this same park last year for the same period so we got ourselves re-oriented in short order. We arranged to play golf – something we haven’t done since last October. We returned to Duran Golf Course where they offer a beautiful 18 hole course, a great driving range and a Par 3 – the perfect place to practice our short game.

We opted for the driving range and played the Par 3. We came to the 5th hole, teed off and, on the approach to the green, discovered what appeared to be a 10’ plastic alligator. It was lying perpendicular to the green with just a wee bit of its tail in the water. Just to be sure, John threw a golf ball directly at it. There was no movement so we proceeded to putt, finish the hole and replace the flag. As I returned my putter to my cart, something caught my eye and, sure enough, the alligator raised itself and turned completely around. It was then facing the water with its' tail towards the green - like turning around to get an even tan!

We motioned to the couple behind us who were readying themselves to tee off. We wanted them to be aware they had ‘company’ near the green. We then scurried away to the 6th hole checking back over our shoulders a couple of times to make sure we were alone! I’m confident we played the last 3 holes faster than ever before! Sorry, there are no pics – I don’t normally carry a camera in my golf bag!

Today, we headed south in the Jeep to West Palm Beach area. We went there to meet Steve and Samantha Hamre, John’s nephew and his wife. They are on a family vaca just south of Lauderdale with Abigail and Carter (their kids). So, we drove south and they drove north and we met in the middle in Palm Beach to spend the day together. And what a day we had! We went to the ocean and wiggled our toes in the sand. We had a beautiful outdoor lunch at Panama Hatties. And we finished off the afternoon by taking a 2-hour, flat-bottomed, narrated boat tour around Lake Worth and the inland waterway. Here’s a pic of the 3 guys:


FYI, Carter took some pics as well. Carter is 4 (won't be 5 till October) - he did an excellent job, don't you think? Left to right, that's me, John's nephew Steve and his wife, Samantha, and Johnnie on the right. Oh yeah, and Carter behind the lens!


Anyway, I'm not sure where the time went over the past 10 days… and so wonderful to have such a perfect ending with Steve and his crew - thanx for that!