February - Following The Sun....

Feb 9 - Feb 14, 2015

Cypress

Snowy Egret?

    Moving on from Long Beach, MS., we hit I-10 again for just a bit, stopping at the visitors center for the Atchafalaya Swamp. Had the weather been nicer, it would have been fun to walk some of the trails or take a Swamp tour, but it was not to be this time around. I didn't realize that the Atchafalaya Swamp is the largest in the US and represents the largest remaining contiguous tract of coastal cypress. I never got into the TV show 'Swamp People', but if I had, I suppose I would have been more aware of the geography and history of the area, or....not. Anyway, I wasn't a great History student in school, but have since loved learning by visiting and reading about places. I didn't realize that early 'swamp people' who came after the Native Americans were actually French colonists from Acadie, which was part of current day Nova Scotia. They took refuge here in the swamps after being expelled from Acadie for refusing to swear allegiance to the British crown and church. We surely are a country of refugees who came here looking for a better life. I was aware of Cajun cooking (who isn't), and it's French influences, but just never digested it's actual roots as being French Canadian. Never too old to learn I guess.

The Fishless Lake at
 Catfish Heaven RV Park

    Stopping for the night at the Catfish Heaven RV Park, I thought it would be a good time to try out my new fishing rod. Seemed like a good idea, anyway. Once settled at our camp site, the camp host stopped and informed us that there were no fish in the lake.

Try Me!   Really?

Really? They don't stock it until April  he said, and it wouldn't be open to fishing until then. Hmmm...wonder what happens to all the fish that weren't caught last year? After seeing the signs posted around the lake, it was probably best that I didn't get to fish, cause I planned to catch and release....and they fine you for that!

  Well, our reason for staying at the fishless RV Park was to be close to our destination of Avery Island, home of the Tabasco Pepper Sauce Factory. Leaving the RV Park before the crack of noon, we manage the 22 mile trip on poor roads to arrive at the island in plenty of time to make the afternoon factory tour. It's a dollar fee to drive onto the island owned by the  Mcllhenny family, but after that the tour is free. As soon as you roll onto the island you can smell the peppers. You can almost taste the Tabasco flavor in the air. The factory tour focuses primarily on the bottling operation which is automated and requires very little human intervention. Most of the employees of the company probably work more in the harvesting, sorting and preparation of the peppers to be made into sauce. Of course, my favorite part was the Tabasco Country Store, where we got to sample all of their varieties of pepper sauce, as well as their two flavors of Tabasco Ice Cream! The ice cream was wonderful....and I didn't really expect to like it! Red even liked it, and one of the flavors was GREEN! Since

our primary wardrobe these days consist of t-shirts and jeans, we felt justified to add to our t-shirt collection while here...Tabasco themed of course!

A 2-year old!

A Baby!

       

Gator Bowl!     

First Oil Derrick 

    Back on course headed West once more, we are soon sucked in by a billboard promising to let us hold a baby alligator....so ok, we have more time than money, so why not? Glad we did! At The Louisiana Oil and Gas Park at Exit 64 on I-10 we find a small building with a collection of alligators sunning themselves around a small fenced in pool. Going inside we meet a volunteer (former teacher) anxious to answer questions and provide info about the gators. Behind the counter she has a large aquarium holding several baby gators and asked if we would like to hold one. They don't have hardened teeth until they are a few years old, and are not aggressive until then. The alligators around the pool are from 2 - 9 years old and have been at the center since birth. Each year the oldest of them are taken to a nature reserve to live the rest of their 80 + years in a natural but protected environment. This was a fun stop...and no admission! While here we also see Louisiana's very first oil derrick, located here in Jennings, La, the 'Cradle of Louisiana Oil'.

Red : 'See ya later, alligator'
 Mom: 'In a while, crocodile!'

      Destination tonight is Crystal Beach, TX. on Bolivar Peninsula. Nice drive along Hwy 87 by the beach; evidence of Hurricane Ike in 2008 is only noticeable by the fact that there are few older buildings in the area and lots of new and foreclosed homes built by real estate firms. A realtor's dream and an uneducated buyer's nightmare! Beautiful homes built right on the beach on stilts, and blocking the views of homes built just before them. And the next hurricane Ike will wipe the slate clean once more! Hope it's just not for a long time.

     Our campsite at Bolivar Peninsula RV Park has a great view overlooking a lake, and a beautiful sunset right outside our front windshield! Watching the ducks on the lake and the various species of birds is entertaining this evening as we make plans for our next leg of our journey.

Sunset on Bolivar Peninsula

Bolivar Lighthouse

Preparing to board the Ferry

Heading on west on Bolivar Peninsula we see more and more homes being built along the beach, most of which  appear to be unoccupied and perhaps meant to be rentals. In less populated sections more extravagant homes with garages underneath and elevators. Just seems too risky to me....  I'm sure however, the land is much cheaper than it is just a few miles west on Galveston Island where we are headed now by way of the Galveston Island Ferry. The free ferry service provided by TxDOT is the only way motorists can cross the waterway between Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Island. It's about a 20 minute ride to cross the 3 mile bay. Each Ferry can carry up to 70 vehicles, or 8 18-wheelers at 80,000lb each. Plenty of room for us on the boat, and a relaxing ride to Galveston Island where we drive further down the coast before parking on the beach to enjoy a leisurely walk. Life is good.

On Board

Galveston Ferry Arriving

So relaxing on this beautiful sunny day!

Surfside Beach on Galveston Island

    I find it amazing and annoying how much litter people leave on the beach as well as how much washes in. All that plastic is deadly for marine life! And it's ugly, too! The white sand beaches are still beautiful, but walking barefoot on the beach is not a good idea....and not just because of the usual jellyfish. We began picking up trash on our walk, but found there would be no walk if we continued to pick up trash....it was just overwhelming. I think they should start 'adopt a beach' programs like they have for our interstates to keep the litter picked up. If these programs already exists, then this beach got left out....Our seashores and beaches are beautiful, but for how long?  

    Well that will be our final view of the beach for awhile as we head North from Galveston and then West to the Rio Grande Valley. 

Stay tuned for our visit to the border town of Mission, TX.

Stay Warm!

   The Bee-Gals,

      

       Kathy & Kathy

Look Who's Driving Now!

February 2015 - Westward Bound!

Feb 1st - Feb 8th, 2015

Magic River Resort - Long Beach, MS
Check out our Carport!

   Finally starting our trek from the East Coast to the West Coast. What I have not yet shared is that we will be making our way to Washington state to begin our first workamping job, which will start in mid April. After signing up to Workampers.com, we submitted our resumes to their online system and were soon contacted by several campgrounds wishing to interview us. We chose a position at a campground on Hood Canal, located about 45 min. from Bremerton, WA, as we have close friends there that we would like to spend time. We are so excited! It is also close to Seattle, so there should be plenty to see and do on our days off. We will be parked and working at Summertides Marina and RV Park from Mid April until the end of September, which will give us plenty of time to get up to speed on the whole workamping thing.

Fountain, FL.

Pine Lake RV Park

    First day back on the road we take it easy and stop at Pine Lake RV Park in the small town of Fountain. Time to catch up on laundry, stock up with groceries and supplies, and use the Internet to pay some bills. You see, the last three nights in the motorhome were spent dry camping first at the shop where we had the exhaust manifold problem fixed, then at the Flying J after we had the parking brake stick and were unable to move the RV, and then finally at the Napa Auto Shop where we had the parking brake problem checked out. Thank goodness for MK and Mimi, where we spent the first night that the RV was being worked on....a shower with real water pressure felt good! The RV shower is good, but the water pressure is not the greatest. Anyway, here we are and will stay two nights because so far all it has done is rain....great weather for catching up on bills and blogs. 

Passport America Main Office
Long Beach, MS

   
Long Beach, MS.

    Back on the road refreshed, we have driven on to Long Beach, MS. This is a small coastal town between Biloxi and Bay St. Louis. Using the Passport America App, we located a little campground with a great nightly rate called Magic River Resort. Nothing fancy, but it's winter time and more about finding a reasonably priced place to park than it is using a lot of park amenities.....at least when the weather is staying in the 40-50 degree range. Out our front window we have a view of a swamp, which is actually pretty cool!

They have two small lakes here, some gabby ducks, and an alligator! Well, at least that's what they tell me....we haven't seen it yet. Park is pretty full, but in the Summer time they say it is pretty much empty. I would imagine with the swamp  the bugs would be horrible and the humidity unbearable. Right now, tho, it's great! They have a morning bond fire around 6:00AM, which I can't tell you much about as I only get up long enough to pee that early in the morning. I suppose I need to work harder on being a morning person...hmmm.

Gulf Coast Beach

Art Sculptures from trees destroyed
by Hurricane Katrina

   The first couple of days in Long Beach we did regular stuff like laundry, groceries, get prescriptions refilled, haircuts, etc. The weather then warmed up some and the sun came out so we drove to the beach and enjoyed a walk there.

Evie, Red, Terry, Me, Paula, Darryl

Catching the beads!

    Not being early risers, we failed to meet our neighbors at the morning bond fires, but the day before our planned departure we met up with Paula and Darryl and their guests Terry and Evie, and hit it off right away! The day we arrived Paula and Evie had literally come running down the park to meet us when they saw us back our Smart Car out of the back of our motorhome......Paula said she told her husband she just saw a  motorhome sh*t a car out the back and had to go check it out! Their motorhome is 20 times nicer than ours, but I think she was ready to trade down for it just for the garage! Too funny! After meeting these folks, there was no way we could take off the next day....especially since they invited us to go to the Mardi Gras Parade in Bay St. Louis with them and come to their shrimp boil after. Wow! I'm so glad they made the effort to get acquainted with us - we haven't been too good at getting out and meeting people much on our own. The Mardi Gras parade was a first for us, and it was fun catching the beads. I'm sure it was a much tamer parade than in New Orleans, but that was fine with us...it was a good time! 

Goofy glasses and all!

Red did the flashing! I just helped
carry the beads...

You know, it really is the people you meet along the way that make the memories so memorable! If we had left that campground when we planned to we would have missed making some new friends and some great memories! I guess crazies attract crazies, cause we felt like we had been old friends rather than new acquaintances. The shrimp boil was great too, even tho Darryl said it was his first try....followed by the traditional King Cake and an introduction to a new card/board game of Horse Racing. Didn't know what to expect, but seems to be a popular game on the RV Trail, and was easy to catch on to. Taking over for Paula while she took a break, I managed to lose most of the nickels she had accumulated....but luckily, her husband Darryl came to the  rescue with enough nickels to keep us in the game! Fun game, so I guess I'll be saving nickels in case I run into some other players on our travels.

Stay tuned in for our next stop!

The Bee-gals
   Kathy & Kathy (Red)
  

January - Protesting, Ft Frederica, Geocaching, and New Friends!

Jan, 2015 - Protesting, Fort Frederica, Geocaching, and New Friends!

Our time in Brunswick and St Simons Island has been speeding by, and in just a few days we will be back on the road heading West, but until then there are still things to see and do. Oh, and there is always time for a good protest, huh? 

Protesting  New Development

Our friends, MK and Mimi have lived on the island for 9 years; they have seen the encroachment of commercial development eat away at the tranquil hideaway and blissful solitude that drew them here. As restaurants chains, and gas stations pop up on the island, urban creep seems to be crowding out the simple village ambiance and residents are not happy. That is how we got involved in a protest of island residents against the development of yet another gas station/convenience store being built along an already busy two-lane corridor on the island. Due to our protest signs and fliers distributed  along Frederica Rd, a meeting of the Island Planning Commission the following day was packed beyond capacity with angry residents wanting to block the station from being built. They actually had to reschedule the meeting to a larger venue to allow all interested residents to attend. Our part was small, but it felt good to be a part of such an effort.  

Fort Frederica

Kat in a Hat

The Wave!

A major landmark on St Simons is Fort Frederica. The ruins, preserved now as a State Park, recall the struggle for empire in the southeast between rivals Great Britain and Spain. The Battle of Bloody Marsh saved the British Georgia Colony from Spanish invasion in 1742. Expecting an attack from Spanish held St. Augustine, British Commander James Oglethorpe with his regiment of 900 soldiers sent intercepting forces to ambush the invaders as they proceeded toward Fort Frederica. A second ambush later the same day convinced the Spanish that they were out numbered and caused them to retreat, with their 50 sailing vessels and 2000 men. The grounds of Fort Frederica consists of the uncovered foundations of the homes and ruins of the fort and barracks, as well as a cemetery.

Red  finds our first geocache!

 While scouting out the area near Fort Frederica, we decided to check to see if there were any geocaches hidden in the area. Of course, we found there were many, so we decided to search for a couple to round out the day. Geocaching, for those who may not be familiar with it, is a recreational activity where geocaches are hidden by participants and then searched for by other participants using a GPS device like that found in most smart phones. 

There are millions of geocaches that have been hidden all over the world, so it's an outdoor activity that can be enjoyed anywhere. For more information on how to join in, click here. This day we searched and found two caches....one located inside a fence post by a water tower, and the other on a nature walk close to Christs Church.

     
   

Christ Church, the 2nd oldest
 Episcopal Church in Georgia

  

Cemetery at Christ Church

Shrimp Feast!

One of the best parts of our travel is getting to meet new people and friends of friends. While spending time with MK and Mimi, we were thrilled to meet Jimmy Ann and Janice and delighted to be invited for a lunch feast of boiled shrimp! The lake view from their dining room window presented a show of many of the birds on the island.

New Smart Car Owners 

Before starting our journey west, we were honored to accompany MK and Mimi on a road trip to Florida for their purchase of a Smart Car. After driving our Smart car they thought it would make a good island car, which I'm sure it will. Enjoyable, but also sad, as we parted ways in Jacksonville to start our trek to the Pacific Coast.







Follow us Westward!
   
   The Bee-Gals
        Kathy and Red


POST UPDATE - 

    Who would ever think that 1000 miles away from home we would run into a client from our Bee-Line Express shuttle service back in Quincy, IL. While visiting our friends in St Simons, we mentioned that a client of our service had moved down to this area. MK ask what her name was, and when we told her it was Becky Mentesti, she couldn't believe it, because Becky lives right there in their complex, just two doors down! So of course we had to go down and surprise her! She invited us in for a glass of wine and we got to catch up on a few Bee-Line Express memories. She loves living on the island and is getting to spend precious time with her grandkids, 3 year old twins Wilson and Calvin.

Jekyll Island, GA - Jan, 2015

About 7 miles from where we have been camped in Brunswick, GA, is the cut off to Jekyll Island. Though we visited the island once before, we've not taken time to learn about the history nor have we visited the Georgia Sea Turtle Center that is located there.  Having visited the Turtle Farm in the Cayman Islands, I wasn't sure what to expect at the Sea Turtle Center in Georgia. Come to find out, there is a huge difference in their missions. The Cayman Turtle Farm is home to thousands of Green Sea Turtles and was established in 1965 to raise the Green Sea Turtle for commercial purposes (food) without depleting the wild populations. Consequently, when the laws that were in effect to protect the sea turtle prevented them from selling the product they were raising, it became a huge tourists attraction instead.

Turtle sculpture (not the best photo angle) created from debris
found on the beach that affects the sea turtle habitat.

The Sea Turtle Center in Georgia, however, was opened in 2007 to raise awareness of habitat and wild life conservation challenges. It is an advanced hospital and rehabilitation pavilion with many sea turtle patients regularly on view for guests. Sea Turtles observed when we visited were being cared for and rehabilitated to be released back into the wild. Many had been stranded and found along Atlantic Coast beaches. The turtles are all named and their progress is monitored until such time that they are released back into the ocean at their own  turtle release party. Education is a major part of the mission of The Sea Turtle Center, with focus on how our coastal ecosystems are impacted by the way we live and care for our environment. Many turtles are injured or killed by boat propellers, or being trapped in nets, but a common danger to them as well as all other marine life is the plastic that is discarded on our beaches and dumped in our oceans. Turtles and fish mistake our plastic trash for food and ingest it to their own demise. When you get the chance to walk on our beautiful sand beaches, take a bag along to pick up cigarette butts, plastic bottles and caps, and plastic bags. Not only will it help to beautify our beaches, but it will help to detoxify our ecosystem and protect our marine life. My eyes were just recently opened as to how serious the problem has become and it is up to us who have created the problem to correct it for the benefit of marine life, which in turn effects our lives. Rant over!

            

                Two clowns at the Sea Turtle Hospital.

No rehabilitating these two!

Hotel guests still dress in white to play croquet in the yard. 

Jekyll Island was originally purchased in 1886 to become an exclusive winter retreat for some of the nation's most elite families. Known as the Jekyll Island Club, the legendary Rockefellers, Morgans, Pulitzers, and Vanderbilts came here to 'get away from it all'. During the Depression of the 1930's the cottages fell into disrepair and after WW II club members never returned. Descendants of the Jekyll Island Club families had little interest in maintaining the 'Cottages' comprising 'millionaires row' and the historic landmarks were all but lost to decay. 

One of the original Cottages on  Millionaires Row.
Not exactly what I picture as a 'cottage'.

Nice little island cart from
Jekyll Island Club days.

Thankfully, the state of Georgia purchased the Island and created The Jekyll Island Club National Historic Landmark District. Projects were started to restore the landmark structures, including the historic Jekyll Island Club Hotel. Today you can tour the cottages which made up millionaire's row, book a room at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel, and even play croquet on the lawn, but you must be outfitted in white, as is still the tradition.

We are Family!
MK, Red, Me, and Mimi

Looking up to see the moss
in the Live Oaks.

There is just something serene about taking a walk on the beach...  Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island is natures own gallery of driftwood art. Every piece seems to have been sculpted perfectly by the winds and waves.                        

The fishing pier is quiet and empty this day while the tide is low. What a scenic fishing perch it would make, if I only had a fishing pole. My next purchase, for sure!

Till Next Time,

    The Bee-Gals

     Kathy and Kathy