770 May 3- July 5, 2022 Time At Home

We drove from Atlanta to Maryland, taking two days to get “home.” We parked in Kyle’s driveway.

May 7th was Allison’s bridal shower. Mom and I got to spend lots of time together preparing treats for the party. We had lots of fun celebrating the future Mrs. Pearce.

The remainder of the month of May was spent going to appointments…dentist and doctors and lots of other stuff. The Jeep got some much needed work done, including some welding on the rack. We did some jobs for Kyle and Allison as well, sanding and painting and priming and yardwork and centerpieces and curtains and candles and lanterns and the veil for the wedding. We also got to see lots of friends for lunches and dinners and crab feasts and walks and showers and parties. It was so nice to see everyone. We hadn’t been home since September.

I spent time with my mom as well…I really miss her when we are gone though we try to stay caught up during our daily phone conversations.

On May 28th, David and his family flew from Atlanta to BWI. The kids had great experiences on their first flights! It is so rare for all of us to be together in the same place…I was overjoyed!!!

We had to visit the COW for ice cream…nothing like getting up close and personal with the underside of the cow!

On June 1st, we all went to Harryman House to celebrate my 60th birthday. The kids especially enjoyed the warm chocolate chip cookie platter with vanilla ice cream!

We had the rehearsal dinner at La Palapa. It was a lovely evening with delicious food!

On June 3rd, Kyle and Allison were married at the Howard County Conservancy surrounded by close family and friends. The bride absolutely glowed as she floated through the evening! The weather was perfect for their fairy tale wedding. A beautiful party in an incredible venue.

We had more appointments and then we took a quick trip to Crisfield and stayed in the roof top tent.

The following week, we went to Rock Hall where we found a quaint motel near the harbor.

We watched cats and chickens while Kyle and Allison were on their honeymoon in Cancun.

We had a wonderful time at home!

769 April 11- May 2, 2022 Visit In Atlanta

We stored our RV on Monday and then went to David and Andrea’s house to spend several weeks. We took the boys back and forth to school. We took them to swimming lessons.

We had lots of cuddling time and IPAD time too!

We watched after school soccer and took the kids to the playground.

We had an Easter Egg Hunt.

We gave Mama and Dada a couple of date nights.

We spent a night in the driveway in our roof top tent.

We went to the zoo.

We did lots of fun projects and we baked cookies…Easter bunnies and always gingerbread men!

We celebrated Austin’s 4th birthday with a pirate themed party with swords and eye patches and a treasure map and a pinata!

All too soon, it was leaving time again. The boys are older now. They are so fun to be with. They are well behaved and love to tell stories and use their imaginations. They are curious about nature and the world and how things work.

When we are in visiting, we try to be useful. We did some yardwork and mulching and made dinner most nights. We are so grateful that Atlanta is one of our homes.

768 April 8-10, 2022 Stone Mountain Campground With The Littles

Although Oliver was still recovering from his awful GI bug, he was eager to go camping in the RV with us at Stone Mountain. Austin was instantly on board! The two boys dragged their suitcases into the hall and I began to issue instructions: “Bring me 4 pair of underwear.” They each ran to their rooms, proudly coming back with underwear. They dumped them into the suitcase and then ran to get pajamas, then shirts, and so on. We couldn’t forget pillows and favorite blankets and lovies…and books…lots and lots of books!

We arrived at Stone Mountain and the boys were thrilled to explore the RV or our “house on wheels” and our campsite. Oliver had been with us once when he was very small. Austin had never been. We were camped right next to the lake. We took a walk around and then enjoyed some snacks by a campfire.

The boys got showers which they enjoyed tremendously and then we read until they were sleepy.

Saturday morning was chilly, windy, and damp. Luckily, I had thought to get a new LEGOS. Each of the boys has a remarkable ability to assemble projects and we had lots of fun.

We packed picnic food and then went for a hike at the base of the mountain. Oliver thought it was the biggest mountain in the world. We walked as far as an overlook where they could see all of the City of Atlanta far in the distance.

We enjoyed our lunch and the boys played on the playground.

We did more walking and dyed Easter eggs and played and played and played.

Another campfire and more stories until bedtime.

Sunday morning, we took the Sky Ride to the top of Stone Mountain.

We had the very best weekend. It is always such a joy to share something we love so much with the people that we love.

767 April 5, 2022 Georgia Bound

I walked to the beach from the campground. 

It was quite windy and so I elected to continue my walk on the Audubon Trails. 

I saw an osprey.

A heron.

A great egret.

A toad.

A turtle.

The sky was looking ominous.

When I got back, we prepared the RV and got ready to go.  Just as we got to Mobile, it started to rain.  The forecast was for thunderstorms and potentially severe weather with heavy rain.  The rain became so intense that we stopped for about an hour at the next rest area to wait out the storm.

David had called this morning.  Oliver is sick with a stomach bug.  He wondered if we might alter our schedule so that we could help him with childcare tomorrow afternoon.  So, Tim drove.  We entered Georgia at almost 5pm. 

I found a Cracker Barrel in LaGrange near 85N where we could get dinner and spend the night.  Tomorrow we will go to Stone Mountain and set up the RV.  Then we can go help take care of Ollie.  We hope to spend this weekend camping with the boys at Stone Mountain.  We hope everyone is well enough to make it work!  We will post a blog on Monday about our adventures with Ollie and Austin. 

766 April 4, 2022 Dauphin Island

I walked this morning along the top of the levee along the Mississippi River.  I saw two eagles.

Ships on the river.

A snowy egret hunting in the marshy area below the levee.

There are so many houses with blue tarp on the roof.  When we came through here after Hurricane Laura, there were lots of houses with damage and lots of blue tarps.  We wonder if these houses still have not been repaired or if they have sustained damage from subsequent storms.  This area is at such extraordinary risk.  When traveling through on elevated highways with so much water below, you can appreciate how easily this area could be affected by flooding.  Lake Pontchartrain, rivers, the Gulf of Mexico and so much marsh.  The land masses sit at or below sea level.  Add wind and rain and rising tides and it has been devastating.  Large piles of debris still sit awaiting removal.

Today Tim drove past New Orleans.

Into Mississippi, and then Alabama.  

We decided to dip down south of 10 and visit Dauphin Island.  This a barrier island in the Mississippi Sound.  Tim rode my bike and I went for a walk to explore the island.  I walked to Fort Gaines.

Then out on the boardwalk at the Alabama Aquarium. 

NOAA has weather observation equipment here on the coast.

Most coastal towns have a Coast Guard Station.  We saw the helicopters out and about this afternoon.

This evening we went back to the boardwalk at the aquarium for our dinner.  While we were there Tim decided to try the Hurricane Machine.  We couldn’t get our credit card to work and so we were looking for cash.  Another couple was there watching and they donated a dollar to watch Tim experience hurricane force winds.  The machine registered wind speeds of 78mph…but it looked fairly tame.  The interesting part of the evening was talking to Hillary and Rob.  They have recently completed a school bus conversion and have been traveling fulltime for the past 7 weeks or so.  It was fun talking to like minded people albeit much younger and more adventuresome than us!  We wish them well as they embark on this new path.  We just might see them in Wyoming this summer!

765 April 3, 2022 Crawfish For Dinner

I began the day with a beautiful walk in Palmetto State Park.   The mist on the pond, the cypress trees and knees in the swamp, and wild blue flag irises lending bursts of purple to the dense green marsh.

Tim drove until lunchtime.  We got the last site at the New Orleans KOA.  We didn’t venture into the city or go to the French Quarter but we will someday! 

We did go out to dinner at the Big EZ Seafood House.  Tim ordered crawfish.  Eddie, our server, gave us a quick lesson and we went to work.  The crawfish were sweet and seasoned with Cajun spices and citrus and the steamed corn was delicious as well. 

After dinner, we parked at the Levee at the Mississippi River and took a walk. 

764 April 1-2, 2022 You do You

Friday morning, we took the time to complete our morning routines.  We then went to the sanitation station and while we were there, refilled our tires with air…no more beach driving.  We were on the road by 10am.  Tim drove all day.  At one point we came to an area of nearly stopped traffic.  Other drivers were exiting to detour around the traffic obstacle.  We followed.  We ended up on a dirt farm road bumping along until we made our way back to the highway.  We saw a group of pronghorns on our little offroad expedition.  We aren’t sure how much time we saved but we weren’t sitting still!

We had debated stopping before Houston but then decided to go on through.  We stayed Friday night at Winnie-Sowell County Park.  We have stayed there on other cross-country trips.  It is a little further from the highway and it was nice and quiet.  Tim took my bike for a ride just to move a little and I took an evening walk.

Saturday morning, I walked in the town of Winnie.  The grass is green here, the wildflowers are blooming and the trees are budding with tiny green leaves.

When I got back, Tim was talking to a young man, Isaiah, who had camped in a tent.  Tim offered him food and coffee both of which he politely declined.  Tim is so much better about talking with people and learning their stories.  Isaiah left Utah last May to walk across the country.  He walked to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state and then to Montana and then to Texas and now he is on his was to Louisiana.  From there he plans to walk to Maine and then to Florida.   He is doing this because he wants to!  He has a series of YouTube videos where he talks about his journey.  I have only listened to a couple but he is quite compelling.  He speaks about how he feels so connected to the Earth since he started his adventure.  He observes that we have become so adept at controlling our environment with temperatures carefully controlled by air-conditioning and heat and we stay dry and we stay inside!  Tim and I have always said that one of the best parts of what we do is how much time we get to spend outside in nature.  It is grounding.  We both feel that food is more enjoyable when we picnic outside.   Don’t get us wrong…a nice restaurant meal with a glass of wine is really super nice too…we just don’t want to be limited to only that.  It’s not always heathy and we become complacent and think about how much we would miss!   

Many of the things that Isaiah talks about resonate with us.  He says that many people sit inside doing a job they dislike and that they believe that they could never just leave to do something different.  He believes that you can…because you can choose.  He says that there are definitely consequences to every choice you make but that once you take the first step…everything else becomes solvable.  If you want to hear him speak, check out his videos at YouTube You Do You.

Tim drove again today.  We were looking for a place off the highway to camp overnight.  We passed a bunch of crawfish farms.  Crawfish are harvested in the same flooded fields where rice is planted.

I may have chosen something a little too far off the beaten path.  It was a long ride on narrow roads to get to Palmetto Island State Park in Abbeville, Louisiana. 

We both got out to see the park, Tim on the bike and I walked.  We packed dinner and took it to the picnic area along the Vermillion River.

The sign says not to feed the alligators.  We looked but didn’t see any…except for the large likeness outside the park gate.

763 March 30-31, 2022 Last Beach Overnight Trip

Wednesday was a weird weather day.  During the night it had been really windy.  With the dawn it was cloudy and still.  I tried a walk and when I was 1 mile away from the campsite, it began to rain.  Tim came with the Jeep to rescue me.  I waited a while and then went out again.  It was sunny but it was quite windy again. 

In the end, I walked even further than usual just in 2 parts.  I saw three deer near the road.

Beach blanket flower.

We wanted to go out on the beach and camp again.  We were waiting for the winds to abate.  We watched the windsurfers in Laguna Madre.  Most of our neighbors here at Bird Island have all the gear.  They wait for optimal conditions and when the winds are just right…out they go!  People with smaller sails and boards like it windier.  People who have larger sails like less wind. 

We left in late afternoon.  We stopped at the pond to check on the turtles.

We traveled 22 miles on the beach and found a great spot.  Just as we arrived at 3:38, it was high tide.  We knew if we set up the tent above the high-water mark, we would be just fine with the next high tide at 1:21am. 

We passed a pleasant evening watching the birds and the waves.  We enjoyed our dinner and a fire.

Sunset.

When we settled for bed, the ocean waves sounded very loud but they proved to be very soothing and we were soon asleep.  Tim was awake at midnight and he checked the tide line.  It was far enough away from the Jeep.  In the morning though, he realized that the tide had come all the way to the ladder.  The water had wrapped itself around the large log we had used for our fireplace.  Ocean water had flooded the firepit.   Shew…that was close!

Sunrise.

On the way out this morning, we passed this stuck truck.  The owner had tried to dig his way out with a shovel.  We saw this same guy stuck in the sand yesterday at about MM10.  We stopped then to see if we could help.  A guy with a pickup truck had tried to use a tow strap to pull him out but was not successful.  A young man with a Winnebago Campervan used his winch to pull the box truck out.   Tim suggested that the box truck turn around and go back.  Only high clearance 4WD vehicles are advised beyond MM5.  So, the driver of the white truck must have decided to continue on his way down the beach.  The tires were mired in deep soft sand.  There was nothing we could do for him…we are too light…even so, you would think after being stuck yesterday, he might have made another choice!  Who knows just how many times he had been stuck in between!  Maybe he relies on the kindness of strangers to help him out.  Maybe he drives along for awhile until he gets stuck and then waits for someone to yank him out before he drives on again…

Tim discovered a couple of cracks in the Jeep rack the holds the tent.  We aren’t sure yet what the permanent fix will be.  A new part takes 12-16 weeks to fabricate and ship.  In the meantime, Tim propped the rack with piece of wood and fastened it with wire.  We hope that should hold until we get home.

It took us an hour to drive the 22 miles back to the RV.  We unpacked and rested for a short time.  We went to Corpus Christi for supplies.  We also found a carwash.

We got some exercise in this afternoon.  I took a walk to the boat ramp.  These white pelicans were hanging around, waiting for the castoffs from the fishermen coming in. 

Paddleboarder with dog.

Tim had another flat tire and had to use my bike.

This is our last evening on Padre Island. One last sunset on the bay.

Tomorrow, we will drive north toward Houston.

762 March 29, 2022 Beach Day

I walked the park road this morning.  I saw this deer standing in the road and startled another as I passed by.

Bright yellow splashes of wild indigo among the tall beach grasses.

We packed a picnic lunch and took the Jeep to the beach. 

We gathered some more litter…combs and razors and shampoo bottles and spoons and forks and flip flops and bags and mylar balloons and ribbon and ropes and fishing line and loads of bottle caps and all manner of other plastic stuff.  We have written before about how the gulf current brings trash from the Mississippi and as far away as the Amazon to the shore at Padre Island. It is a continuous battle to clean the beach. 

There are also seabeans here. These are seeds that drop from trees on tropical shores and in forests all over the world. The seeds either fall or are washed into rivers and then they find their way to the ocean where they are washed onto islands and beaches. Most of the seabeans on Padre Island acome from South and Central America and the Carribbean. Today we found a hamburger bean, a sea purse, a tropical almond, and a sea-coconut.

We sat for a while at the seashore, using the Jeep as wind protection.  Tonight, the forecast is for sustained high winds with gusts to 50mph. 

Tomorrow the wind is supposed to lay down and if it does, we want to have one last beach camping trip.

761 March 28, 2022 Bird Island Basin

I took one last walk at Isla Blanca this morning.  It was 10:30 before we got on the road.  If you look at a map, it looks like a short distance from South Padre Island to Padre Island National Seashore.  We drove 200 miles and it took a little more than 4 hours to get here.  We traveled first on highway and then onto farm roads.

We went through Corpus Christi and then we entered the park.

After we were settled at Bird Island Bay, we drove to the visitor center.  Our first order of business was to get a tide chart.  You can camp on the beach and you can drive for 60 miles to the end of the island.  It is very useful and important to be aware of the rising water!  We also did some shopping for the grandchildren.  The national parks always have great nature related books and things for kids.  We also picked up some trash bags so that we could do our part out on the beach.  I was happy to see that the park has switched to biodegradable bags in lieu of plastic.

We drove onto the beach.

We stopped to gather debris…so much plastic!

This caracara sat on the dune supervising our work effort.

Oh buoy…this doesn’t belong here!

We decided on a vegetarian meal; squash with basil pesto, baked grape tomatoes, garlic, and feta.  Cooking at the water’s edge with mild temperatures and a gentle breeze while the fish jump…it’s a pretty sweet gig!

I watched this heron feeding in the shallow water of the bay or Laguna Madre.  It carried off a long thing, an eel or maybe a snake.