Skeletons? Sculpture? Driftwood? YES

7/17/20 - 7/20/20 St. Augustine, FL to Brunswick, GA, 104 miles, stayed at Coastal Georgia RV resort, 3 nights at $45.36/night

If you’ve read my other posts, you know, I am a beach lover!  Any time we get near a coast, I have to dip my toes in. So when I heard we were near a beach that had eroded away so that the tree’s roots had been exposed and were left lying on the sand like huge driftwood, I had to see it. (It is one of the settings used for The Walking Dead.)

It’s an easy drive out to Driftwood Beach at the north end of Jekyll Island, near Brunswick, Georgia, a vacation destination in its own right. Then, we parked and walked a few yards through the woods to the beach and stood among them. Every turn revealed a new fallen tree. They truly do look like skeletons of some long-extinct gigantic ocean creatures, each one a beautiful sculpture in its own right. I couldn’t take enough pictures. 

The locals come here at sunrise to take gorgeous colorful photos, or wedding photos, or have a wedding on the sand, but you have to be careful to time it with the tides, or you’ll get washed away. Luckily, we caught it at the right time of day, as did many others who were using the huge root balls as beach umbrellas. 

The photos speak for themselves...

Old St. Augustine

7/14/20 - 7/7/17/20 Dade City, FL to St. Augustine, FL, 143 miles, stayed at Compass RV Park, 3 nights at $42/night. 

Before we left Florida, there was one city that I wanted to visit - St. Augustine. I’m a huge history buff, and love to explore old places. Bill - not so much. He humors me and goes for some of it, as long as there’s good food involved somewhere. 

St. Augustine, FL was founded by the Spanish in 1565. It rivals Santa Fe, NM as the oldest city in the United States.  It was protected by Castillo de San Marcos from the British who settled further up the coast. It has been said that Ponce de Leon landed here in his quest for the fountain of youth. The Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine is the oldest Catholic Church in the city. So you get the idea.  It’s old. Older than the Plymouth colony, founded in 1620; older than Jamestown, founded in 1605. The architecture here is beautiful old Spanish Colonial with intricate cast iron balconies, and they harvested blocks of calcified crushed seashells, called “coquina”, to make sturdy concrete-like structures.

I debated as to whether I should take the hop-on, hop-off trolley to get a good overview of the area. I could have gotten a discount ticket by booking online, and they would pick up and drop off directly from our RV park. But even with stringent cleaning after each route, plexiglass between rows, and the fact that it was open-air, many of the sites that I wanted to visit were closed and I wasn’t really keen on sitting that close to other people. So Bill drove me downtown, found a shady spot to park on the square, and I struck out on foot.  It was near 90 degrees with high humidity, so I tried to pick and choose carefully. 

The old historic downtown is very walkable, especially the pedestrian-only St. George Street. Castillo de San Marcos (a National Park) and the Colonial Quarter were closed.  I started by respectfully walking through the Cathedral, viewing the frescoes and gilded icons. (It’s also nice because it’s cool inside.).

 Then I walked quickly down St. George Street, looking for authentic St. Augustine amongst the touristy offerings (although the chocolate shop was SO tempting. They pipe that glorious smell onto the street).  I stopped at the oldest wooden schoolhouse, and walked all the way down to the city gates. 

Then I took a left and meandered through the narrow streets back toward Flagler College. It was originally built as a luxury hotel by the railroad magnate Henry Flagler.  It was decorated with Tiffany stained glass windows and chandeliers and I hear the girls dorms are beautiful. Of course they were not giving public tours, so I admired it from the outside. By the time I got back to the car, my face was bright red and my water bottle was empty. Time for an Icee!

          

We drove out to the beach and found a free parking spot at the pier. We walked out to the water and cooled off by dipping our toes in the Atlantic Ocean.  It’s amazing to me that beaches are so different from place to place. Here, the water was darker and cooler and the sand was a course pinkish-beige.

The next day, Bill and I parked along the river and walked to Harry’s restaurant. It has a large open patio and we sat with a view of the water. The crabcakes were amazing!

Happy Independence Day (a little late)!

6/28/20 - 7/12/20 Seffner, FL to Ft Myers, FL, 125 miles, stayed two weeks for FREE!  Many thanks to Susan And JD!
7/12/20 - 7/14/20 Ft Myers, FL to Dade City, FL, 160 miles, stayed at Traveller’s a Rest RV Resort, 2 nights for $21.50

The Fourth of July came and went with very little fanfare.  Public firework displays were cancelled. Ft Myers had a vintage plane flyover instead. Cities on the east coast of Florida closed their beaches, so we were concerned about the crowds on the west coast. Cities were very creative in how they dealt with it.  The beaches were only open from 7am to 11 am and then from 5 pm to dusk. And the parking lots were closed, so you could only bike or walk to them.

Governor Desantis still refuses to put a mask mandate in place, so each city is deciding on their own, making it very confusing. And many cities are leaving it up to individual shops as to whether they require them.  Cowards!  They’re too afraid to lose favor with the public by making a unpopular decision to protect all their citizens.  It’s a HUGE issue here.  Just today, I saw a man walk into the store, which clearly had “Masks Required” signs posted everywhere.  The sweet young employee just inside the door that was counting the shoppers as they came in asked him to put one on.  He yelled at her, “It’s not a law!  I have the right not to wear one,” and stormed out.

How rude!  You can tell which side of the debate I come down on.  I have the right not to be infected by someone who refuses to wear a mask!

Since it’s Independence Day, I’d like to talk about my freedoms in this time of pandemic and where I’m finding my joy.

Bill and I have the right to take an educated risk and go out for lunch or day trip. In the middle of the day, restaurants are empty. We try to eat outside, but will go inside when we’re the only ones in the dining room.  We go to the beach, fish and drive around - all while keeping a distance, wiping down surfaces, and smearing our hands with germex when we get back in the car.

I have the right to go outside and walk in God’s beautiful creation. Even though I come home melting with sweat, I love seeing butterflies flitting around gorgeous tropical flowers. They inspire me to make art (see below). Walking keeps me healthy and feeds my soul. When it’s too hot, I stay in and do yoga or Pilates.

So far, we’re free to travel about the country.  We waited a long time to leave Alabama, and were being very careful about where we’re going, especially since we’re traveling in Florida. One RV park was accepting guests on a case-by-case basis. Since we mostly keep to ourselves, they allowed us to stay.

But just because we’re by ourselves, doesn’t mean we’re alone.  I finding great joy in technology. I love seeing photos of my new twin grandniece and nephew. They are growing SO fast.  We won’t be able to meet them until the holidays, so I’m thriving on Facetimes with Grandma. Our son makes time to FaceTime with us every week and then some. He knows I like to see his smiling, sometimes unshaven face, and the latest art project he’s working on. And, the pandemic has finally brought my whole family together. My brothers, sisters-in-law,  nieces and nephews and Mom and Dad Zoom every Sunday.  Sometimes we don’t have much to share. It’s just good to see their faces and hear their voices and feel connected.

Finally, I get great joy from staying in touch with my home church, Bulverde United Methodist Church in San Antonio, TX. Even if it’s from a distance, I get to sing with the praise band and worship with my church family. I even keep up with the pastors who’ve moved on from BUMC and listen to one of their messages mid-week.

Out of the Frying Pan...

6/17/20 - 6/19/20 - Gulf Shores, AL  to Bonifay, FL - Outback Springs RV Resort, two nights for $74
6/19/20 - 6/20/20 - Bonifay, FL to Lamont, FL - one night at Stones Throw RV Park for $31.50
6/20/20 - 6/23/20 - Lamont, FL to Reddick, FL- three nights at Ocala North RV Resort for $44/night
6/23/20 - 6/25/20 - Reddick, FL to Seffner, FL- two nights at Lazy Days RV Resort for $32/night
6/25/20 - 6/28/20 - Seffner, FL to Sarasota, FL - three nights at Sarasota Lakes RV Park for $139

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
After extending our stay in Gulf Shores for months, we finally decided it would be safe to venture out.  But with Independence Day looming, we gratefully accepted an offer from friends to stay at their spot at Cypress Trails RV Resort, Ft Myers, FL for the two weeks surrounding it. We just have to get there.

The tricky part is that each state, heck each city, has different rules about being in public. We are pretty conservative in our approach anyway. We wear masks in public, only take out restaurant food, or very rarely, eat on the patio. We carry disinfectant wipes to wipe down the table and use hand sanitizer after we handle the menu. However, we met up with my sister-in-law, niece and nephew from Idaho in Panama City and are hanging out with old friends from San Antonio who now live near Sarasota (no hugs and we ate outside!) We haven’t been as strict as we usually would (but it’s so nice to see friends)  All of it is a calculated risk.

We are trying to plan our route out of FL after the holiday. It’s SO HOT that it’s not even enjoyable to go to the beach or take my morning walk. Since COVID is a moving target, we’ll make reservations and hope that we can still get into those states when it’s time. Florida had a checkpoint on I10, checking for those coming from Louisiana.  It closed about a week before we left.  Hopefully, the states we want to go to won’t deny us entrance now that we’ve been in Florida. I’ve heard New York, Connecticut and New Jersey are considering denying some entries. So, for now, we’re spending a lot more time indoors and enjoying seeing friends. This year has just been frustratingly weird. I’m ready for a vaccine!

One Year Anniversary

May 22 - June 10, 2020, Gulf Shores, AL, Luxury RV Park

Today marks the one-year anniversary of living full time on our RV. The first 8 months went just as we planned. Then COVID -19 restrictions went in place and we’ve been in Gulf Shores for five months!  I can definitely say that RVing is more fun when you’re moving!  But we have been SO blessed to have this place to hide out. It’s become our second home. And, while we swore we had too many places to see, we’ve come to know the people, and we may come back next winter. Mind you, I don’t want to get stuck in a rut. But this is a nice spot to weather the cold.  I think I like the beach better BEFORE Spring Break. There are far fewer people to contend with.

We’ve also gotten to know the restaurants! Especially the ones with outdoor dining and take-out. (We always take handy wipes and sanitizer!). For bbq, we get pulled pork sandwiches at Hog Wild. For fried shrimp, we go to the Shrimp Basket, just across the street from us. For sub sandwiches and pizza, Chico’s - again, an easy walk across the street. Good Mexican food is harder to come by, but we found Pedro’s in Perdido Key and El Paso up in Foley. And of course, the granddaddy of home cooking (but very pricey and touristy) Lambert’s Cafe. The best thing is the “throwed rolls”  Yes, they throw them across the dining room. They are light and fluffy and hot.  Yum!

Bill has finally gotten back into fishing with the warmer weather.  Though for some reason, Gulf State Park decided to close and repair their pier during the best part of the year. So we found the pier at Little Lagoon Pass (thanks Ron!), which is also near a beach. I can wander the shore looking for shells, and Bill can catch lunch for the herons who always hover nearby begging for a handout.

Thank you, Alabama for taking good care of us. We’re leaving next week with many good memories. Now we can move more freely around the country.  The check point into Florida has been removed, and the Keys are reopening. So we’re headed that way. Then, we’ll go North, maybe see Brendan, before we get back to Texas for the holidays. Each state is reopening at different rates.  It’s the right thing to do to protect their citizens, but difficult for travelers to know what to expect. We’ll keep our masks and sanitizer handy, just in case. Open road, here we come!

Haircuts!

4/18/20 - 5/22/20 - Still in Gulf Shores, AL

Alabama was one of the last states to issue stay-at-home orders and one of the first to open up again. I have to say we enjoyed having the place largely to ourselves. Many of the snowbirds in our park delayed going home because their homes were still under orders and their kids urged them to stay. There’s nothing like a pandemic and physical distancing to make people crave social closeness. We need each other. And this group of folks have become our friends. Because they are older, they are very careful about getting too close.  But we gather for “happy hour” most afternoons, outdoors, with six feet between, and no more than 10 people.

We’ve decided to stay one last month, to make it through Memorial Day weekend, but are making plans and reservations to move on. FINALLY!  We’ll be one of the last of the winter folks to leave. From here, we’re headed into Florida, where Covid-19 is still on the rise.  Some very generous friends offered us their site at an RV resort for two weeks around July 4. It is very difficult to get reservations during that time. It will be HOT!  But the lovebugs swarms should have died down and viruses don’t spread as easily in hot climates (so the theory goes).

Just before the lockdown, Bill and I got our hair cut at Great Clips. I can usually go 6-8 weeks between cuts. Bill used to get his cut every two weeks, like clockwork.  He had one trusted stylist who knew how to do it just right. Two days ago, I cut Bill’s hair for the third time.  I must be doing an okay job if he keeps asking. In fairness, I only let him clean up my neck because I have pesky hairs that grow upward and make the hairs stick out.

It’s been about two and a half month since my last cut. Now that the salons are allowed open again, I decided I’d venture to Great Clips to get my mop cut.  I used their online check-in that put me in the queue for 154 minutes and read their website about safety measures they’d put in place. I was pleasantly surprised.

When I arrived, I was met at the door by a mask-wearing “hair traffic controller”. It is his sole job to maintain distance and keep everyone safe. All people inside had to wear a mask. He asked me a series of questions about if I’d been sick or been around others who were sick. Then he made me wash my hands. There were only two people allowed in the waiting area with one customer at each of the four workstations with their stylists. I wore my mask the whole time, even holding it to my face as the stylist worked around my ears. He was all business and got me in and out quickly. I thanked him for the safety measures and he said they had to follow CDC guidelines to be open. He thoroughly cleaned and sanitized after each cut. I got out to the car, took off my mask and sanitized before I drove away.

So, I survived. I suppose, in theory, I should wait 14 days to be sure I’m symptom free to say that. But as places open up, this is going to be the new normal until a vaccine. It makes you appreciate the service workers, truly ESSENTIAL WORKERS, who haven’t had the ability to quarantine. I always said the custodians and janitors were the true superheroes in disguise. This pandemic proved that. Maybe they should get paid more for their essential work.

How are you faring?  Have you ventured out to do a simple task that now seems monumental?  How do you show your gratitude for the people you encounter who are just doing their job?

New Venture

3/17/20 - 4/17/20 - still in Gulf Shores, AL

Alabama’s Governor Ivy finally issued the official Stay-at-home order yesterday to begin at 5 pm.  However, it does not apply to some church situations, same as Florida and Georgia - which leaves a very confusing gray area for many. One Mega-church pastor was arrested in Florida for endangerment after thousands worshipped together.

While I believe that God is all-powerful and he WILL protect us, one of the ways he does this is by giving us intelligence and discernment, so as not to put ourselves in unnecessary danger.  Just a few weeks ago, the message I watched on Facebook Live from my home church was about Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness.  When Satan suggested that Jesus throw himself down from a high place (because angels would surely come and save him), Jesus told him we are not to tempt God.  There are many who MUST put their lives at risk to do their work of protecting and healing. Showy acts to prove that God is with us seem to diminish that sacrifice.

So, for now, we are limiting our contact with others. On my solo morning walks I see very few people. I view the beach from a distance and marvel at how nature moves on without us when I see the seagulls and wildflowers. We get take-out food to ease the boredom. AND I’m finally trying my hand at posting drawing videos on YouTube - something I’ve been wanting to do for years and now have all the time I need.  If you’re interested you can find my channel @ Beth Cooper portraits. Subscribe. Grab a paper and pencil. Follow along.  It’ll give you something to do, too.

God bless you.  He will see us through.