St. Andrews State Park

We stayed in St. Andrews State Park from January 6th thru the 13th. We have really enjoyed the State Park for all the wildlife. We often saw up to 20 deer a day as we drove thru the park. One small fawn that still had spots, just kept munching next to the road as Joyce talked to it. 

Joyce always had a hard time of the early wake-up all 36 years of working at Bendix/Allied-Signal/Honeywell. Now that she doesn't have to arise so early, she is usually awake by 6am. The tides soon fascinated her as she'd see the low tide in early mornings. The photo of sailboat below shows the tide at the lowest we saw it the week we were at St. Andrews. Joyce now has the website saved for low/high tide times.

Although state parks are cheaper than the independent rv parks, the main disadvantage is most do not have sewer connections at each camp site. They do have "dump stations" that are free for use, but you have to drive the rv up to it. Randy had talked with a full-timer at Pella Iowa last year and found he'd used a waste tote. So Randy bought a tank & though it's a thankless job it's easier than raising jacks, putting in slides etc. every 3 or 4 days. He doesn't gripe about the job as the beauty of camping in the parks make up for it.

Early morning view out of the RV, the water looked as smooth as glass.

Kingfisher

Great Egret

Low tide left the beached sailboat completely out of the water.

Randy was amazed at the barnacles completely covering the sailboat's keel.

We attended service at St. Andrew Baptist Church on January 8th. 

One evening we went out to Gator Lake & watched the Snowy Egrets start to roost.

Luckily it was catch & release so Randy couldn't bring it back to the RV.   :)

Black Scoter

The Farmer's Market at St. Andrews was pretty thin due to the chilly weather.
Joyce felt so sorry for one ill-dressed vendor that she took her Hot Hands paks.

Randy wanted this pic for Matt & Len, as it looked like the boat they fished in while at St. Kitts.

We were amazed at all the different style boats in the marinas.

We had the beach pretty much to ourselves on windy chilly days.

Florida's State bird- Mockingbird

Blue Heron

Small fawn by the road

Randy says "it's a sh**** job but someone has to do it"

Sunset across the marsh area.

MOVING TO THE COAST

We moved further east to St. Andrew State Park at Panama City Beach, FL.  It sets between the Gulf of Mexico and a bay coming off the Gulf.

On our way down from Defuniak we went through an area called: Nokuse Plantation.  It is a 53,000 acre private nature preserve located in Walton County in northwest Florida.  It is the largest private conservation project east of the Mississippi River.

Our campsite backs right up to the Bay.  Upon arrival at our site we had a greeter waiting for us on our post.  Due to the trees & narrow roadway it was tight getting backed into the site. It was worth all the trouble... what a view!

  Did I mention we were close to water.  Joyce's favorite saying if we're at the ocean "These toes are going in". There were several sail boats moored out in bay. One had broken loose and was grounded near us.

After getting set up we decided to check out the park.  I had mentioned on the way down, that since in Florida we hadn't seen any deer.  We got no more than 100 feet from the trailer and there was a deer.  Then they came out of everywhere.  We saw them in the sand dunes, along the roadway and in the parking lots.

  We went to the pier that stretches out into the gulf.  The temperature was around 60 degrees.  No one was on the beach.  The park gates close at sunset, so for campers you get a pass-code to come in & out after dark. You could look back towards Panama City Beach and see nothing but condos.  When you looked the opposite direction along the beach there was nothing but white sands and water.

  We have a hard time finding places in the state parks along the Gulf to stay. They are booked up on the weekends because all the locals reserve out the sites for up to a year in advance leaving only a few days during the week available.

  It's hard to believe but our camp site is only 13 feet above sea level.  Tonight we have had thunderstorms, gale warnings and a possibility of water spouts.  Know that's something you don't have in Missouri.

GOT OUR TOES IN THE SAND

 January 2, 2017 Monday
  We finally made it to the beautiful white sand beaches.  The forecast was calling for heavy rain for the afternoon so we decided to head for Defuniak Springs for some things.  Once we made town we decided to keep heading south towards the Gulf to check on some camp sites for later.  We found one at a horse ranch. While circling around a little fury short legged animal came heading our way.  It must've seen Joyce looking out the window at it.  So we stopped and Joyce handed me the camera and out the door she went to greet this cute little donkey.  I think he's the boss around here.  There was a gap between two posts of the horse lot without anything across them.  Looks just wide enough for a donkey to fit through but not a horse.  We said our goodbyes and left out to check some more camping sites.

  While driving around the found "The Donut Hole".  Debbie L.  had told us that it was a good place to eat.  While walking in the first thing you come to is the showcase of donuts and pies.  They have breakfast or lunch choices.  Joyce had the reuben on rye.  She loves them but it's hard to find good ones.  I chose the chicken fried steak.  Both things were good.  We topped the meal off with a piece of key lime pie.  They bring you the ticket and make you pay for your meal back out by the donut showcase.  Somebody was thinking on this deal.  So after selecting just a few sweets we settled up and headed out again.

Donut Hole

  We finally arrived at the beach.  We found a public parking area and headed for it.  They had red flags flying to indicate bad weather at the beach.  We took our shoes off and waded in.  The water was a little cool at first but the feeling on the soft white sand under your feet makes you forget about the temperature.

Our first time in the White Sands

Already got her shoes off

Finally got to the water

Beach warning sign

Red flag day

Is the wind blowing my hair?

How deep are you going?

One happy woman

God's Beauty

  We found a couple of  nice state parks.  One offers a tram ride down to the ocean.  The other one you can park and walk to it.  Did we mention the canoe rentals right beside the "Be Careful of Alligators" sign.  All the canoes were still sitting there.

Spanish Moss in the trees

  We headed back to camp late afternoon.  Made a stop by Walmart and got our fishing licence.  We got the combo fresh and saltwater.  Had some light rain but by the time we got back to camp it really started rainy hard.  We are having flood warning, Tornado watch with thunder and lighting.  It is supposed to clear off tomorrow.

RAINY DAY

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
It's a rainy day here.  Watched First Baptist Raytown Church on the web.  It has rained heavy most of the morning then changing to off and on showers this afternoon with a temperature of 72 degrees.  The storm is coming off the gulf lifting Northeast.  I opened Skype to try and remember how to use it and check out my user name.  I found a friend Steve showed available.  So I hit the video button and he answered.  His granddaughters were there and had to see who Grandpa was videoing with.  Can you image so child see me for the first time on they're Grandpa's phone.  So we found out we still know how to use Skype and plan on using more with family and friends.
  Joyce made us breakfast brunch.  We picked and packed away some more.  We have started a donation sack of the things we've decided we don't need after packing it all in the RV.  You  can say it has been well traveled.  It's fun to watch the older people pop out in between the rains taking Foo Foo and Fido out for a quick walk.  We love the one little older lady who drives around on a golf cart while her dog is walking on a leash beside it.

Looking out our RV window

It's raining, It's pouring.

Looking out at some of the other RV's