The Emerald Coast

We had heard from a client of Bill's that the beaches near Destin, Florida were among the best he had experienced. A search of the Florida state parks landed us next door in Santa Rosa Beach at the Topsail Hill State Preserve. What a find! The beaches are fine white sand next to the emerald green water at the shore. The dunes are protected so a quarter of a mile beach access ramp is provided for the visitors to use. The end of the ramp is lined with empty pairs of shoes as guests take them off and leave them behind when they walk to the shore. Even during the hottest time of the day the sand did not get as hot as I have experienced in California where wearing flip-flops are a must.

A 19 mile bike route weaves through the beach communities from Santa Rosa Beach to Rosemary Beach (just west of Panama City Beach). The salesman from the local bike shop let us know that a drive which we could make today in 8-10 minutes would take 45-50 minutes during the summer peak weekends as the thousands who park and stay on the forest side of the road cross with their families (with strollers, wagons and rolling ice chests) over to the beach. I was happy to have been there during the middle of the week and while school was in session so I could have most of the ride to myself.

Now we are in historic St. Augustine where I am recovering from a tight back (too much fast walking in the soft sand at Santa Rosa Beach). One more easy going day is prescribed before attempting too much! Bill tried to get me through the historic downtown walking district yesterday, but I just could not walk very fast (or upright). We went back to the coach and I took a muscle relaxer and a nap. I am hoping today will be better and the next even more so.

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Au Revoir Acadiana (also known as Cajun country)

This is our last posting from Louisiana as we head out tomorrow morning for the beaches of northern Florida. As you can see from the picture we took the factory tour at the Tabasco pepper sauce plant at Avery Island. Aside from a few interesting facts we learned (the island has its own salt mine which it utilizes in the processing; and the casks in which the pepper pulp is fermented come from the Jack Daniels distillery, the tour was pretty short and uneventful. Bill had his favorite Cajun dish at the Tabasco country store where he sampled a bowl of crawfish etouffee.

Bicycling is an activity seldom seen around these parts. I spent the better part of the last two days on the roads in Terrebonne and Assumption parishes without seeing another bicycle rider. During my ride yesterday I spotted a little nine hole par-3 course less than five miles from here. I was shocked to see there was no charge for playing so Bill and I hit the course early today in the tiny community of Donner, Louisiana (try finding that on the map! It is right next to Chacahoula--an even smaller blip in southeastern Louisiana).

Though the weather has been quite marvelous the last few days both Bill and I are ready for a change. There are few opportunities for long walks here (I nearly stepped on a snake during a walk on a nearby nature trail), so I am looking forward to miles and miles of white sandy beaches at our next stop. We actually have the next ten days mapped out which helps now that schools are getting out and the holiday weekend is approaching. We will be at Topsail Hill State Park at Santa Rosa State Beach for three nights before driving to South Ponte Vedra Beach outside of Jacksonville. Internet access is unknown so we will post again when we can!

All for now...

Louisiana Bayou

Hello from deep in the Bayou country of Louisiana! Bill and I arrived Monday during a torrential rainstorm in Gibson, a tiny village outside Houma, Louisiana. The resort is called Hideaway Ponds so the RV fisherman can take his choice of the catfish, crawfish, or bass lake. One lake has an alligator and an alligator gar (whatever that creature is)--the owners here seem proud they roam the waters. Ironically, this is the pond designated for the kids to go paddleboating. I have not seen anyone on the water yet; but that could change when school lets out for the summer.

We drove down to Grand Isle earlier today--the end of the road for Hwy 1. The destruction from the hurricane can still be seen here as some sites have been abandoned, while neighbors have cleaned up their sites and made the necessary repairs. Tomorrow we head for Avery Island (the home of Tabasco) and see how Billy's favorite brew is made.

We have been searching the roads for good biking lanes (few and far between) but hope to get out Friday and this weekend when the weather should clear. The wildflowers by the side of the road are still lingering for a few final weeks; I was told that March is the best time to catch them in their glory. We plan to head into the French Quarter on Saturday to be tourists in New Orleans--I have been enjoying spending most of the time outside of the big cities. We have both noticed that the pace of life is a little different down here; the Cajun cooking takes a little longer for the order of red beans and rice or gumbo to appear, but the quality of the food is well worth the wait. Friday our favorite little restaurant outside of Houma (Bayou Delight) has live music so we plan to go again for the food and entertainment.

Silsbee, Texas was a blast as I met Bill's cousin Alice and her husband Donald Seal. They own an RV park (Mill Creek RV Park) where we stayed for three nights. Donald is the king of Texas BBQ and treated us to a meal of ribs, tenderloin and sausages smoked outside for hours. Bill and I were polite (ha, ha) and sampled all three! It was quite an evening down memory lane for Bill as we dined in the house he lived as a young boy.

Next Stop Silsbee TEXAS

Last night we finally got the thunderstorm which had been "possible" for each of the last five days. Susan was out exploring the roads north of Conroe yesterday--once again the distances between junctions seem a bit further in reality than they do on the map. 55 miles later she rolled back into camp--tired and ready for some ice cold cervezas!

Catch you all later as we continue our journey to the east...

der Libbys

Closer to Alabama :-)

We have been on the move for the last week. We left the hill country outside of San Antonio for the beaches of the Corpus Christi area. Our state park guide lead us to Mustang Island which is just north of Padre Island. We stayed only one night at the state park as our goal was to camp directly on the beach as we were able to do ten miles north in Port Aransas. What a deal--for ten dollars you get an annual pass to park and camp on the beach! Our pass is clearly displayed if we ever get back to this area in 2007!

From there we went to Brazos Bend State Park which our guide stated was one of the top state parks in the US. Miles of trails for hiking and biking along trees draped in Spanish moss--with alligators lurking next to the trails in the water. I did not expect to see any alligators at this point of the trip--I figured we would see them closer to Florida.

A quick trip to Stephen F. Austin park allowed us our first round of golf on the road before driving through Houston to Conroe, Texas. This is home base for a few days as we do laundry and catch up on e-mails. Today we head for Billy's stomping grounds of Silsbee and the Big Thicket. More later....

PS Too much time for uploading photos to the bloggggg --- so click on this link for more :-)

http://billnsusan.com/loading.htm

Later --- BillnSusan

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Off to the BEACH !!!!

Nuff of the Ducks and Deer :-)

We're off to see the "Big Fish" at Mustang Island State Park.

til later --- derLibbys

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