ToadMama – Page 7 – ToadMama.com

November 1, 2021

I’m An Aquaholic

I’m loving the watery life on Dauphin Island.

If you’ve seen our “places” map and list created by Mike, you know we’ve been hanging out in the southeastern US since we became full-time RVers in May. We arrived at our current location — Alabama’s Dauphin Island — on October 1 and will be here until December 1. This is the place I’d been most looking forward to as it has the best of both worlds for both of us. Endless beaches and other water activities for me and plenty of flatland and bicycling opportunities for Mike.

Everything I’d read before arrival said October was the best month to be here, weather-wise. We had some 80+ degree days early in the month with high humidity, but most days were in the upper 70s with night temps only dropping into the 60s. The sea temperature was 79 when we got here and has only dropped to 75. Compare that to the water temperature in Ocean City (OC), Maryland, the beach closest to where I grew up, where the water usually only hits 75 in August. In OC, the water starts cooling off again at the end of August/early September. Now, in OC, the water is already in the mid-60s. So 75 still feels warm(ish) to me.

We did have some strong storms pass through late last week, which brought about half a day of heavy rain and several days of strong winds. Yesterday, the weather was perfect. Temperatures only reached the low-70s and there was little to no wind. It was a great day for kayaking.

When I started out, there was no wind. Zero. The water was not only flat (no swells or waves at all), it looked like glass. The only surface movement happened when fish jumped out of the water or schools of fish fluttered just beneath the surface. Of course, my paddle made noise and caused ripples as I made my way across the surface, too.

Every now and then, as I made my way across Dauphin Bay, I would stop paddling and just sit still watching the world around me. At one point, with the surface still in its glass-like state, I saw a pair of large birds flying straight toward me, about 10 feet (a little over three meters) above the water. As they got closer, I could see they were Brown Pelicans. When I realized it was so quiet that I could hear their wings flapping, I chuckled and said, “Hello, pelicans!” My voice startled them a bit so they veered slightly off course, but otherwise continued on their way.

The wind did eventually resume. Lucky for me, it was blowing toward the direction from which I’d set off! I turned around after covering a few nautical miles and alternately drifted and paddled my way back toward home. It was very peaceful and relaxing. In the image below, you can see the water was still pretty flat, but no longer like glass.

Even if I never get to use my kayak again, I will forever be grateful that I took the plunge and made that purchase. Yes, it and its accoutrements eat-up valuable basement storage space, but getting to experience magical days on the water like yesterday is priceless.

This Earth of ours is such an amazing place!

The inflatable kayak creates a couple of logistical challenges. It does deflate and can be folded for relatively compact storage, but it’s sort of heavy. I bought a hand-truck so I could carry it to the water, but that meant I’d have to deflate it every time I used it. What I really wanted, especially when we are camped in close proximity to water, was to be able to leave it inflated and transport it to and from the water. That’s why I bought a two-wheeled kayak cart. I’m happy to say, it works exactly as I’d hoped.

The kayak cart is sitting to the left of the kayak.

The trick is, getting the cart positioned just-so under the boat to keep the ass-end from dragging on the ground. That’s where a couple of stabilizing fins hang down, like the keel on a sailboat, to make the inflatable vessel more stable in the water.

Once the wheels are in place and properly oriented, I can grab the kayak from the rope handle on the front and walk, easily pulling the kayak behind me. The first time I used the cart, it did take a couple tries to figure out the optimal position of the cart.

Yesterday, I happily made it to and from the boat launch without any issues. I am totally tickled to be able to walk with my kayak from our campsite to the water and back.

When my arms have rested, I’ll cart it out to the beach and do some kayaking there, conditions permitting. Dauphin Bay is relatively protected and safer for this beginning kayaker. Boating from the beach means I’m out on the more-open Gulf of Mexico. There is, however, a US Coast Guard station across the street from the campground should I need rescue.

Wouldn’t THAT make a fun story?

Now I am really, REALLY looking forward to returning to Florida in December. Not only will I be able to kayak on the Suwannee River, I’ll be able to go out on various springs and see Manatees. I hope.

October 25, 2021October 25, 2021

Salt Creek Mystery

The other day, I decided to go to the beach and walk as far west as I could. By “could,” I loosely meant as far as I felt like walking or until I ran into some kind of obstruction. I ended up going about 3.5 miles. Barefoot.

My feet felt a bit raw afterward, and my legs were tired, but it was a lovely walk. I hope to do it again soon, if I feel like it. 😊

I decided I’d share my favorite capture here.

An apparent creek on Dauphin Island, Alabama, where it almost reaches the Gulf of Mexico.

The scene intrigued me for several reasons. The first reason being that what clearly seemed to be a creek flowing onto the beach actually stopped on the beach, forming what was essentially just a big ole puddle of water. I walked around the nano-lake on the beach without even getting my feet wet. And there were fish living in there, too.

The second reason was just the way the photo turned out. I try hard to compose compelling scenes when I’m shooting pics, and I think this one fits the bill. Not only can you see the mini-pond on the beach, you can see the dramatic skies as rain clouds were moving into the area. Also the creek and pond make for interesting lines.

The third reason was to remind me to look up the actual name of the creek and check the map to see if the creek flows out the other side of the island. As it turns out, it’s not an actual creek. It’s what I can only describe as pond or swamp overflow. I’m sure the locals would have a better word for it.

I only wish I’d gotten a pic showing the shore around the watery anomaly. 🐸

October 20, 2021October 20, 2021

The Words Behind the Picture

Hey, y’all. Long time no posting, eh?

Things are going great, mostly. The not-so-great thing? I am STILL struggling to find my missing writer mojo. You know, that hard to describe thing that makes a person want to write. My writing muscle! I’ve apparently lost the desire to use it. I have also run out of rational explanations and plain old excuses to explain the problem.

Rather than waste any more time trying to understand why, I’m just going to move forward.

I figured I would try and ease my way back into blogging by combining two crafts that I enjoy; writing and photography.

Recently, I’ve come to realize that photography is really just a lazy way of capturing and sharing memories with people. When I look at one of my own nature photos, I “see” more than an image. I can usually remember the feeling of the place, too. And why I took the pic in the first place.

I’ve always just assumed others look at my images and experience the same thing. I figure people see my photos and either can see/understand why I took the shot or can at least appreciate the photo for its quality.

Turns out, I may have been wrong.

Right or wrong, as a form of exercise for that atrophied writing muscle of mine, I’m going to start doing posts about particular pictures. I can only share one image per post and I need to write something about the image. I’m thinking the writing will happen in the morning, so the pic may be from the day before. I may throw in some old pics, too.

The rules are loose and may change. Why create pressure? I want this to be fun for me and, hopefully, something others will enjoy, too.

Wish me luck as I struggle to get back into shape. 🐸

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

We’ve been at our current location for about three weeks now. We are staying at a campground on the eastern end of Dauphin Island near the mouth of Mobile Bay in Alabama. The campground is adjacent to the beach AND an Audubon Bird Sanctuary. It’s also across the street from the Mobile Bay Ferry landing.

When we first arrived on this small barrier island and I visited the beach, I was delighted to see large bird footprints in the sand. I thought that meant this was a “wild” beach. As it turns out, those tracks were Harry’s. He is, indeed, a heron, but he’s not particularly wild. He is a regular on this beach. So much so, that campers know him by name. I see him on the beach often.

The other day, while walking around with my camera, I was taking pictures of a heron on the beach that I thought was Harry. I even said, “Hi, Harry,” as I snapped some pics.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, I heard some honk-squawking to my left and turned to see the real Harry gesturing wildly at me from the water’s edge.

That other heron was an imposter! Or an interloper. Maybe both.

Harry made some crazy poses for me and then, after I had had time to snag a few pics, took off.

He is a proud, handsome fellow, isn’t he? Not only did I capture a great pic, but a fun story, too.

August 7, 2021August 8, 2021

Big Stone Gap, Virginia

VA is for Motorcycle-lovers and Car-lovers

A few years ago, while on one of my solo motorcycle sojourns, was the first time I visited the town of Big Stone Gap in far southwestern Virginia. My reason for going there was to see their LOVEwork (part of the venerable Virginia tourism marketing campaign,”Virginia is for Lovers“). Sadly, it was damaged in a storm and is no longer on display. I really liked the area, and the town seemed nice, so I knew I’d like to return one day. Back then, I had no idea I’d be returning in a big-ass motor home.

Big Stone Gap LOVEwork circa 2018 — The LOVEwork as seen in 2018.

I did not remember having seen a campground in the town, but campgrounds were not on my radar back then. Heck, I think that was even before we started seriously talking about RVing when Mike retired at the end of 2021. At that time, I had just been laid off, so my future-focus was more near-term. I had to think about finding my next job.

Fast-forward to 2021. We are all living in a much different world. It’s crazy how things can change so dramatically in just three years, isn’t it?

Near the end of May/early June, as I was trying desperately to find a campground that could accommodate us over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, I learned that Big Stone Gap has a campground in town AND they had an opening for us. Win-win!

I was a bit leery of staying in-town, thinking it might be too loud for us, but was intrigued by the idea of being adjacent to the town’s greenway trail and close enough to walk to restaurants if we chose. Not to mention that the campground — Jessie Lea RV — was the first one of about a hundred I’d looked into that had an opening for us over the holiday, and then some. They had a full hook-up (water, electric, and sewer) spot for us for 11 nights straight!

The campground office, store, laundry, and bathhouse are all housed in this one building.

As it turned out, I needn’t have worried. It was relatively quiet, considering the location. And the campground, although small, was neat and tidy. It was also located in a very pretty spot along one small branch of the Powell River.

There were several pull-through sites in the middle of the campground that didn’t offer much shade, but were very long and level. The Wifi was fast enough for streaming at times, but struggled during times of peak usage.

Below are some more pics captured in and around the campground.

View on the passenger side of our coach.

View looking to about 1-2 o’clock from the front of our coach.

Field adjacent to campground, which could be the tent area.

Looking from campground toward town. The Shawnee Avenue West bridge is in the background.

Image captured under the Shawnee Avenue West bridge.

One owner of the campground is a woodcarver.

Looking back at campground from near the Shawnee Avenue West bridge.

Another view of campground from near the Shawnee Avenue West bridge.

Pedestrian bridge from campground to the Big Stone Gap Greenbelt.

View from under the Shawnee Avenue West bridge, looking toward town.

Big Stone Gap Greenbelt across river from campground.

Closer look at one of the campground’s tree carvings.

Mike and I both enjoyed the campground’s proximity to the Big Stone Gap Greenbelt. It was a great place to ride our bicycles. One complete loop around the greenbelt was about three miles (4.8 km). All in all, it was a great location.

Following are pictures I captured along the greenbelt.

Walking from area near campground toward the main branch of the Powell River.

View from greenbelt on side of river opposite the campground.

Carving along greenbelt near campground.

Another capture of the Big Stone Gap Trout Mural.

Union is the name of the high school in town. Apparently the art department was responsible for the murals.

View of mural from other side of Main Street.

View of mountains from greenbelt looking across the main branch of the Powell River.

Another view of mountains from greenbelt looking across the main branch of the Powell River.

Finally, here’s a shot of Belle imploring us not to leave her home alone.

We were actually going to return to Jessie Lea RV in Big Stone Gap for a few weeks in August and September, but plans have changed. Again. This time, it is thanks to the blow-out. In about three weeks, we need to be in Lawrenceville, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta, to have the necessary repairs made. So, next week we will be leaving Blue Ridge, Georgia (our current, stunningly beautiful location) and heading south and east to Statesboro, Georgia for a month. I have yet to make reservations for September 10-30, but we are otherwise fully booked through the end of January. In February, we head west.

I have quite a few other photos and recaps of other locations to share. Catching up for an entire month is hard to do.

July 8, 2021

Lucky Ducks

About this time yesterday (Wednesday) we were motoring along at the 70 m.p.h. ( 113 km/h) posted speed limit on Interstate 81 northbound. It was a lovely day for a drive. We’d left our previous campsite at Big Stone Gap, Virginia around 9:00 a.m. headed for Pocahontas State Park near Richmond on the eastern side of the state. It should have been about a 6.5-hour drive.

I was enjoying the scenery, doing some shopping on Amazon, texting with friends, and thinking about how much we’d enjoyed our stay in Big Stone Gap. I was even pondering a blog post all about the Big Stone Gap stay, which I’d planned to write last night after we settled in at Pocahontas.

Unfortunately, about three hours into yesterday’s drive, we had a tire blow-out.

If you have never experienced a blow-out, you probably don’t realize how LOUD it can be. A little scary, too. Or a lot scary, depending on who you are. It can also be dangerous. Having any tire fail is bad, but having a front, steering tire blow is the “worst nightmare” scenario.

For us, it was the right-front tire that blew. It’s a steering tire, which is pretty much located directly under the passenger seat where I was sitting. First, there was a very loud bang, followed instantly by the coach jerking to the right. That movement was accompanied by an enormous amount of shaking/vibration and loud thumping sounds as stuff started flying forward inside the coach (we decelerated rapidly) and the shredded tire wreaked havoc on the body of the rig.

Mike heroically managed to get the coach safely over to the shoulder and stopped.

It was terrifying when it happened. It happened REALLY fast, too. The scariest part was that, since we were approaching a bridge/exit, there was a guard rail angling toward the shoulder and the “escape” space we had was dwindling extremely quickly.

Screen capture of Google Maps satellite view. The blow-out happened when we were at about the upper-left corner of the image.

If you look closely at those screen captures, you can see the guard rail angling closer and closer to the road.

Screen capture of Google Maps satellite view. The red bar shows about where Mike brought the coach to a stop.

This is where Mike brought the coach to a stop.

Below, I have shared text from a forum post Mike wrote describing the experience…

Cruising along I-81N today in the right lane, at the speed limit (70) when I had a blowout on the right steer tire.

Yes, I’ve read posts here [on the forum] …”get rid of the Good Years! They are an accident waiting to happen.” I wish I had listened to that sage advice.

I was able to keep it under control and coast to the very narrow shoulder, but when the tire let loose, it took some of the bodywork with it (the fiberglass fender is shot). When the nose dropped down, the steps grabbed the ground and were bent back so much that they won’t close, and the metal door frame was bent outward when the fender was blown out. There was so much vibration during the blow-out and coming to a stop that three of the headlights were knocked loose (one of them disappeared completely), two of the marker light covers also disappeared, and both of the front “C” accent lights popped partially out. The “wall” between the batteries and the wheel well was obliterated. I’ve not crawled under the coach to see if there was any additional damage.

The good news: The toad (2021 Mini) seems to have escaped unharmed, although the bicycles mounted to the rear of it were shaken loose.

We’re alive – we survived a terrifying incident on a major interstate highway.

Complete Tire in Wytheville, Virginia was stellar in getting on the scene and mounting a temporary tire to get us off the highway and to a nearby campground. They’ve ordered two new Michelin RV tires that will (hopefully) be in tomorrow so that we can continue on our way.

We really were very lucky. Angels were watching over us for sure. Belle was sleeping in her bed between our seats and Mike and I were both belted in. The toaster oven that usually rides on the kitchen counter ended up in front of Belle, resting on the floor against the dashboard. We don’t know how that thing missed hitting Belle, but we do know the toaster oven will be well-secured on future trips.

Belle, oblivious to the danger we had all just barely escaped.

Staying in a disabled vehicle on the shoulder of a busy interstate highway full of big trucks moving at high speed is one of the worst things you can do, so we all (me, Mike, and Belle) left the coach and waited on the grassy area adjacent to the shoulder, about 50 feet (15 m) away from the coach. (Belle was happy. The shoulder had quite a few raspberry and blackberry bushes full of fruit and there was bear poop for her to sniff and [almost!] roll on.)

Mike called Coach-Net and waited on hold, and waited, then waited some more. Meanwhile, I called the State Police, who dispatched a highway safety vehicle and a state trooper, both who arrived pretty quickly and sat behind us, lights flashing, while we waited to talk to Coach-Net. The trooper called a local tire repair company — Complete Truck Service, Inc. — to come and help us.

I was on the phone with Complete Truck Service when Coach-Net finally got on the phone with Mike (“only” 41 minutes of hold time later!). The rep was actually happy to hear that we were working on the problem ourselves and agreed to pick up the tab for the service call and costs associated with travel for the rescue vehicle. We will need to pay for the new tire. As for the rest of the damage, we are hoping insurance covers that. There is an insurance deductible, of course.

Our rescuers, Complete Truck Service, Inc., brought a tire we could use to get off of the interstate and to their shop.

The images that follow, show some of the damage.

Headlights were shaken out of the frame.

Mike duct-taped the fender back together.

Fender and steps are duct-taped in place.

Closer look at temporary repairs. (Even the metal door frame was bent.)

Fortunately, there was an RV park right around the corner from Complete Truck Service. Oddly, it just happens to be the same RV park where we camped for the first time when bringing the new-to-us coach back from Kentucky.

Our new tires are supposedly being delivered later today. Hopefully, they will be installed first-thing tomorrow (Friday) so we can continue on to Pocahontas State Park.

Coach sitting at tire shop with temporary (donut) tire in place.

The good news is that we missed Tropical Storm Elsa, which, by the looks of the weather radar, appears to be impacting Pocahontas State Park as I type this. That means we are missing out on torrential rain, flash flooding, and potentially damaging winds, which would have been a huge concern if we were parked at a campsite surrounded by trees.

All in all, things could have been much, MUCH worse.

This is more of that stuff we say is “all part of the adventure.” Both of us could, however, use a little less excitement.

July 1, 2021

Manatee Springs

Before venturing to Florida this year, I’d never seen or heard the term “Nature Coast.” Not that I remember anyway.

For me, Florida is primarily synonymous with white-sand beaches, warm water, palm trees, and sunshine. Then there are all the amusement parks and other touristy stuff. Plus the Florida keys and the Everglades. I really never know much about the Nature Coast area (basically the coastal counties on the western, Gulf of Mexico side of the state, up near the inside of the elbow. Real technical, right? You can read the Wikipedia definition if you like. If you really want to dig in and learn more, visit this Florida Nature Coast website.

As I was planning our travels for 2021, I had us going to Florida in mid-June to get the residency paperwork started. Every time I mentioned staying longer than few days, Mike said something like, “It’s ungodly hot in FL in the summertime.” He didn’t want to stay any longer than we HAD to. That’s because he’s not a water-lover like me. I don’t love heat either, but I do love a good beach.

For the longest time, we had no reservations anywhere from June 19 through July 7. I really wanted to spend more than the three nights/four days we’d committed to residency stuff, but every time I brought it up, I had to listen to the “it’s too hot” spiel. Finally, he relented and said, okay, with the condition that I found someplace shady for us to camp.

Thank goodness we were at Amy’s house for a week+! Finding a shady spot in Florida relatively last-minute that would satisfy both of us was a bit of a challenge. Even more challenging was finding a spot for the July 4th holiday weekend! But that’s a whole ‘nother story.

Somehow, I managed to come across the Yellow Jacket RV Resort website. It looked shady, was on a river, had a pool, and was close enough to the coast that I could reach salt water if I chose. I booked the reservation and considered that particular to-do, done. It wasn’t until we were almost at the place that I started looking into things to do, noticed the proximity to several springs, and started to get more-excited.

Florida’s springs is another category of stuff I knew little about. Here are some of the things I did not know until recently…

According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection…

Florida is home to more large (first- and second-magnitude) springs than any other state in the nation.

Why should I really care about that? Because the FL DEP also said…

Springs offer visitors unsurpassed locations to swim, snorkel, scuba dive, and observe wildlife.

All those things are right up my alley! So I had to learn more.

There are state parks in Florida that offer camping AND feature springs, but they are very popular and reservations must be made well in advance. Especially during Winter and early Spring when the manatees are usually present. (Manatees tend to hang out in springs during that time because the water in the springs is a constant 73 degrees F [about 23 C] year-round, which is considered warm in the cooler months.)

The closest state park to us with campsites that can accommodate our large rig and a spring was Manatee Springs State Park. I wasn’t expecting to see manatees in June, but wanted to check it out for potential future stays. When I went, I was prepared to swim. I took my phone, but did not take my camera. And I am STILL kicking myself, especially since my phone only had 26% charge when I arrived!

It was such an amazing, beautiful, and powerful place. I will let these pictures tell the rest of the story.

Spoiler alert… photos do not do the place justice. I looked at a lot of images and videos before going, but nothing prepared me for what it felt like being there, aka the vibe of the place.

Many of the following images were captured along the boardwalk that parallels the spring run (area between where spring comes out of the ground and where the run-off from the spring meets the river or other larger body of water).

Boardwalk with several overlooks along the spring run.

Spring run and one of the overlooks (right side of frame).

Flooded forest of cypress knees closer to spring run.

Another view of the flooded forest of cypress knees closer to the spring run.

View of spring run from boardwalk overlook (looking back toward spring source).

If you click on the above image for a bigger view and look closely, you might be able to spot a snake or two.

View of spring run from overlook (looking out toward where spring run meets the Suwannee River).

It was so peaceful and beautiful. The water really is crystal clear.

View of spring run from boardwalk. Do you see the alligator? (HINT: look at lower-left quadrant or the frame.)

Closer view of alligator. And check out the size of that cypress tree’s base!

Another view of the spring run from one of the boardwalk overlooks.

If you want to know m ore about Florida’s springs, here are some links to get you started:

* How springs form

* Origin and anatomy of springs

* Springs in the Suwannee River Water Management District

* Nice post on the prettiest springs (Manatee Springs excluded!)

I did capture a few videos while there. If I can figure out how to combine them and share them here, I’ll update this post. It was such a gorgeous spot.

We both liked that part of Florida so much that we will be returning to Yellow Jacket RV Resort for the month of December. We will also be spending the entire month of January at a nearby place called Hart Springs Campground. I don’t know if the manatees come that far north, but I don’t really care. If they do, bonus! If they don’t, road trip! 🙂

I WILL own a kayak, stand-up paddleboard (SUP), hybrid kayak/SUP, or other suitable flotation device before December when we return. Or I will buy one while there. I intend to really explore Florida’s beautiful springs during that time.

Have any of you visited a Florida spring? If so, I’d love to read about your recommendations in the comments.