Once again Eddie was the chef cooking burgers for dinner. To the best of my knowledge he didn’t drop anyone’s dinner on the ground. Cooking for 15 people takes a fair amount of time but he was always willing to do it. I understand Friday morning he cooked sausage and pancakes for everyone.
We went to Mass Friday morning for the feast of the Assumption and then had breakfast at the Donut Hole, a restaurant very near the campground and then visited our beach here at the park. A tram runs every hour or you can easily walk the 7/10th of a mile path. Ted carried two chairs and I had the bag of towels, sunscreen, water, etc. so we took the tram both ways. We only stay two hours because the sun gets very intense reflecting off the white sand and water.
In the evening we met everyone at Pompano Joe’s on the beach in Destin. They put us at two tables but it worked OK. I had mahi-mahi and Ted ate shrimp. The food was pretty good and no one complained about it like they did about the Crab Trap. We were glad we had skipped that dinner on Wednesday night after we heard their comments about the food afterwards.
Saturday started out very rainy but cleared early on. Everyone took off to shop and play putt-putt. We stopped at Best Buy to buy a phone battery for Ted and to get mine set up to ring again. For some reason it had stopped ringing. The fellow tried all the things I did but it wouldn’t ring. So he decided to change the ring tone and it started working. He was able to set it up to my original ring tone. He said he couldn’t explain what had happened.
Saturday evening after Mass we met up with Vicki, Ed and the boys and went to the dog track. It was a lot of fun but only Dustin was a winner. His Mom placed his bets and cashed his tickets. Tim had given Ed $6 and we all chose Frosted Flakes for him in the last race. He bet it across the board and it won! So Tim was the second winner and he wasn’t even there.
It was late when we got back to the house and the kids were all packing up their cars. They were going to take off as soon as they were done. Tim & Cindy as well as Eddie and family were going to leave early in the morning. I’ll feel better when I hear they have all arrived home safely.
We’re watching the storm Fay and it appears it will mess up our plans to go to the west coast. They keep predicting it to make landfall near Tampa and that’s exactly where we were headed. We’ll keep watch and decide tomorrow about where to head. We have until Saturday to get to Kissimmee so we’ll play it safe.
Sunday dawned nice and sunny and we went to the office to ask about staying here until Fay decides where she is going. Our space is not reserved until next Friday so we should be able to stay put until it is safe to go.
We took a ride into Destin and visited Camping on the Gulf campground. The spots near the highway are short and close together. The ones on the beach look like a parking lot. It appeared slides and awnings couldn’t be fully deployed! There is no room to park your tow/towed vehicle. The rates are $79-$132 a night! I wouldn’t camp here on a bet. All that sand and salt water near your rig and tow vehicle plus the poor accommodations, not to mention the outrageous prices, would steer us away.
There were several rigs from Leisure Time RV on display and we went through them. The Essex motorhome ($350,000) didn’t have as much storage space or counter space as I have in the HitchHiker. We didn’t like the Jayco or Seneca Class Bs at all. A 34 foot Montana 5th wheel was our choice for layout but it is a lower end RV and wouldn’t be one we would consider. A HitchHiker laid out like it would be though.
We stopped at Wal-Mart for a few groceries. Since the kids are all gone we’ll be eating at home more. It was late in the afternoon so we went to the pool instead of the beach. Eventually I left for the RV and made chicken parmesan for dinner. We called my Dad and he told us not to come that way unless it cleared and then only if we have the time. I guess Fay is going to call the shots for the next couple of days.
Monday was laundry day and a dip in the pool in the afternoon. We have paid to stay until Wednesday morning. It appears we will be good to go then. It cuts our time short with my Dad but at least we’ll be able to get in a visit before heading to Disney.
Fay made landfall this morning so we’ll be leaving tomorrow as she makes her way across the peninsula perhaps to exit over the water and turn back inland at Jacksonville. We hope to stay west of any residual rain and stop south of Ocala Wednesday night. That will give us Thursday and Friday nights in Punta Gorda to visit my Dad and still make Kissimmee on Saturday. I think we’re back on track!
We called friends Kate and Pat in Panama City Beach to see if perhaps we could stop by for a visit. Pat is recovering from hip replacement surgery and was scheduled for physical therapy so it didn’t work out. Ted had a chat with him and he didn’t remember that we had moved to Texas even though we stopped there 5 years ago on our way to our house in The Villages. He has our phone number now so maybe he’ll call Ted now and then.
Everyone made it back to Indiana and Ohio safely. Sure was glad to hear that. Until later.
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