Tag Archives: Vacation

Beach Vacation Skywatch – Volume II

More skywatch photos from our trip to Orange Beach, Alabama in September

We had great skies almost every day. I loved the mix of clouds and sunshine.

Some of the sights were spectacular

Like lots of condos in the area, the front faced the beach and the back faced the highway. Even those views were not bad.

Went on a bike ride at the Gulf State Park nearby. They had great views as well.

The lakes there are alligator habitat. People were still letting their dogs swim out there.

We went for dinner at nearby Perdido Key, Florida. Our restaurant had great views of the sunset. Everybody was up on their feet with the cell phones just happily snapping away. Me2, I was snapping away with all of them.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

Beach Vacation Skywatch – Volume I

The three of us took a late vacation this year. I’m ashamed to say that all the traveling I did by myself was part of that (but I’m not sorry that I did it.) Son is taking college classes but they are online so yep, he can attend school anywhere we have wifi.

IMG_3169

So this was the SuperMoon on August 31. Also a blue moon since it was the second full moon of August. I took this the night before we left on vacation. Technically though I am retired I am on a permanent vacation.

We had some decent skies on our drive from Tulsa to the Alabama Gulf Coast. My wife was driving when I took this photo. I used to take photos of her driving but she has gotten pretty good with her backhand so I don’t do those so much any longer.

I love this two story dock at a rest stop in Arkansas. Too bad the dock is closed.

So we spent the night in Jackson, Mississippi on the way down there. No photos there. So we had a short drive to Orange Beach. We stopped at Buc ees on the way to the beach. Oops never again!! It is like a giant gas station paired with a giant Bass Pro with the worst of both. Lines to get in, lines to get out. It looked like a good place to get covid to me. We couldn’t get out of there fast enough. But our condo was nice when got there.

The Gulf of Mexico right at our feet. Going so late in the season meant a lot less people and the temps were very mild and the humidity low. Sign me up!!

Evening sunset was nice.

Here’s Heather out in the water. I love the feel of the ocean, sand, and wind in my face.

And a hand holding romantic shadow selfie. Look how skinny we are.

And then the almost full waning moon that night.

More to come next week.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

Saturday’s Critters – At the Beach!!

We went on our family vacation to Orange Beach, Alabama early in September. It was great because the crowds were gone and the weather was pleasant, but the water was still warm. It was perfect.

Pelicans on Patrol

I spotted a squadron of pelicans skimming the waves in the Gulf of Mexico. I presume they were looking for something to eat.

Brown Pelican at Perdido Pass

We saw this lone wolf pelican at a nearby pass begging for food from the fishermen. We see these loners and I sense that most of them are juveniles and don’t quite know how to fend for themselves.

And near the pelican were some great blue herons. (At least I think that is what they are.)

IMG_3174

I was on the balcony of our condo when I spotted this heron. I am thinking that he was looking for lizards.

We walked on the beach a lot. We saw lots of shorebirds standing and flying around.

Had a bunch of these birds

On a bicycle ride in nearby Gulf State Park we saw this alligator. We have been here before and there is almost always an alligator or two here.

And at the swimming pool one evening we spotted this lizard. He would puff his throat up to a bright red color. He’s lucky a heron didn’t see him is what I think.

I am linking with Saturday’s Critters.

Get Away to Southeast Oklahoma

May be an image of 3 people
Heather, Logan, Kodi, and Me, left to right

The family went on a little mini vacay this week down to Beavers Bend State Park in southeast Oklahoma.

We stayed in a nice cabin

Went on one big hike and a smaller hike.

DSCF0627

Kayaking for me and Logan, and Standup Paddleboard for Heather on Broken Bow Lake.

_DSC0711

Kodi went with us on the shorter hike along the Mountain Fork River.

_DSC0715

He got a little intro into swimming in a river.

Some fire pit time for everybody.

IMG_3044-2

Checking out a partial moon.

We had a great time. More to come.

Skywatch Friday

Gulf Coast Beach Wildlife

I’m running late on all my posts. Life has been busy lately which is a great thing!! I’m not a fan of being busy busy busy but I am a fan of enjoying life and spending time outdoors instead of glued to a computer. So these are wildlife pics from our trip to Orange Beach, Alabama a few weeks

_DSC0293

We saw several great blue herons. This one started out on the beach in front of our condo and it slowly walked to the barrier dune in front of our condo. It looked like he was following a lizard or something. We thought he was going to dart down and grab the lizard and eat but he never did. He flew down the beach after a while. We have these herons in Oklahoma and they hardly ever move a muscle unless they are spooked off. (By the way, if I miss an ID feel free to let me know. I welcome corrections.)

This is a different heron hanging out by the beach. We encountered standing next to somebody surf fishing. One guy said that the bird was his best buddy. Waiting for a treat.

This guy/gal was hunkered down in the grass at a state park.

Even in October, there were lots of sea gulls.

DSCF0398

I’m not sure what this one is but there were lots of them as well, and other birds.

One day we ventured off to Pensacola and walked on the pier. There was this brown pelican there. I think it is a teenager as it was kind of small and some downy feathers. It didn’t move much. A couple of nearby fishermen would toss it something every now and then.

We had a great time on the beach. We had enough warm weather for four days of laying on the beach and we found something to do the other days. We love talking walks on the beach and we did plenty of that.

I’m linking with Saturday’s Critters. Go check it out. Lots of good photobloggers link up there.

Hochatown Adventure – Second Day

_DSC0004

So last week I talked about our first day at Beavers Bend State Park in southeast Oklahoma. The second day we did a couple of hikes including the Friends Trail along the Mountain Fork River. This section comes off the bottom of the Broken Bow lake. The water is very cool and the state stocks it with trout.

_DSC0006

Several fly fisherman were on the water with their waders and long rods.

_DSC0008

I have done a little fly fishing but I was wishing I had a simple Zebco rod and reel, some worms, and a bobber.

_DSC0025

This guy was the smoothest fly fisherman I have ever seen. Hopping from rock to rock doing all sorts of casts into various pools. My late Father-in-law was a great fly fisherman. He could put a fly on one side of a rock or on the other side of the rock. Me, I was just lucky to get it out in front of me somewhere.

It is a very peaceful river and the day we were there were not many people.

We went to the park’s Forestry Heritage Center which has exhibits on the timber industry and culture of southeast Oklahoma. It’s a fun place with a 1960’s type vibe about it. They had a geocache there and Heather found it!! It had stymied us on previous trips.

I love this sculpture dedicated to Woodland Firefighters. It reminds me of my late father who fought forest fires early in his career in the forest service. He had the aluminum hard hat and a Pulaski, the combination axe and hoe the guy is holding.

We took my father to the museum years ago and I remember him showing us how these various chain saws and other tools were used in logging. I remember asking him why the yellow chainsaw had the saw blade horizontal. The answer was that early day carburetors couldn’t work work on the side so you had to hold the engine up straight while cutting trees or the motor would quit. So now you know!!

Later we went back to the cabin, drank a few beers, played some games, started a fire in the fire pit, made some smores and tried out the hot tub again. We had a grand time.

It was great for the three of us get away for a few days.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday. Check it out.

Skywatch Friday – Stormy Weather on the Drive Home

We drove home last Saturday from our vacation on the Gulf Coast. My wife and I shared the driving duties and so she drove the middle third of the distance, much of it in the delta country of Mississippi and Arkansas. There was lots of weather during much of the drive especially early on in Alabama. The rest of the time we dodged the rain and got see some great clouds.

So Heather drove and I snapped pics of the sky and country. The above two are in Mississippi.

I snapped this as we crossed the Mississippi River.

And this was in Arkansas.

And so was this. I am not sure just where but I really liked it. And no, we didn’t drive into that storm. I’m not sure where it went.

And this is Oklahoma. I was driving and I confess I took the photo while driving. Lock me up officer, throw away the key!!!

Anyway we got back safe and sound from a great vacation.

I hope that everybody is being safe, while also enjoying life. Please find that balance.

Come join the fun at Skywatch Friday

Our World – My Toes in the Water…

DSCF1083

Here’s my toes during our recent vacation. I didn’t actually get a photo of them actually in the water.

DSCF1098

Here’s a beer in my hand, cans only, no glass allowed on the beach.

DSCF1080
How do you like my waterproof Kindle? 11 years old, hundreds of books and still going strong.

We just got back from ten days at the beach. Orange Beach, Alabama. We spent almost every day on the beach. A couple rainy days we read in our condo and went shopping and stuff. We had a really good time and got recharged. I got hundreds of photos. Most of them skywatch type, sky and water photos so I’ll be posting lots of those as time goes by.

This song is like twelve years old or so but I noticed just this year. Best lyrics ever.

Come join the fun over at Our World Tuesday. Lots of great bloggers linking up over there.

Table Rock Lake’s Moonshine Beach

During our recent mini-vacay to the Branson, Missouri area we were looking for outdoor stuff away from people and the standard Branson faire such as shows and shopping. We did kayaking, swimming, and walking. We found a beautiful little beach area on Table Rock Lake called Moonshine Beach.

DSCF0649

It’s a Corps of Engineers facility that has clean restrooms, a sizeable roped off swimming area, and a beautiful sand beach. It also has a boat launching area separate from the swimming area. It also has a geocache for those who are interested. (Yes, of course I found it). Check out the Corps Website for all the details.

DSCF0652

There is a $5 fee per car access fee, or the take Federal passes that some of us old retired guys have. It’s well worth it. The grounds are clean and picked up and the bathrooms are immaculate. We went on a weekday and there was enough people there to provide a good vibe but one could definitely socially distance at least 50 feet from people. Alcohol is not allowed which contributes to the vibe. It’s open until 8 pm. At 7:30 a very polite Park Ranger showed up and reminded us of the 8 pm closure.

DSCF0648

And on top of all this, you get great views of the lake especially as the sun was going down.

I am linking with Skywatch Friday, come check it out.

Skywatch Friday – Vacation Edition

This week I didn’t know if I was going to be able to post a Skywatch Friday post. Our son is going back to school soon and we wanted to give him some sort of vacation after his summer of taking Spanish classes online (three hours a day, four days a week of Zoom, ouch, I hate zoom), working hard at Loews Hardware, and socially isolating during this resurgence of Covid in a state that is not doing anything it about in order to maintain “freedom and justice for all.” (Yes, literally the state is doing nothing at all.)

So we said goodbye to our worthless cats and incredulous dogs.

Loaded up the car like the Okies we are and headed to Branson, Missouri. (Aka, the “Baptist Las Vegas”) to stay at a cabin for fun and social isolation. No shows, no, Silver Dollar City, no elbow to elbow jostling with anybody, cook most of our own meals and go at off times and eat outside when we do go out to eat.

This cabin had some strict rules. Most cabins have don’t type rules, this cabin had “do” rules. We liked these rules, what about you?

DSCF0641

The first day we went kayaking. It doesn’t get more socially distant than this.

DSCF0637

So we went here, there, and everywhere in the cove of the place we were staying.

DSCF0645

So we have done a ton of reading, hanging out at the swimming pool, and just kind of in general chillaxing.

We made one trip into the “Belly of the Beast” Branson Landing which is pretty much deserted. Taney County, which includes Branson has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the county, about 30% according to the state. I’m like wow! A city so dependent on outside visitors is doing everything they can to discourage travelers. Their brand new mayor is actually proud of their anti public health stance. What are we doing here!! We walked up and down the deserted area without entering any of the places that were open. Personally, I think they would be smart to get ahead of the issue instead of sticking their head in the sand.

Back in our bubble!! They skies are pretty cool. I tried to fly my drone but the cabin in in a no fly zone for some reason. Probably because we are so close to the lake.

Cabin internets are highly variable and I didn’t think that I would be able to post from there so I set Skywatch Friday up in advance and thought well I’ll just post when I get home but it turns out it is blazingly fast. So I am linking up with Skywatch Friday. Come join us!!