Hi to St. George, Pam, Vic, warnings & watches

Saturday April 13 & Sunday April 14, 2013
Site 46 St. George Island State Park
St. George, Florida

 

THE PREFACE:
It’s shocking to faithful readers I know, but this post actually is about TODAY!  Not about days ago or last week.  Well it does have yesterday in it too.  But that doesn’t count if today is also in it.  Now you can recommend all the things I should do and see BEFORE I leave the place I’m writing about.  I find out the best things from my readers.

 

 

Saturday (yesterday)

 

We say farewell to Ochlockonee and the bugs this morning and drive an easy 42 miles RIGHT along the “coastal highway”.  Its closeness to the water shows the effects of the 2005 Hurricane which did a lot of damage here on “the forgotten coast”.  With the next hurricane I think the road will be history but it was a pretty drive today.  There is about 3 feet of shore line past the road at this point.

 

 

 

 

The island is 7 miles off the western coast of Florida by causeway at Eastpoint.  Apalachicola is a bigger town 15 miles from the campground.

This map shows the island and the green section at the far end is the park.  The white area is the resort section comprised of residents and rentals.

 

 

 

The park is located on the Eastern end of St. George Island.  We drive about 5 miles down the island to the park entrance and then 4 more miles to the campground.  Our cell phone and internet signals decrease with every mile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The campground is a loop.  The sites are good size and fairly close together with some vegetation separating the sites.  Some sites back up to the pine forest and others to the dunes.  There are a few nicely secluded sites and my guess is these are the most popular.

 

 

 

We pull in to site 46 which is across from the rest rooms.  Not my favorite location but the site is nice and it was the only one available for more than 2 nights when I made my reservation.  That’s the restroom in the far right of the Duckies’ view.

 

 

After dinner we discover that the phone works fairly well here but the internet not so much.  Even with our antenna and booster the signal is weak and everything is V..E…R…Y   S….L…O…W. 

Publishing the blog on leaving Ochlockonee is a real challenge and I almost go to bed and give up but at the last minute it posts.  Sure hope no one has as much trouble commenting as I did posting tonight.

 

 

Sunday (TODAY)

 

This morning we meet Vic and Pam of Travelin’ in the BigEZ.   Pam and I have been working on a get together for a few days.  We were coming to the area on Saturday and they were leaving on Sunday so we agreed to meet up at 2 Al’s At The Beach, in Carrabelle where they are staying, for breakfast.   There aren’t a lot of places to choose from on a Sunday morning but this works out great.

 

 

We’ve read each others blogs and done some email correspondence and it’s like meeting old friends we didn’t know before now.  We discover that we have a lot in common in addition to full timing and its adventures and misadventures. 

The time flies by and before we know it two hours has elapsed and they really have to get on the road.  A severe storm has been predicted for our area today.  Thank goodness Vic is paying attention to the time or I might have kept them there all day.  The conversation was so absorbing that I totally forgot to take any pictures of the great biscuits at 2 Al’s or of any of us inside the restaurant. 

 

As we walk out to their car to bid them farewell the guys are talking about their cool sit upon kayaks which have peddles, a rudder and a sail.  So American, have it your way.  You can peddle, paddle or sail.  Very neat!!  You can tell David is SERIOUSLY considering.

 

Just before we bid them safe travels, they graciously posed for this great picture.  Really hope we can arrange to spend more time with them somewhere down the road.  Thanks for a terrific morning Vic & Pam.

 

 

We return to Winnona to discover that we are now under a severe storm watch and tornado warning.  Well all righty then.

Things are pretty calm so we delay battening down the hatches and I take a short stroll up the road and over to the Gulf shore to see what’s going on.  Along my way, there are two lovely ponds, beautiful sand dunes and spring beach wildflowers to enjoy.  This is an extremely lovely natural area.  Even as the skies darken, it makes me smile with joy just to be here.   How blessed am I??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

The drama starts to pick up as I make my way along and by the time I am walking down the sandy path to the water front the winds have definitely picked up.  Things are starting to happen so I can’t stay long.

I remember the signs from those all too few years when I lived one block from the Atlantic Ocean in the North End of Virginia Beach.

 

 

 

 

 

Wow, big waves for the gulf.  Feel that wind.  My hair is a testament.
I LOVE it!!

 

    

 

 

 

As I walk back, the rain increases.  It is time to bring in the awning, stow the chairs, put the bikes out of harms way.  Back safely inside I take this picture out the window of the rain.  Coming down heavily now.

 

 

NOAA is getting more serious about the storm being 9 miles off the coast of St. George Island and moving toward land at 40 miles an hour.  We debate about going over to the bath house.  Things seem under control for now.   We’re not worried about a severe thunderstorm but we are worried about hail after our encounter with it in Oklahoma in 2011 when poor Ruby got severely damaged.  We have been in numerous tornado watches that same spring so we sit tight as the rain increases.

 

 

 

We really never feel that the storm is becoming severe. The rain slacks off, picks up, winds die down, start again.  We keep the radio on and fix dinner.  We have now passed the watch/warning time window. 

Ultimately only a gentle rain continues.   I open the door and find we have waterfront property.  There is a pond at the foot of the steps.  The mat is under water.  Glad this is a sandy site.  By tomorrow we’ll be on high ground again.  Although more rain is predicted for tomorrow,   I’m hoping for a sunny beach day.  Guess we’ll see.