What a moving day! St. Joe to St Andrew

Tuesday April 23, 2013
Site 8, St. Andrews State Park
Panama City Beach, Florida

 

 

 

These past 5 days have flown by and now it is time to leave St. Joseph State Park

By now you have probably figured out, or did I tell you, that we are sampling the state parks all the way up the Panhandle Coast, 5 nights at a time.

So this morning is the day to move from St. Joseph Peninsula State Park to St. Andrews Recreational Area State Park.  Don’t you love these names.  Hope nobody has to write these out by hand as their address.

 

 

But first, the sunrise….

 

As usual, moving day or not, I’m out for the sunrise at St. Joseph. 

Today I bike over to the picnic area as usual but go on a ways down the “nature trail” to a nice overlook with a water front path going around a point.  At first it looks like the clouds will win. There is a sort of pale, very pale, pink just above the heavy clouds at the horizon line.

 

 

 

But then, here it comes.

  

 

 

What a beautiful time to be here just in this spot.  I spend a while walking the nice paths along the shore before starting back to the packing up.

 

 

 

 

And then a surprise……….

But light is growing and I need to be on my way.  When I get back to the picnic area small herd of deer is here.  I stop, they stop.  We all look at each other.  I sure am having lots of Close Encounters with deer lately.  Very nice. 

     

 

I hang out with them for far to long and then I REALLY have to get on my way.  Not nearly enough days of sunrise and sand dunes, beautiful beach and close encounters here at St. Joseph.  I am beginning to see that my idea of 5 days in a place just won’t work.

 

 

So on to St. Andrews……….

 

 

Today’s drive is 66 miles to St. Andrew.  Boy do I like the distances of these moves.

I am surprised at how far away the little town of Port St. Joe is from the park which has it as its address.   Not much of an internet or cell signal until we get beyond Port St. Joe and nearly to Mexico Beach.

In Panama City we stop to get take Ruby off the dolly and get gas for both Winnona and Ruby.  With prices in the high $3.40’s we are surprised to find a Raceway at $3.359 so we fill em up.  We stop for groceries and then David goes on to the park while I run some other errands including a stop at our bank.

 

 

Still it is only early afternoon by the time we pull into Site 8, waterfront on “Grand Lagoon” .

As the map shows the park is situated between the Grand Lagoon, which is a part of St. Andrews Bay, and the Gulf of Mexico.  The campground fronts on the lagoon.

 

 

 

 

 

And we have a waterfront site!

 

 

With a view like this we decide not to back in which all the other class A’s seem to have done.

Lucky for us we have lots of water hose and electrical extension cables.  We’re prepared just like we learned in scouts and from Howard and Linda Payne.

 

Look who is right outside our front window.  The Duckie brothers are a little worried about the size of these fine feathered friends.  At one point in the afternoon there are as many as 17 pelicans, a great blue heron and numerous gulls on the rock break water right in front of us.

 

 

 

 

 

We manage to get things mostly set up in spite of my stopping constantly to see what the birds are doing and take pictures of them. Dinner is served at our water front dining table.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let’s get a look around……….

 

 

After dinner, we tear ourselves away to bike over to the Gulf Side beach for the sunset.  We are over an hour early so along the way we see the Gator Lake trail.  We don’t have time for the full trail but we do take the short spur hike to Gator Lake.   There are an amazing number of birds here and they are all dressed up and singing their hearts out.   Even the Great Blue Heron.  Now that’s a sound.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This time ‘we’ have a close encounter.  This is 3 days in a row.  Are they following me?????

 

 

 

 

Sunset has been moved up an hour……oh dear…….

 

We have run out of time and have to cut our visit here shorter than it would have been were it not for the sunset.  WHICH by the way is earlier now that we have moved into central time.  I get to do a Fall Back just as I had finally gotten acclimated to Spring Forward.

As we are leaving I notice the nearly full moon in the sky over Alligator Lake.  One quick picture.

 

 

We race up to the pier in time to catch our first St. Andrew sunset and it is a fine one. 

GOING

 

GOING

 

GONE 

 

As we are leaving, I take one last shot of the moon.  It sure looks full doesn’t it.  But the ‘real’ Full Moon isn’t until Thursday.

Goodness,
glorious sunset in front of us, full moon behind us. 
What a great first day at Saint Andrews Recreation Area State Park
(hereafter known as SARASP)   :-))

 

 

THE END