Ending 2017–Before and After our Trip

Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area                                                            Most Recent Posts:
December 18 to January 1                                                                               Our Real Holiday Joy
Flagler Beach, Florida                                                                                      The Season of Celebrating

From Wekiwa Springs we bring our coughs back to Gamble Rogers to recover.  Our first 3 days here things are beautiful and we are starting to feel better.   Highs are in the upper 70’s and lows in the lower 60’s.  Very fine for late December.  I LOVE it!!

This is our second and last stay here at Gamble Rogers this fall/winter and we have an ocean front site again.  This time right by the boardwalk down to the beach.

Sweet view out our front window.  We usually turn our captain’s chairs in toward the center of the coach when we are parked but not when we’re here.  If for any reason you can’t be on the beach, the view from the passenger’s chair is unbeatable.

Particularly when the birds gather right on the beach in front.

We’re not feeling well enough to expend a lot of energy but we can spend time on the beach and a little  in the water.  Pretty amazing on the 19th and 20th of December.

We’re still coughing so we don’t over do.  One day Safari Dave walks in the water.

Another day, Santa Dave checks it out and decides he feels well enough to take the plunge.  At this point he’s coughing less than I am.

The waves are just right for the salt water to hold you up as you float along.  Just lie back and relax.

Wednesday is a particularly beautiful day with a lovely sunrise

We spend several hours of the afternoon enjoying the waves and the birds both flocks of them and individuals.

Breakfast at the beach.

“We were strolling along…”

Yes, it’s true, I can sit here for hours and read and watch.  Good thing when I’m trying to conserve energy.

It’s a great day from beginning to end.   We walk over to the park’s other side across A1A for sunset.

The skies after sunset color pink and include a sliver of a moon in the sky.

We walk back across A1A and through the entry way to the beachside campground. Tomorrow we leave our paradise for a trip north.

Only a trip north to see Carrie and her family could get us to leave such beauty. On Thursday we drive to Jacksonville and take a flight to Baltimore.   My last post was about that visit.   The link is in blue at the top of the blog if you’d like to see it.  We think we’re feeling fine for the trip and we have a good time though still coughing.  But after two days of  air travel and days of celebrating, when we return we find we’ve used up all of our energy.

When we return on Sunday, we do enjoy Florida’s take on the holiday.  These were taken at the Jacksonville airport.            “On Flipper, on . . .”

Back at the campground, our neighbors tell us the weather has been great while we’ve been gone but in Quebec where they’re from, the cold front headed our way dumped this much snow. 

No wonder they are here and brought their “snowman” with them.   Not so happy to hear they also brought some up coming bad weather with them.  I was really looking forward to being in the warmth and sunshine after Baltimore.

The weather definitely turns more and more raw  over the next days after we’ve returned and we both have relapses of our colds.  Back to zero energy and too much coughing.   I get out on Monday to catch the dawn, dark clouds over sunrise and some neat sand sculptures from the lovely day before.   But after that there is no visible sunrise or sunset and mostly we watch the red beach warning flags flying in the 20+ mph winds.  We even bring in our slides for a couple of days and take down the Earth Flag.  It’s winter in Flagler Beach.

Just has to make you smile.

The sculptor put the creations in little bowls to keep them safe.  At least for a while.

Ominous skies.

Here comes the sun.  Last time we’ll see it this week.

Winnona is dressed in her Santa hats as the sun’s glow hits her too.

She has a nice sunrise view.  But for the next 5 days there is nothing out this window but gray.

By this afternoon, things really change.

We arrived back Sunday, and for the next 5 days we don’t go outside. The weather turns nasty .   Highs in the low  50’s, wind chill in the 40’s.   Gray skies and so much wind make walking on the beach unattractive.  Not to mention we don’t have the energy. 

But I do go out on the boardwalk Thursday and take this video of the seas.  It’s just over a minute long and at points the wind drowns out what I’m saying.  The weather has been like this now for days.  Too cold and rough even for the sufers.

By Friday we’re pretty sick and tired of being sick and tired so we haul ourselves out to the movies to see The Darkest Hour which we very much enjoy except for the coughing spell I have in the middle.  Coughing is exhausting.

Saturday morning the seas are down some but it’s still pretty gray and cloudy.  No visible sunrise.

But the sun comes out for a bit in the afternoon for the first time in nearly a week and folks head down to the water.  After 5 days of cold and dark and dreary even a high of 57 with the sunshine lures a few of them in the water.

Boy have I missed the blue skies.

The shade is creeping up on me as I enjoy the beach once again.  It will be too chilly to stay out once I can no longer sit in the sun.

Even wearing fleece pants and a sweatshirt, it’s great to be sitting in sunshine.

So glad to have the winds die down and the skies brighten.  Seems a long time since that sliver of moon early in our stay.  The moon is nearly full and tomorrow we’ll be moving further south.

Unfortunately heavy winds, 22 mph+, and rain are predicted for tomorrow.  Boy do I hate moving in the rain and wind.  Not being able to move today while it’s lovely is a real problem with being forced to have reservations. 

Still I’m glad we’re going since even colder weather is predicted for here next week.  Still it won’t be 5 degrees which is the predicted low in Maryland where our sweethearts are.  We’re thankful for our lifestyle.

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Goodbye to 2017 and Happy 2018 to you all!!