Nothing Like an Ocean Front Site

Sunday November 18 to Friday November 23, 2018                             Most Recent Posts:
Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area                      Enjoying Atlantic Beach Campground                         
Flagler Beach, Florida                                                           Trials and Tribulations of a Chronic Illness on the Road

We stay in several state parks in Florida which are near the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico to one degree or another but this is our only actual ocean front site and thus my favorite of every park we visit in Florida.

We’re making our way along the north east Florida coast heading south hitting all the ocean front state parks.  From here in Fort Clinch we travel 112 miles south to Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area.

There are two campgrounds here, one on the ocean and one by the Inland Waterway.  I work hard at getting us an ocean front site each year.

Since Gamble Rogers is only 109 miles from Fort Clinch, we don’t leave until check out time at 1pm so that we don’t arrive at Gamble Rogers too much before Check in time at 3pm.

Here’s the view out our front window.  We’ve pulled into the site so the utilities are on the “wrong” side but we have extensions for both electric cords and water hoses for just this situation..

We can see, not only the sunrise from our site but at least the skies of the sunset on the other side of the park.

The sun setting gives us some lovely pink clouds in the east.

Here’s how the sunset looks from our picnic table with Winnona on the right and Ruby in front of me.  I’ve tried to figure out how to keep the light from the setting from making everything dark but so far I can’t find any settings on my Canon SX 50 without going into manual mode I suppose about which I know nothing.

Once the sun is actually down that same view lightens up for a while before dark.

Next day I’m out at dawn.  I can check from my bedroom window to see how the color is.  Sweet!

The shore is merely steps away.

On the way to Florida among our other mishaps, the electric cable between Ruby and Winnona was jerked out from Winnona and the plug lost leaving us with the bare wires and no lights on Ruby.  For that reason, we drove separately between Fort Clinch and Gamble Rogers.  On that trip, all of a sudden there were some ominous noises coming from the right rear tire.  Very ominous.

Once we arrived, I did some research and found Karl’s Auto Repair had good reivews and was ony about 8 miles south of us in Ormond Beach.  I gave him a call and he said to bring her in to see what was up.

I waited while Ruby went up in the air, Karl looked around underneath and determined that the brake pads and rotors would have to be replaced because the ????  had locked up.  He could have the parts tomorrow if I’d bring her back.   So I did.  Should be an hour or so he said until he found that his supplier had sent him the wrong parts and they’d have to bring them up from Daytona Beach.  So, without a shuttle or other transportation I hung out at Karl’s for over 3 hours instead of 1.   But the job got done and I was eventually on my way with no more noises and a new rotor and new brake pads on both sides.

She’s ready to roll.  Thanks Karl.  Why in the world are the boats on top of Ruby still?  Because of yet another problem discovered on our way here.  This time with the hullivator.  But only one problem per post if I can help it.  Hullivator trouble saved for next time.

But no more problems just yet.  A nice calming walk on the beach in the afternoon is what’s needed.   The temperatures have been really lovely this week, in the 70’s, but the winds have been strong making sitting on the beach not so much fun and walking one way great while coming back not so much.

Still, I don’t think there is any place I’d rather be just now.

The waves are big enough to bring out the surfers but no one else is in the water.  These guys didn’t get up during the time I watched them.

Here is a video of the waves and the wind.

Some evenings I walk over across Highway A1A to the inland waterway side of the park where I can watch the sunset from the boat launch.

Love the reflection of the clouds.

Looking east I find the afterglow and a full moon in the sky.

At the stone entrance way to the ocean side campground, this shot of stone, cactus, palm and full moon caught my eye.

Later, this is our front window view.  I have to tilt my screen forward to see the real glimmer on the water as it was at the time.

Thanksgiving Day dawns with whispy clouds and the seemingly ever present winds.

Another beautiful sunrise over the Atlantic.

Too windy for David on the beach.  How windy was it?  You can’t hear a thing I’m saying in this video but it will tell the story just the same.  Instead of down on the beach, David takes advantage of the patio to do a little reading and napping too of course.

Most Flagler restaurants are seafood places of course, or pizza (HA!).  We tried one last year or was it the year before for Thanksgiving.  Whenever we were here last.  It didn’t impress so this year we did our own.

We’re very thankful to be here again this year here together.

This is David’s first helping!

I should have taken a picture of my plate to show the difference in what we prefer to eat.  This is the first day of left overs.  If you look carefully you’ll see no potatoes, small amount of turkey and 50% oyster dressing.  Compare with David’s above where the turkey dominates the plate.  We each get what we like the best.  Delicious!

One more week coming up here in my favorite spot before we have to leave.