Happy new Year...Last Day of 2009!

Today is just beautiful...we have all the awnings out... about 70F I would say if not a little warmer...Florida sunshine as we expect it to be... Happy New Year to everyone reading the blog.  The new year show lots of promise and indeed we are starting a brand new decade.  Health, happiness and prosperity to all!

Magical Nights...

The Next Exit Directory - An RVer's Must Have!

Just for my Rving readers who follow the Blog... please be sure to get a copy of The Next Exit before your next trip on the Interstates of the USA. For many of us, getting from one place to the next does not just involve using the biways or scenic routes, it means getting somewhere quickly ...ergo the Interstate. What do you do when you need to pull over for gas or for supplies...and you don't have mobile Internet? Well this directory was recommended to us and now I won't go traveling in the US without it! It lists what is at every Interstate exit and gives you an indication of whether it is an RV friendly place as well.

Cool Nights and Sunny Days At Perdido Key

We have been having some cool nights around 2 Celsius 38F here at the beach and with all the rain we have also been having we are seriously considering moving somewhere warmer...We are so torn because we love it here with the river on one, and the Gulf on the other, side of us. The park here (Playa Del Rio) is so small that we have a real sense of community going also.

Yesterday we had a fifth wheel and it's three occupants (including a little dachshund) from Tennessee leave because they were not looking forward to the forecast! We also had Scott and Theresa return as work campers! Scott and Theresa have a big MCI Bus motor home with air brakes and a diesel engine and they have two cats. Reggie is smitten by one of their big cats...not sure why exactly but such is "puppy love".

Check out Playa Del Rio (http://www.playadelrio.com/) or Perdido Key (www.visitflorida.com/Perdido_Key) to see where we are...

As we drove on the Beach boulevard today we say six fishing boats of various sizes out on the gulf close to shore fishing so I am sure that Richard and I will head out with his tall poles later today when it warms up. Perhaps another Pompano day!

Christmas Turkey on the Road!!!

Table is set for dinner...

Cooking turkey for Christmas in an RV can be a challenge. We don't have an oven (other than the convection microwave) and some RV's have an oven that is too small for a turkey. I found the solution! An electric Roasting Oven ... It saves on propane and uses electricity often provided by the campground as part of the rates.


The weather here on the Panhandle's Gulf coast beach is partly cloudy and 55 F (13 C) this morning.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Eve At Perdido Key

In the evening as we sat down to supper the squall line was moving towards us...the winds were very high but the Airstream is built for winds and they just seem to roll past us without shaking the trailer...Friends with fifth wheels said they were "rocked" by the high winds...We are located on the little strip of land at the bottom (just a little right of the centre of the screen shot). This jpg is courtesy of www.alabamawx.com .

Richard and I went to the Beach Christmas eve morning after the rain subsided...There is call for Tornados near Mobile later in the day which is not too far from where we are here at the beach. We are experiencing high winds, rain and very grey dark overcast skies!

Shelling today! Nice ...

Nice shells on the beach today...

A big bird was following us around...

There was sunshine and wonderful weather today...I love the awnings out...

Caught The Sunset Tonight....

Done!!! Gumbo is Served!!

OMG it was sooooo good and sooooo spicy! Loved it ! Here's hoping we do not have heartburn later!

Crock Pot Gumbo After 2 Hours

The aroma is heavenly! Few more hours to go then make roux!

Shrimp and Sausage Gumbo!

Richard loves Gumbo and I love my Crock pot (and Richard too) so I am making one of the gumbo recipes from the Coastal Living Cookbook. It is a great cookbook and was an early Christmas present for me!
The recipe in the book is not for a crock pot so that is my experiment! I haven't made the roux yet and that is a hard part from what I gather ...getting it just the right colour of brown...that I will do in my fry pan later on when the other ingredients are crock potted to perfection (I hope :-)!

This is what it looks like in my crock pot...shrimp, sausage, spices, hot sauces, veggies, stock (I made my own) and various ingredients that should make it great! We shall see...I may have to move this one to my Danish cooking blog...which is okay since a Dane cooked it! LOL!

Aliah and Mike Head for New Mexico!

Send off this morning, Playa Del Rio style, with everyone gathering to say safe trip home to Aliah and Mike. They have been camping full time for about two years and are heading for home in Taos, New Mexico. It will be a three day trip to get to New Mexico.

Morning is Amazing at Perdido Key

Richard went out this morning walking the dogs and took some shots around the campground and at the shore...when we walked home last night from a little visit at Mike and Aliah's we were in heavy rain. This morning it is holding off and we have a wonderful breeze blowing through the windows of Airebella.

This area is truly breathtaking and we are enjoying the natural beauty. We feel very lucky to have found the Alabama/Florida Gulf coast in our exploration of the South.

Foggy Sunset

Today was a day for getting my Airebella "office" in order and generally relaxing and regenerating! I did however spot the sky "on fire" in the west at about 4:30 CST and said to Richard we must get this sunset!!! He lept into action and we raced to the shore to capture the moment...

Another Day of Yuckie Weather!

Well now today started with a band of red coming across the area on the weather radar map and that meant heavy rain , thunder and lightening! But after a little while it got warm and we could open Airebella up because it was overcast but dry! :-)

We even managed to get to the beach for a long walk and I found one piece of choral but not many good shells so we just walked and enjoyed the beach. We walked past the Florabama Roadhouse.

Richard found a treasure and brought it to the campsite!

Tonight is another night out - this time to Mikees Seafood (http://www.mikeesseafood.com/) where there is two for one specials and we are saying Merry Christmas to some friends that are leaving the area for the holidays. I will give you a flavour for what the place is like tonight when we get back!

Okay we are back now from dinner and it was very good , I had Gumbo, a small garden salad, and snow crab legs! It was really wonderful and the crab legs were AYCE (all you can eat). It took us a while to figure out what that meant! We had a coupon for two for one dinners as long as you bought two drinks (but they could be iced tea - so no problem). I did have a glass of wine to complement the crab. One thing we really laugh at is how all the retirees are scoping out coupons and spreading the word about where to find them....too funny. :-)

An Outing For Casual Dining at DOCS Seafood, Orange Beach

Last evening it was the end of a rainy day and we needed to get out so we met Suzy at Docs Seafood in Orange Beach. We had no expectations beforehand but had heard that the local seafood was good there and that they had great specials between 4 and 6 pm. Worked for us so away we went at 5:15 and hoped for a great experience.

The building itself didn't look like much but there were cars outside so in we go!

Once inside we found it to be ultra casual beach type surroundings with lots of colour and simple furnishings.

The Gumbo was very good and the plate of food was more than I could eat. This was the fish, stuffed crab and shrimp platter and it was $8.95. There was more than I could eat so Richard had to help me finish it up... The fish was Asian Catfish...not sure if that means that Asians caught it or it came from Asia...the latter would seem all wrong for a restaurant that is so close to the Gulf...

The fellow who served us, John, said the place has a two hour wait on a Saturday night in the summer!

Playa Del Rio in Rain...

Well folks we have had rain every day for the last few days and the forecast is for more rain through the weekend. We have used the time to bring a little Christmas into Airebella's interior.

Tonight we are off to a local restaurant , "Docs", that has a reputation for good seafood and we are looking forward to a little outing. I will post later what it was like!