Sept. 19,2015 - Saturday

We found out more about the flys. They are called black flys. When Florida has had several mts of a lot of rain you will first see an abundance of dragon flys (which we have seen)  then come the pesty black flys. They usually stay around for a few weeks, GREAT!! We also have seen several monarch butterfly's which we were told are migrating to Mexico. We had a good Sat. Richard went to a VW & Dune Buggy fest & swap meet in Niceville, FL, about 30 miles from the RV park. He dropped me off at a little strip mall nearby. After that we stopped at a huge flea market nearby. We got a Casio keyboard in excellent condition for $50. I had been looking for one. Richard found a DeWalt radio for $45 which he had wanted. It was a productive day, but a lot of walking. We were going to go to the beach when we got back being that it still was hot & humid, but we were beat and the air conditioning in the MH felt so good so we just stayed in and watched TV.

Sept.17,2015 - Thursday & Sept 18,2015 - Friday

We finally made it to the beach Thursday ! It was hot.....90's & humid ..a perfect beach day. It was not real crowded like it I was when we were here in April and it was spring break. The waves were very strong. Late afternoon a lot of surfers came, we figured they must come after work. Being that it was so hot, I had to keep going in at the water edge to cool off. Well.......richard had gone up by the parking lot to use the bathroom and I went in the water to cool off, that's when a big wave rolled in and knocked me down!!  I had a hard time  trying to stand up as the waves kept coming. I literally had to crawl on my hands & knees to the sand at the edge of the water. There I sat covered in wet sand because there was nothing to hold onto to stand up. I thought I will just wait until Richard comes back to help me up.  When he did get back, he thought I was just sitting there, so he ran into the water. I tried to holler to him that I couldn't get up,but he didn't hear me so I tried to stand up again, I almost made it  and wouldn't you know, not one but two waves one right after the other knocked me right down again!! I felt like a beached whale!! I think I swallowed a gal of salt water!! And I couldn't see because the salt water mixed with my mascara was burning my eyes.  Richard finally saw and realized I needed help. When we made it to our beach chairs , his comment ... Why didn't you just "put your big girl pants on" and get out of the water!! Like what did he think I was trying to do!!! Needless to say that ended our  first beach day!

Friday - We started the day with a good breakfast which Richard made outside on the griddle. It was another hot, humid day, even in the morning. Off we went again to the beach. We got all settled and then the flys came!! I have never in my life seen such pesty, biting flys!  They were horrible! You could see everyone swatting at them, one lady put her chair right in the water, but she said they were still biting. Several people were packing up their things and leaving because of them. One lady told us she had been coming to this beach for several years and never experienced such pesty,biting flys. After a couple of hours, we also gave up and decided to go back to the swimming pool at the RV park. The pool water was really refreshing, in fact the beach water was really warmer. We enjoyed the pool for awhile then got out to relax by the pool and, surprise!! The flys were also there. Several other RVers were at the pool and said the flys had been bad all day. There is no rain in the forecast so we don't know why the flys are so pesty, but I sure hope they are gone tomorrow. We didn't notice them at our motorhome so I guess it must have something to do with water.  In as much as I love the beach I never thought I would leave the beach because of all things .....flys!

Sept.16,2015 - Wednesday

Bummer!! We didn't make it to the beach today and it was a perfect beach day....hot & humid. We were having trouble again with our car starting. Since we depend on our car while we are down here, it was our top priority to solve the problem. So we were able to get an afternoon appt. with the nearest Ford dealer which was in Fort Walton about 30 miles away.The result was, they put a new battery in it. Hopefully we won't have anymore car problems while we are here!! That took up most of the day so tomorrow we WILL make it to the beach! After all we came to Florida to enjoy the beach!!

Sept.15,2015 - Tuesday

Well after approximately 932 miles & 18 driving hours, we arrived at our "home" for the next 30 days at Santa Rosa RV Park in Navarre Florida. The weather here is hot & humid.....typical Florida weather. By time we got all set up it was late afternoon so we just took a jaunt (yes Jake a jaunt) to the beach....yep it was still there with white sand and Aqua water!. Tomorrow hopefully we will. Spend the day there! (Will take pictures tomorrow )

Sept. 14,2015 - Monday

Another good weather travel day & another early start. We left Elkhart, in northern Alabama and arrived in Greensville, in southern Alabama . We drove the length of the state, approx 311 miles.. 6 hrs. Our next stop is at shearling lake park. It's a city park. Each site has a redwood deck & table . We arrived around 3:00. We took the car off the tow dolly and went to a nearby Walmart for a few supplies. It was a nice evening, so we grilled hotdogs outside But then we had company.... Pesty Mosquitos!! So we went inside and played cards.(I won!) By the way we paid $1.87 for gas along the way!! I just looked out the window and it is pitch black outside...that is one thing about state or city parks...it gets very dark at night , all you see is lights from nearby RV's or tents.

Sept.13 - 2015 - Sunday

We woke to a little chilly, but nice weather day to travel. We got an early start. From Whittingham in southern Il, we drove through Kentucky & Tenn to the northern tip of Alabama..Elkmont. Which is about 310 miles a little over 6hrs.  We did hit some light rain along the way.  We spent the night at Mill Creek Çampground . It is a small family owned park. We had stayed here our very first RV trip back in 2011. It is located a ways off the highway in what is called a "holler".we had a relaxing dinner out on the picnic table, payed a game of dominions and watched some TV, surprisingly we had good reception being down in a "holler". (The picture of the spaceship was at one of the rest areas. )

Sept. 12, 2015 - Sat.

Well Paupers Pride is on the road again! This is the first time we are on the road twice in a year. We decided to see if the weather in Florida would be better this time of year than in the spring when we usually go, and since yesterday was our " 50th " wedding anniversary, this would be a nice way to celebrate. The weather was nice , in the 60's but we were not even out of our subdivision when we heard a loud bang! The sliding door to the bedroom (which I forgot to latch) fell off the track! So we had to pull to the side of the road so Richard could put it back on, which was not an easy task. So after about 15 - 20 min. We started out again. After about 1/2 hr later, I remembered that I forgot to return to the library an audio book I was listening to in my car. Since we are going to be gone around 6weeks, I would have a hefty fine. It was a new audio book & there are holds on it, so It could not be renewed. Richard said just have Nancy (our daughter ) return it. I said that would be fine except that it is in my car which we are towing behind us! So when we get to Florida I am going to have to mail it to Nancy to return. ( Leave it to me). When we got to our first rest area, Richard checked the straps holding our car on the tow dolly &saw that the wheels were a little turned. He decided to readjust the car on the dolly, but ..... The car would not even turn over to start!  The battery was dead. He had to get the spare battery he has in the motor home and jump the car. So after he got the car back on the tow dolly, we were back on our way! We made it to our first campsite in Whittington, Il ..about 277 miles which with the delays took us about 6hrs. We stayed here last time. It is right on Rend Lake and is right next to a golf course, which unfortunately  we did not have time to play. Richard said we should get a new battery for my car so it would not give us problems. After we got the motorhome hooked up, we got the car started & went to an Auto Zone nearby. We discovered that there is no way to remove the battery unless by a Ford dealer. The fellow that worked there said several of the newer cars are like that. So we will have to go to a Ford dealer when we get to Florida. It was a long day. We had a light supper, played a game of dominos & called it a night.