All Aboard! (Summerdale, AL)

Since moving to Summerdale, our weather has been rain and more rain with flash flood warnings.  We spent most of the time around the campground.  Our entertainment has been taking walks around the park between the gully washers and of course, getting the cats out for short periods of time.

Squirrel going for a walk

Dusty has decided it isn't so bad to sit outside while it is drizzling.  I, on the other hand, don't enjoy the smell of wet fur when he comes inside.  We argued that if he goes outside, he is going to get dried off and cleaned before he is allowed to come back in.  He does a lot of protesting, but doesn't fight me too much.

Dusty - a lot of fur to argue with!

Being stuck indoors has worked out well for me.  As you can see below, I have been very productive!  All the mug rugs are ready for quilting and embellishments.  I think this is the most I have done in such a short time.

The sun finally came out earlier this week and we started to do some exploring of the area.  We did quite a bit of shopping at the Tanger Outlets Store in Foley, had a delicious veggie pizza at Mellow Mushroom restaurant, and strolled through the Foley Centennial Plaza Park.  The best part of our exploring the area was stumbling across the Foley Railroad Museum located at the city park.

I was expecting to see miniature trains displayed on shelves.  What a surprise to be see this lively little town instead!  Everyone seemed to be enchanted by the details.  Young and old.  Even a couple of teenage girls with multi-colored hair were taking photos of the train display.

They had a miniature kiddies' train going around in the park.

There was a colorful Mel's Drive-in

The carnival was in town and the Ferris wheel was going round and round.

Behind the carnival, the drive-in was showing one of  Lucy Ball's shows on the big screen.

There was a fire at the Fire Works building.  Oh, I was told not to take too close of a shot because the couple being rescued had no clothes on.  Something about being in the shower when the fire started....uh huh.

As we were getting ready to leave, I saw this guy up a tree.  That bear looks very hungry!

Last but certainly not least - there was even a hobo's camp with a fugitive still wearing his prison stripes.  So much detail!

Next stop, Eglin AFB in Ft. Walton Beach, FL.  We were stationed there in the late 80s, so it will be nice to see how it has changed.  I'm looking forward to walking on the Gulf's white sands and breathing in the salty air.

Foley Centennial Plaza Park 

 Happy Quilting!

Strawberry Shortcake Festival (Summerdale, AL)

We left Livingston, TX last week and after 2 long days of traveling, we have settled at the Escapees park in Summerdale, AL.  We found out staying in Camping World's free overnight parking was very noisy.  It turns out they have people working all night long.

I'm beginning to think the rain is following us since we left Corpus Christi.  Either we are dealing with flash flood warnings or soggy sites.  We were going to stay for one week, but the weatherman says we are in for a week of rain, so we decided to extend our time for another week.  I'm hoping once this front passes us by, we will start seeing a little sunshine.

We went to the Baldwin County Strawberry Festival last weekend.  A good day to be outdoors with it being overcast and - Surprise! - one of the few days that we did not get rain.  Apparently, we were not the only ones that thought it would be a good idea to arrive early.  The park was already packed  by the time we got there by 11 am.

Of course, I could not pass up a fresh strawberry shortcake....sorry no photo!  I ate it before I even thought about a photo.  It was delicious!  Along with arts/crafts and food booths, they had a small carnival setup..........

along with a classic car show.

I took a lot of photos, but the slow internet has been too frustrating for downloading.

My favorite thing to do is people watch and there were plenty of people to watch.  Quite a few were styling like the two men below.

I kept seeing this young woman in the crowd walking in front of us.  I love her over boots.....or galoshes or wellingtons...anyway, I wanted to get a picture of them. She was on the move and disappeared quickly into the crowd, but not before I managed to get one blurry photo.   I think I have a weakness for polka dots, although I never wear them.  These were too cute!  

See, even the dogs were styling at the festival.  This one looks quite comfortable in his yellow slicker.

Apparently, someone was in a hurry for their strawberry shortcake and did not want to wait for the parking attendants at the intersection.  They tried to cross the ditch from the highway to the empty parking space next to us.  I wonder how often this happens during the festival?

We drove along the coast to Pensacola on Sunday.  We stopped at one of the Florida State parks along the way to stretch our legs and to renew our state park pass.

There were boardwalks every where inside this one park.  It must be hard to maintain so many miles of boardwalk between the weather, wildlife, and people wearing down the wood all the time.

On The Cutting Board

I finished embroidering 14 snowmen.  Between heavy rains and flash flood warnings keeping us indoors,  I have been focusing on hand embroidery for the last couple of weeks.  It might be springtime outside, but I am building snowmen indoors!

4th of July will be here before I know it, so I thought I would finish embroidering the three Uncle Sams before I start layering the snowmen.  I can do them all together.

Maybe...for once....I can actually have these guys done in time for someone to buy for the 4th.  I'm usually too late by a month or two.

So, back to sewing or maybe a quick walk before it starts raining again.
Happy Quilting!