Rainy Days and Rainy Nights (Foley, AL)

We left Texas last week and made it to Foley, AL in two days.  Our first day of travel was uneventful except for driving through pockets of rain.  The second day was more fun as we crossed through Louisana's waterways and many swamps.  I spotted two 2 alligators!   The highlight of my day!😁

We also crossed the Mississppi River.  As we were going over the bridge, I was reminded of Clive Cussler's Flood Tide.  The adventures in this book brings Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino to the Mississippi River to foil the evil genius.  It was fun trying to imagine the two men on a boat pretending to be local fishermen while an old cruise ship tries to sneak up the Mississippi.  Yea, I know.  Sounds a little over the top, but I do love reading all about Pitt's adventures and I love visiting locations featured in fictional books.

Mississippi River

 Our first day in Foley, AL was a trip to Florida's state park office to get a new pass.  We stopped at Orange Beach which was quite busy with the last vacationers before school started.  I have missed the white sandy beaches of the Gulf Coast.  The sand is soft and as fine as sugar grains that it squeaks if you drag your feet while walking.  Oh! And the big Turtle to the left offers free beach toys for the young visitors to borrow while they are on the beach.  It looks like the visitors are doing a great job of honoring the Turtle because the bin had quite a few toys in it.

Orange Beach, AL

A couple of days later, we visited the Foley Depot Museum & Model Train Exhibit.  The following are photos of the park.

With the look of rain coming our way, we decided to move inside to see the model trains. ☂

 

Below are some photos of the Model Train Exhibit.  The guide turned off the lights so we could see the town with all the night-lights on.  He told me that a group of men got together at one house and spent 14 months building this small, not to mentioned, very detailed town.  The town got so big that they had to cut it into pieces to get it out of the house.  A great place to bring everybody.  The kids were really enjoying the display with the lights off.

 Lots of moving parts.  The ferris wheel is going around while the drive-in behind it is playing a movie with Lucille Ball.

Towards the back, the Fireworks building is on fire.  The firefighters are trying to put it out. 

 My favorite part is the man trying to escape the bear.  According to the guide, the bear is protecting the moonshine still from the revenue guy.  🤣LOL!

And what train track doesn't have a Hobo camp?  Looks like they have found themselves a nice little camping site.

 They even have a list of Hobo Codes. The "Jail with good lodging" is a good one.

 But, my favorite one is the "Kind Lady" code!

Kitty!

Lots of rain in this area which hasn't cooled it off.  It is still hot and humid.  After seeing what is happening in other areas, I am quite happy to deal with this weather.

The fires and the floods seem to be getting worse.  If you are in the NW or the NE states, I hope you and your families are safe.

On The Cutting Board
I'm getting a few things done.  Well, sort of.  I'm not sure what is up with me lately.  I just want to work on a few things and then I put them aside for later.

I started an English Cottage garden themed for the Happy Campers.  I'm really loving the Hollyhocks.  I have actually found them relaxing to make and a joy to watch them grow.

I have finished embroidering quite a few of them, but this is as far as I have gone on them.

Now, I am working on a new ABC Animal quilt.  I'm on the 'B' now and should have the 'C' done soon.

Maybe once the weather cools off just a little, I will fill more like pulling out the sewing machine and getting all the UFO projects done.  In the meantime.....
Happy Quilting!

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!