December 7, 2004

December 7, 2004

Rainbow Plantation to Foley and Gulf Shores, & return

DAY 173

 

Today was another hot, humid day. Fine by me ! For those of you who are reading my blog while looking outside at the snow ... NYAH NYAH NYAH !

This morning was raining lightly and intermittently. Right after lunch we set off for a day of exploring. We started off heading east on County Road 28 to County Road 9, then south on County Road 9 following the Fish River. At Hwy. 98 we turned west, passing through the pretty little village of Magnolia Springs, and on to the city of Foley. At Foley, we got back onto the main road that runs north / south from Interstate 10 to the Gulf Coast, Hwy. 59. At Gulf Shores, we travelled east on Hwy. 182 along the coast, to the end of the road, maybe about 10 miles. All the beachfront dwellings were extensively damaged by Hurricane Ivan in September. Most are beyond salvation, and are just sitting there awaiting demolition. The entire stretch of this coastal road is filled with construction vehicles, and workers. Every front end loader for hundreds of miles around must be here. They have to scoop all the sand off the beach, and load it into massive sifting machines to remove out all the debris. The way dump trucks line up behind snow clearing machines back home, waiting to be filled, is how the dump trucks are lined up here behind these giant sifting machines. Every few minutes, another dump truck is filled with debris.

The devastation is stunning. It makes me wonder why anybody would even consider building on the beach. Maybe they just accept that every 20 or 25 years, or whatever, they will have to rebuild. In Florida, it must be even more frequently.

We came back along Hwy. 182, and drove through Gulf State Park. We wanted to see the campground in the State Park. It was closed because of damage. While driving slowly through the park, I saw an armadillo on the side of the road. I stopped and jumped out to take a picture. What a bold little creature. It allowed me to approach within ten feet before rearing up and charging me. HA HA HA HA HA ... the cute little thing is about as intimidating as Teddy. I guess that little armoured back makes it feel invincible.

HEADLINE ; CANADIAN SNOWBIRD ATTACKED BY PISSED OFF ARMADILLO !

We drove back to Hwy. 59, then a mile or so north to Hwy. 180, another road that runs along the coast, although a teensy bit more inland. We travelled about 20 miles west along Hwy. 180, to Fort Morgan. Hwy. 180 is just far enough away from the coast line to be in forest, as opposed to actually on the sand beach. On this road, the damage was a bit lighter, although it was somewhat comical to see household appliances which have been blown right out of destroyed beach houses, scattered in the forest. We counted twenty fridges, freezers, washers, and dryers, blown into the forest, in a 20 mile stretch. We didn't count hot water tanks, but the hot tub count was "one" ! Above ground swimming pool count was "one". In ground swimming pool count was "one". The moral of that must be ... don't install an in ground swimming pool on a sand beach in hurricane country.

We drove back to Foley, to buy groceries and get an oil change. An oil change at Wal-Mart is half the price of anywhere else !

We got back to the trailer at Rainbow Plantation just as it got dark, shortly after 5:00 P.M.. It was so warm yesterday we opened some windows in the trailer, for the first time in a couple of months. It was nice to sleep with open windows. Tonight was even warmer than yesterday, and we had to open even more windows when we got home.

DSK