Mouse Sized Gulf State Park Dismeet 2020

I love to see the food pictures Keep them coming. Wish we were spending a week with y'all. We have had our normal Memorial rain floods. Around midnight yesterday had a tornado warning for us. By 12:15 AM, it had expired. Been raining a few times today & suppose to be raining all week. Rec'd over 4" yesterday. Love to see your pictures. If all keeps going great for Grumpy Aggie, we will see y'all in Oct.
 
Well we all survived the winds last night. I’ve honestly never experienced winds like that except before or after a hurricane. Woke up to a lot of rain but it’s turned into a nice day now.

We kicked off the traditional puzzle time this morning with @bama_ed and family. Surprisingly made a lot of progress in a short amount of time. This one is a 750 piece. We shall see how it goes. My DW and Ed’s DD were definitely winning lol
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It indeed turned into a beautiful day. The puzzle time with Arc and DW this morning was fun and relaxing. We laughed a lot.



Today for lunch we headed to the Sunliner Diner on Hwy 59 in Gulf Shores. It's a big restaurant on the corner where the old dumpy state ABC store used to be.

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Arc and DW had already eaten here on this stay and recommended it and we'd only been once (last year) so it was today's choice. DD has never eaten here. It definitely has that 50s diner look inside.



The menu is a small folded piece of newsprint which has an article written in the present time of the 1950s promoting Gulf Shores tourism (in the 50s no less).



DD got the Avocado Burger (almost too tall to eat):





DW got the Classic BLT:





And I got the Classic Reuben (a favorite of mine anywhere):





It was all delicious-the girls each took half of their meal back to the camper in a to-go box. Lots of choices that are non-seafood. Extensive dessert section of floats, malts, sundaes, splits, and more.

After lunch I walked across to the Dollar General store to get a new tri-wing kite. One of my girls (neither will admit to it) damaged my cheap tri-wing Space Shuttle kite beyond repair - it was a veteran of several GSP DISMeets and other campouts. The new one is a patriotic flag tri-wing that I am going to give a tryout this afternoon. Doing laundry right now over next to the camp store where the pool is.

Maybe I'll wander over to the pool for some pix during the dryer cycle. $2 to wash, $1.25 to dry per load (quarters no cc like FW).

What day is it? Tuesday? I almost forgot. So far it's been a great vacation. :cloud9:

Bama Ed
 
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Time is going by too quickly! DW went to get her nails done with a friend of hers that lives over this way after puzzle time.

We took @bama_ed ’s advice and went to DeSoto’s for lunch. DW and I both had the Monte Cristo and it was fantastic! Food came out super quick and service was awesome!! Definitely will visit again!
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Came back and chilled in the camper for a bit. When we got out, it was puzzle time again. We were pretty positive @tiggerdad drove over and stole a couple of pieces but I went on the hunt and found them out by the road (after we beat our heads against the table for a long time trying to find one of them.) We made a lot of progress and feel confident we will finish in the morning.
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The rain set in again briefly but it’s still a beautiful night. Yellow flies have come out for a visit but DW and I are enjoying our time outdoors.
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Enjoying a great time with our friends next door (@bama_ed). Going to be a great time at the fort with you all in October!
 


Time for the afternoon update from under the EZ-Up with light off-and-on sprinkles (mostly off, tbh).

This morning started out pretty gray and cloudy but cleared up nicely by 830am. I pulled out the puzzle and moved the table under the big tree near where I park the car and soon DW, Arc, and his DW were all helping to finish it up. They are strong puzzlers (Arc has a knack for finding pieces that fell on the ground days ago "over there"). It looked good when finished. I'll let Arc post a picture of the final product.

Backtracking, yesterday afternoon was laundry day (exciting news ain't it) and while there took pix of the pool (for those that may be reading and not have been to Gulf yet). The pool is in the middle of the campground near the campstore, laundromat, tennis courts, and nature center.





Speaking of visitors, we had a little green friend drop by yesterday as well.



After a break from finishing the puzzle this morning, we did lunch at Tacky Jack's in GS (a coastal restaurant chain with 3 locations in the area). It was just okay. But the hit of the day was stopping at WalMart for a few food items and checking out THEIR kite selection (I was unhappy with my replacement kite I bought yesterday). And for $6.97 we found a winner:



Tomorrow morning will be another early beach visit. Weather should be a little more reliable and better plus we will bring the kites along (DD got the matching Minnie Mouse kite). :beach:

Today is Wednesday, is that right? :teeth:

Bama Ed
 
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Gulf State Park looks like a beautiful place. Thinking we will need to check this out in the near future. Thanks Ed, for sharing your trip with us. Love the kites. We also are doing a Disney Puzzle today, waiting for the weather to clear, so we can start our 1st crop Hay. Hot and very humid in the midwest. I guess it is a “welcome to summer!”
 
As Ed mentioned, the puzzle got finished quickly this morning. I might not be good at putting pieces in the right place but I can find lost pieces lol
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We went with one of DW’s friends to lunch today (back to Sunliner). After that a nap was in order since it was raining some. I had to come back home for church tonight so nothing to report for dinner tonight.

I think DW and her friend are planning a shopping trip tomorrow. Not sure what lunch will be yet (I’m hoping some ice cream shop can be on the agenda.)
 
So... how exactly do you deal with the yellow fly things... obviously not everyone has as bad a reaction... do you just deal with swatting at them and getting bit... I don’t see anyone saying they go inside for 3-4 hours...
 
@4077 i dealt with them by not going to Gulf Shores at the end of May :). The two previous times i went, i wear long sleeves, pants tucked into my socks and LOTS of bug spray. Yet last trip they bit my hand and it swelled up really good.

I love gulf shores but next time we go will either be April or Oct, or maybe Jan for the half marathon.
 
So... how exactly do you deal with the yellow fly things... obviously not everyone has as bad a reaction... do you just deal with swatting at them and getting bit... I don’t see anyone saying they go inside for 3-4 hours...

First, Jimmy, I will have to say that the yellow flies have been the lowest/least problem this year of any of the past May trips. With that being said .....

Second, in the past I brought a light polyester white long sleeve shirt for the evenings and paired it with a set of light, thin pajama pants to pull over my shorts in the evenings. That handles MOST of the problem for me. I tend to get more bites on my legs/calves/ankles and the pj's are a little long so a light covering on the arms and legs does the trick. They tend to come out about 6-8pm.

Third, this year the first night here they were out but honestly not that bad at all. I stayed out here one night the whole time with the pj pants (no long sleeve shirt) and last night was probably my BEST night with no problem. That means, of course, that there was a fly here/there but it's not a swarm. I sympathize with the folks who get the bite reactions but I'm not in that club. I brought a screen room tent to set up if needed and haven't needed it.

But next year I'm moving my week to end-of-April and hopefully it will be a non-issue entirely.

Bama Ed
 
Here is your Beach Report for the morning (Yellow/Purple flags).

Got on site just before 9am and parked on the far end of the parking lot to use the boardwalk on the Orange Beach side of the Pavilion. Less crowded on that side I had noticed.

Here are our views from the surfline looking north:



Looking east (the guy fishing had 5 poles out):



Looking west:



And looking south towards the water:



Of course more folks showed up to either side of us during the course of our 2-hour stay.

I did get to fly my kite:



But it was almost too MUCH wind for it. And my new roll of string got tangled and I couldn't feed anymore out without some serious surgery. However, what did work worked well.

Some Navy Jets (Blue Angels?) flew left-to-right just out over the water sorta low about 1045am.

We were set up next to Ike's Beach Services which also was the Parasailing meet point.



About the time we were ready to leave, a family/group of 8 looked like they were getting ready to parasail.



Cool, I thought - let's watch this before we leave. But it took a long time to unfold.

First, the banana boat used to shuttle people out to the power boat in the gulf that was floating in the surf broke free and the young man had to chase it down.

Once retrieved, some of the side floats needed a little more inflation.



Then it took a while to get the banana hooked up to the jet ski to pull out to the waiting boat.



After all this time, I feared my face was going to be the color of coffee grounds so we piled the stuff back in the car and headed back to the campsite.

Gonna pick up some take-out pizza from a local establishment (not Papa Rocco's) and bring it back. Then start a new puzzle.

Something good is going to happen this afternoon. :rolleyes:

Bama Ed

PS - weather from noon yesterday through the end of today has-been/should-be the best of the entire trip thus far. Low humidity, beautiful blue sky with a few high white clouds, temps in the 80s, and a gentle breeze at the campground. Supposed to go down to 68F tonight. :cool1:
 
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@4077 i dealt with them by not going to Gulf Shores at the end of May :). The two previous times i went, i wear long sleeves, pants tucked into my socks and LOTS of bug spray. Yet last trip they bit my hand and it swelled up really good.

I love gulf shores but next time we go will either be April or Oct, or maybe Jan for the half marathon.
We go frequently 2nd week of October. This year will be Dismeet at Disney instead. We go for fall break. Great weather still, crowds are low too.
 
We had a relaxing afternoon here at GSP#5.

Lunch was some pizza from a local mom-and-pop place, Mama Lottie's here in town. Good reviews and a menu with prices posted on-line (both necessary imo).



Two mediums - a Meat Lover's and a Chicken Alfredo. There was enough left over for dinner tonight too. 🍕

After lunch we broke out the third puzzle of the week (another 750p).



Between Arc's DW and my DD, we got a LOT of it done. Time passed by too because @Flametamer/Joe came over again on his day off to visit with Arc, DW, my DW, DD, and me.

The Three Amigos managed to pose for a photo:



As we talked we solved all of WDW's problems in this afternoon. Thanks for coming over, Joe. ::yes::

Here's how far we made it on the puzzle from ground zero this afternoon. Might be able to get it done tomorrow.



Speaking of tomorrow, that will be our last full day here. Not going to the beach again (DD got a bit of sun this morning). Besides puzzling, might go over and check out the pass at the lagoon. Usually some activity over there. Weather forecast is iffy again for the "next day" as it has been for the last several days. We have awakened usually to an improved forecast and a good day so I hope that will be the case again.

Bama Ed
 
I see something WAY-Y-Y-Y out there. Ya'll see it too? ........................................................................................................................ 🕯

It was faint but it's a little stronger now - it's the "light at the end of the tunnel". It's getting closer and closer. Meaning this beach vacation is almost over (I haz the sadz). :sad:

This has been the fourth day or so this week of going to sleep looking at the next day's forecast and it shows 35-55% chance of rain hourly so you doze off thinking it won't be a good weather day. Then you wake up and check it and it's 10-15% every hour and turns out to be absolutely wonderful all day. Today was like that. It's a very pleasant day.



Here's me in #5 and BishopArc in #4 in the background.



After breakfast and a girl's run to Wal-Mart, I pulled out the puzzle table and opened up the case. The silent alarm call went out and Arc/DW were soon working on it with us. The three girls ended up doing quite a bit of it this morning while Arc and I supervised. It's nearly done.



I know I said in an early post that we were going to do burgers one night but it's the last day here for both of us and it was much easier to say, "hey Arc, let's try someplace new for lunch" and he was game. So we went to a new place (within the last two years) called Picnic Beach down by Souvenir City near the Tee. It's the old Ribs & Reds building that used to host the local Valentines 5k every years. PB keeps that bbq history with a number of bbq flavored items on menu plus pulled pork and brisket, sausages, and more. The design is casual fast ordering - place your order at the counter, get a number and take a seat, and the food is brought out to you quickly.



Of course, being named Picnic Beach means having several white picnic tables to sit at (indoor and outdoor seating).

My DW got the Picnic Nachos with pulled pork (and purple chips) off the appetizer section of the menu:



DD got the Gulf Bowl with vegetables, chicken, brown rice, and the avocado upgrade ($1 extra).



I got the bison burger which had cheese, bacon, french fried onion straws, and bbq sauce (it's not often I see bison on the menu).



It was all good but the three of us decided DW's nachos were the best out of our selections. The girls wanted ice cream after and wanted to drive through McDonald's but they had no hot fudge, no chocolate syrup, no nuts (not for years), no chocolate ice cream, only vanilla ice cream (which they got). And a 70+ year old lady guarding the door counting how many people were allowed inside and it was obvious she loved the authority that role gave her. :rolleyes:

Later. :wave:

Bama Ed

PS - Time for an afternoon nap before resuming the completion of the puzzle. Then maybe the Pass, eating whatever leftovers for dinner that I don't want to carry home, and then packing up tonight all that I can to make the quick getaway in the morning.
 
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