Groundhogs Day continues-The Wharf-Nov 13-24

We are beginning to feel like residents of Alabama, and guess what....we like it! We are hearing many stories of record setting snow back home in Michigan! While we feel the misery they they are going through, we don't miss it at all!  Our stay in Orange Beach continues to be great. We have had a mixture of weather. The artic blast that hit Michigan was spread across much of the country and we have had some cold (even some temps below freezing and ice on the docks) weather. The good news it the temps can warm up quickly and no snow! 

Our days are filled with fun adventures depending on the weather. On the cold days we have gone to a movie, shopped at the nearby outlet mall, and visited nearby Fairhope, AL. Fairhope is a small town on the Mobile Bay with many shops and restaurants (a lot like Saugatuck, MI).  A highlight was visiting the National Navel Aviation Museum in Pensecola.  We spent most of the day exploring the many aircraft from the beginning of military aviation to present.  We went in the Blue Angels simulator.  Steve was the pilot and Sheli was the screaming copilot. Steve's piloting included barrel rolls and backwards loops.

(On purpose even!)  

On warm days we continue to explore on our bikes or in our rental car, hang on the beach and scoot around on the dinghy. 

We are also becoming regulars at the Flora Bama church. This past Sunday our friends Russ and Elaine from Twelve Stones joined us.  A huge storm passed through during the service which led to many of us getting a little wet as the tent couldn't stop all the rain. 

We have 150 miles to travel along the Florida Panhandle to reach our launch point (just east of Apalachicola) to cross the Gulf. We will be crossing from this area to Tarpon Springs (just north of Tampa).  "The Crossing" as its referred to, is 170 miles.  We will travel at approximately 8mph. The crossing with take 21 hours, so we will depart late afternoon, travel through the night with an arrival by mid morning. The reason we need to arrive at that time is that starting 30 miles out, we will need to watch for and dodge thousands of crab pots which are marked by small floating buoys.  The crossing will require a 2 day calm weather window. The last weather opportunity was on Nov 10 with no opening in sight through this Friday.  This is an unusually long span of time between windows. There are other loopers here with us and many more down the Panhandle waiting for a chance to cross. 

We are not sure where we will be for Thanksgiving, but we know we have so much to be thankful for.

We wish you all a blessed Thanksgiving!

 Sheli's friend we named "screechy"

 Cotton bale! One bale of cotton can make 215 pair of jeans.

 Leaving church at the Flora Bama

 Blue Angels simulator 

 The Blue Angels are shorter than the Pura Vida!

 Cubi Bar Cafe is a replica of a Officer's Club in the Philippines thru which many squadrons transited between the 1950s and 1992.

 Sunset at The Wharf 

 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at The Wharf!

 Dinner at Moe's BBQ.