January Update

January about over.  We're fine.  Donna still rides with the Folks-on-Spokes (Gulf Shores) while I try to get a few, longer walks in each week.  We've had visits from both Steve & Susan and Randy & Shirley.  We enjoyed seeing both and hope to see Steve & Susan before we leave.  Oh, we've only had one period of below freezing this season.  That's unusual for us.  Hopefully, it doesn't try to catch up in February!

Only issue we've had was a small propane leak from one of pig-tails to the propane tanks.  This happens from time to time as we traveled and the propane tanks shift.  Usually re-positioning the tanks solve it, but not this time.  I noticed the smell while down in the "basement" adjusting the new water pump that was installed in October.  I shifted the tanks several times over a couple of days, but couldn't stop the smell.  A new pig-tail solved it.  We probably should go ahead and change the other pig-tail out, too.

New for us: We change sites Saturday to a section "deeper" in the park (farther from the campground entrance).  It'll be a new area for us.  We'll have to wait and see how we like it.

So that's it for us.  Thanks for dropping by and checking up on us.  Until mid February, David

Checkin' In

Osprey

Sunset at Windward Pointe Condos 

Just checkin' in.  Not much going on.  We've settled into a routine - more or less.  So I'll probably start to update on a bi-weekly basis.

We're fine.  Donna continues to ride with the Folk-on-Spokes (Gulf Shores) bicycle group.  I try to walk 4-6 miles a day, weather permitting.  We eat out too much.

That's it for now.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.  Until next time, David

Gulf Oak Ridge Trail

Rosemary Dunes Trail

Roarin' 20s?

Read several headlines over the past few days welcoming everyone to the "Roarin' 20s".  Sure.

Highlight this week was our New Year's Eve dinner at the Safari Club located on the New Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo.  Most of the pics are from our visit.  The zoo area (25 acres) is closed.  Only the restaurant is open.

A little history on the zoo.  For those of you who remember the Animal Planet channel during the early 2000s, there was a show called the "Little Zoo That Could".

The zoo that was spotlighted in that series is the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo in Gulf Shores, AL.  If you followed that series, you'll recall the zoo was pretty much destroyed during a hurricane in 2004.  The animals were moved to a local farm, and the zoo was rebuilt.  As the series ended, the animals were moved back to the zoo in Gulf Shores.  (If my memory serves me correctly, we visited the zoo in 2011 or 2012.)

As the series closed, the zoo owners noted that land was donated for a new zoo, and they planned to build a new zoo.  Fast forward 15 years, and here's the new zoo.  It's where we had the New Year's Eve dinner.  The pictures we took of the zoo area are through closed gates or windows of the Safari Club.  We plan to go back in early February when the zoo opens and take more pictures.

We loved the restaurant - Safari Club.

The atmosphere and decorations remind Donna and I of Disney World's Animal Kingdom.  If you visit the restaurant, you'll find a strong vegetarian/vegan menu along with a normal gulf coast selection.  The serving size is rather large.  And it's pricey.  Donna and I plan to sample the dessert menu the next time we visit.

Please don't confuse our description of the restaurant with that of the zoo.  We're told there are different world areas represented in the new zoo.  And don't forget, the new zoo is five times larger than the original Gulf Coast Zoo.

So the that's the highlight of our past week.  I hope you enjoyed the football games.  Until next week, David