My Grandnephew is born!

Odometer 28,390 miles

Trip meter 0 miles

Congratulations!

We got a text last night that my niece Karon and her husband Todd had their baby at at 3:30 PM in Salem! Tayvin Springstead, 7 lbs 8oz- we are delighted, and very happy for Todd and Karon!

Here is the only photo we have so far, mom and daughter, Kylie, and newborn son, Tayvin.

Gulf Shores and Fairhope

Today was to be our day at the beach, however a chilly breeze kept the temperature from getting into the comfort zone for us, so we decided to take a drive to Fairhope this morning, and see about the beach this afternoon. Fairhope located on the east side of Mobile Bay, is a charming, eclectic, and artistic town with many beautiful houses and boutique shops. Joan and I would liken Fairhope to Ashland, Oregon or Carmel, California.

Although the weather was too chilly to sit on the beach today, it has been good enough overall to coax the flowers into full bloom.

One of the few places we could find near Fairhope to see out onto Mobile Bay was to sneak down into the yacht club.

As we stretched and took in the views of Mobile Bay we watched some boaters expertly tack their way out of the harbor under sail.

I love to stop and read the informational signs at the historical markers along the roadside. This historical marker, surprised both of us.

Who knew that this lonely spot on County Road 98, on the east edge of Mobile Bay, is the highest point on the coastline between Maine and Mexico!

I continue to be amazed at what a traveler can discover about each new place. Not an earth shaking thing every time, but interesting none the less.

The state park we are staying in this week is situated on 6,150 acres, and includes two lakes and two miles of sugar white sandy coastline.
We scored an RV space right along the water.

This is actually a boat channel between the two largest lakes in the park. Haven't seen an alligator yet- but we understand that they are around.
The park system has a very nice dock on the lake where you can rent space for your boat, or rent one of their canoes.

It's a short walk through our part of the RV park and across Perditio Beach Boulevard to the beaches on the Gulf waters.

There are boardwalks through the dunes so the users will not destroy the fledgling sea oats getting established in the dunes. The sand is almost as white as the sand we saw at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico.
The surf feels warm and the waters are more blue than we've seen so far.

If the cool breezes would turn warm, I might be persuaded to wade out in the surf!

There are not a lot of shells that wash up on this beach- we've been advised that the early birds get most of the unbroken ones. These pieces of shell caught my eye because of the striking colors, and they look kinda like bird wings to me. Right mom?

Jeff and Joan