The Gulf Coast...absolute paradise!!!

From Fort Morgan to Mexico Beach all I can tell you is….hell yes folks!! It was hotter than hot, the beaches were white, the sun sat high in the sky…and I was here. My favourite stop was in Destin where I spent the night hanging out in the Sleep Inn parking lot. There had been a mardi gras parade earlier (I know it’s not mardi time) and it drew a few hundred people out to scream their lungs out while floats filled with people rode by and tossed out their beads.

So...I backed up on a small country road...and when I started driving I heard a grinding sound....turns out I stole a mailbox

it was his mailbox...spooky!! :)

Perdido Bay...gorgeous!!

Softest sand so far...

I love seeing things we don't have back home

I didn’t do much during this stretch outside of hanging out and relaxing. Two thumbs up to Big Lagoon State Park…very nice place to stay!

I did visit the Pensacola Light house which is located on the navy base there. The guard gave me a look of death when he asked if I had any firearms or explosives inside the van…when I repied “Yes sir I have some fireworks” I thought he might have ko’d the visit…but he gave me this green card and sent me on my way.

it was a really cool lighthouse...cast iron steps. This shot is from bottom up. Back in the day the attendee would have to wake up ever two hours and lug 2 5 gallon containers of Kerosene up the steps...hellish. They have one at the bottom for you to pick up and I can say...our forefathers sure were a fit bunch of dudes compared to us. Once a day would have been bad enough...every two hours is crazy!!

amazing view

The glass is the original...the history behind the glass, the guy that revolutionized lighthouses with his reflector style design is very cool.

The thing about being a Calgary kid and not one who has vacationed at the beach…ever, the novelty is still there and every time I see a beach sign I want to pull over and walk it…but they are very much the same and maybe at one point on this journey I won’t feel the need…but for now every time I put my toes into that sand I smile.

You may notice my old man glasses...it's because I lost my clip on shades like a dough head

As you drive down the 98 there is so much to see, Mexico Beach was easily the nicest spot for me. It was quite, the beach was fabulous and the shrimp po-boy sandwich I had there was mouth-watering.

But the highlight and epic spot if I could so back…St Georges Island. Wow…what a nice place. The state park was full and it was so hot that sleeping in the van without plugging in seemed insane..so I walked the lighthouse, strolled the beach, had a bite from the cooler and headed back to the mainland.

It was sort of around this time that I started to think of my sister and how much I missed her. She’s been living in Seattle for what seems like a lifetime and I got to hang out with her for a full two weeks back in September…and I don’t know…it makes me wish that life wasn’t so complicated, that you could sort everyone’s problems and have them be happy, yourself included. People say “go with the flow” but sometimes I long for a grasp of the rhyme and reason to how things unfold. But it’s here that I envisioned a hug so big that it could crush the negatives from the world and sent it up through the airwaves hoping that she would receive it. So from St George to Seattle…I love you shorty! (she knows this but it felt proper to write it as well)

If there has been one thing that this trip has given me it’s been time to think. I’m not sure that it’s amounted to much outside of feeling distant and lonely on some occasions, confused on others (in between the moments of personal happiness that come with fulfilling a dream) and awestruck s to how diverse this continent is. I know that this particular place is a strange point to end a post but after striking my toe on some driftwood during a visit to Carrabelle beach….I’ve lost my train of thought and don’t feel like getting it back…bye for now