Carabelle, FL – Great cracks of thunder echoed through the RV a couple of hours ago, as a storm swept across the Ho Hum RV Park, where we are spending the next two nights. Out the kitchen window, I can see the waters of the Gulf of Mexico – or more specifically, of Apalachee Bay – and before the rain hit, Val and I had a nice stroll along the beach.
I think it was high tide, because there wasn’t a very wide swath of sand on which to walk. We saw a lot of seaweed and almost no shells at all, as well as a few blobs of black tar, probably the remains of the BP oil spill of 2010. The blobs were about the size of a walnut, so Mother Nature did a pretty good cleanup job, considering the millions of gallons that spewed into these waters over many days.
Our route along Highway 98 from Perry where we left this morning took us through a lot of jungle-like bush. The vegetation is so thick, it would take a machete to hack through it, but fortunately we didn’t have to do that! Tall trees were reflected in the standing water that covered much of the ground, and long grey wisps of Spanish moss hung from the branches, which were also tufted with green fronds of fern. Great loops of dried vines festooned from one tree to another in a messy tangle, and, nearer to the ground were short palmetto shrubs.
I looked into the underbrush to see if I could glimpse any alligators lurking in the water, but saw none. At one point, though, I spotted a wild turkey taking flight from the roadside, and before I could say “oh look – a wild turkey!”, the creature flew across the path of the RV and thumped against the windshield! We were both quite startled. Fortunately, it didn’t damage the windshield. Unfortunately, we were pretty sure that was its last flight. I guess the jungle scavengers had turkey for lunch today.
We pulled into the RV park shortly before two o’clock, and Dennis, the man at the park office, greeted us by saying “ho hum!” I have no idea how they picked that name, but it gave us a laugh. The weather held off long enough for us to get settled and take our little stroll, though we got spattered a little toward the end of it. Once we were all cosy again inside, the skies opened, the lightning flashed, the thunder crashed….and Val went for a nap. Earplugs are a marvellous invention!
Tonight is Oscar night, and our site has a cable TV connection, so all we’ll need is to zap some popcorn in the microwave and our evening’s entertainment will be set. I’ve put on my sparkliest earrings, but I forgot to pack an evening gown, so it will be a less formal event this year, though every bit as entertaining. We’ve seen quite a few of the nominated movies, so we should have a good time.
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