We always begin the day catching frogs. Some of these still have tails!
We’ve been through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and now Alabama, and I think we’ve decided that the folks claiming that people form the South would be fine with our multi-colored family and a missing adult male are right. We’ve run into no problems at all, and this is our last stop in the South. I think we are good to go!
The only really exciting thing that happened this morning was a classic “The baby ate a wild mushroom” scare. Wait, there is no such classic scare? You mean this is yet another weird thing that happens mostly only to Phelps kids? Well, whether he actually ate any or not, he didn’t develop any symptoms, so we proceed as planned. That one kid takes as much looking after as the other three combined!
We finally made our way to the Gulf of Mexico this afternoon! This area is quite interesting, so battered by storms, so slow to recover, and full of so many happy people. Everywhere you look there is a smashed and abandoned house, an expanse of swamp, a stand of trees with the tops torn clean off them standing next to a forest that looks untouched!
Another interesting thing we’ve seen is parks of tiny houses.
They appear to be low-income housing, but they are not trailers. They are teeny houses! Like a whole development of one-bedroom homes, maybe 500-800 square feet. Either there is a demand for tiny houses here, or these are developments of quick housing for storm aid workers? Either way, they were cute and fun to look at.
As we approached the sea shore, the landscape became more and more marshy, and the tidy rivers flowed suddenly into sprawling marshes. Miles of bridge work ran across bogs of standing and running water, and all of it was packed with wildlife! It seems like a place ducks like to settle. I think there must be millions of baby ducks happily splashing in those marshes! Supposedly, there are also alligators!
We are staying on Dauphin Island for these two nights, a place I have never been before. It promised to be touristy, but also beachy at a good price, so I am willing to put up with the tourism. However, the approach to the island was almost deserted. The highway crosses Dauphin Bay, making a dramatic ascent and descent before reaching the island.
The island itslef is far more battered than the mainland, and the houses are build to withstand the craziest of weather. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they don’t. You could tell which houses were occupied by people who might not have left during Katrina. Like the one that said, “Make some noise, Harleys!” Or the brick house with several different water level lines up the wall, the highest reaching halfway up the outer wall, and erosion showing on the brickwork even though it was clearly a 1970’s ranch style home, so not very old. Buildings are either brand new, or in pretty bad shape here.
I was really hoping the campsite we chose was on the beach as promised, and I hoped the tent sites were not farthest from the beach and bathrooms, as they usually are. But we got a prime piece of real estate at this park. The lots are tiny, and there is no privacy, but our spot backs up to a bird sanctuary with a system of hiking paths, and is the closest to the beach, only a short walk about 1/8 mile through the sanctuary.
The kids saw the playground and had to be let off immediately to meet the neighborhood kids and establish their pecking order. This has been their tact from day 1 of this trip. There were a few kids playing, and not a parent in sight, which gave me some assurance that this is a safe park!
After we set up camp we went out for the first real dinner we’ve had since June 30th! It was sooooo good. I found no odd bugs or bark pieces in my food, I didn’t have to find places for the kids to sit, I didn’t have to figure out how to get The Screamer to eat while he wanders around. They were all sitting in chairs for the first time in a week and a half, just like civilized kids!
Sooooo civilized!
When we got back, the kids discovered that our neighbors were the little girls they had met on the playground! That’s always very exciting!
Bedtime couldn’t come until we’d taken a dip in the ocean, and so we took off down the bird sanctuary path to the white sands of the ocean. I figured it had something to do with the oil drilling visibly close to shore and rivers draining into the ocean so close to the island. I wanted to swim so badly, but The Screamer was very unhappy, so I strapped him onto my back and just watched the kids in the water.
The water was browner than I imagined it would be.
We then went on a very pleasant walk on the beach.
I think everyone will sleep very well tonight!
A favorite bedtime buddy and some cute little piggies!
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