Jan 30 - Three weeks and the trip continues to grow in enjoyment and experiences!  The weather in Fort Walton Beach has been outstanding.  One day with a line of pretty severe thunderstorms and a tornado warning, but other than that - its been sunny day after sunny day.

The week started with another thought provoking sermon and wonderful music at the Fort Walton UMC.  Sunday ended with an outstanding choir concert - eight local churches who have been singing together for almost 30 years for a  'Great Night of Methodist Singing'.  They listened to 150 voices and a 25 piece orchestra in  an amazing service that exemplifies how the Wesleyan tradition is alive and well in our lives today.  They were truly blessed to have heard the voices sing praise.

 Monday began with our normal walk around the campground.  I sure wish there were other dogs for me to have fun with - I keep running into these 2 very large chocolate labs who are not friendly!  After breakfast, Mom and Jay took off for yet another day of  golf (there was NO trip to the beach for fishing and NO trip to the golf course for me!  DARN!)

And the stories of yet another wonderful (?) day on the links continue.  They played a course at Eglin Airforce Base that is known one of the top ten military courses in the US. The course layout (live oaks decorated with Spanish moss) and interesting greens made for a challenging afternoon. The game couldn't have been too bad tho -  with the handicap figured in, Mom managed to tie Jay for the game.  She seemed pretty pumped about that!!!

The evening meal of oyster stew was a fine end to an otherwise perfect day (I even got a small spoonful of the stew!  Delish!)

Start of the journey

Hi!  My name is Jazzy.  I'm an almost 12 year old Australian shepherd who lives in Russell, PA.  My mom (Lois) and her friend Jay are travelling along the Gulf of Mexico for the winter and I get to go along!  Sure beats the cold of a NW Pennsylvania winter!  And I get to try out a new life experience by travelling in an RV.  Such adventures that lie ahead.... 
Here’s my story….. 

January 3rd - I thought we were gonna get outta here before the snow got here. But nooooo.... that didn't happen. I woke up to about 5 inches of snow and zero degrees - sure does wake a pooch up on that first trip out in the morning! It was fun to play in it - run after a few snow balls and roll around like a puppy. But I was glad that Saturday morning and departure day was only a few days away.

Januray 6th - Hmmmm I''m not too sure about all of this. Lots of packing activity is going on, the cat has been taken out of the house (good heavens - am I next?) and I haven't seen any dog biscuits loaded up yet. Maybe I can camp out on the front seat of the car and secure a ride in the car as it heads south to warmer weather. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it!

January 7th - Hurray!!! I'm in the car and we are well past the kennel so I guess that means I'm along for the ride. I wonder when we'll get there, better yet, I wonder where we're going!

January 8th - Hurray again!!!!! The ride that has no end seems to be over – we’re near Birmingham, AL at Tannehill State Park. I like the RV - and I have a new bed to sleep on, and new food and water bowls. The weather is warm and there's no snow. And there are lots of squirrels! Life is good!!

January 9 – 12 - Tannehill State Park is on the site of an old iron furnace that played an important role in providing iron needed by the Confederate forces during the Civil War.  The iron furnaces have been restored, and many log cabins and other old buildings have been relocated to the area.  And there is an incredible museum that describes the iron industry once found in the area.  It is one of nicest state parks I’ve visited in a long time.

The iron furnaces are a really neat place to spend some time - altho in times gone by, I bet they were a pretty hot place to be!  Guess I'll just spend time sitting on the cabin porch and take a short nap....

Last summer, Mom was spendingalot of time at something called  a golf course. I never got to go so I had no idea what that meant. Today was my first golf outing. I can't quite figure out what the point of the game is - hitting a ball, and then riding all over the place in a cart to fetch it. I could have helped out but wasn't allowed to retrieve! I wasn't even allowed to drive the cart – I was just was the lookout for stray golf balls (and stray dogs) from the other fairways!

Jan 13^th – We’re on the road again – heading south towards the Gulf of Mexico.  Mom put her car in storage for a week – so we’re all travelling together in the RV.  Gotta tell you – riding in an RV is really different.  The windshield is huge and if I could manage to stand up on something I would be able to see a lot more!  Better yet – just standing on the dashboard works – I have a great view from here! 

Jan 14 – 20  We’re staying at Gulf Islands National Seashore in Ocean Springs, MS.  It’s an unusual National Seashore – most of the area is actually submerged lands near the barrier islands!  Fortunately, the campground is high and dry!  This is a great area for birding – and Jay knows his birds, that’s for sure.  We take a walk each morning to a little slough to see if the alligator is out yet or not.  I keep my distance from him though  - bet I’d make a tasty  snack if I got too close!

Jan 17^th – This was the best day yet!  We rented a small boat and took a ride up the Pascagoula River.  We started in the salt marshes and wound our way through the different channels (good thing Jay knows these waters like the back of his hand!) .  There were all sorts of shore birds to see – herons, egrets, coots, grebes, ducks, red tailed-hawks and even a harrier.    

And of course, there was more golf being played but I was not allowed to go along.  I suppose that’s just as well – while it was fun to ride in the cart, it is nice to stay back in the RV and nap.

They stopped at the Pascagoula First United Methodist Church on Sunday.  Great service and very friendly people…    

The food has been pretty darn good so far.  We’ve had stuffed flounder (yum!), shrimp stuffed Portobello mushrooms, and grilled shrimp and they’ve been going out to some pretty good places to eat.  There’s this neat BBQ and blues place called The Shed that has great ribs and chicken AND really good music!   And they went to another place right on the river called Hucks and were talking about a grouper salad and fried oysters that sounded pretty tasty  (why is it I just hear about all this good food and get to taste very little of it??!!!)

Jan 21 – 29 – We left Mississippi and headed towards Fort Walton Beach, FL today.  We’re staying at an RV area on Hulburt Field Air Force Base so there’s lots of activity going on here.  We hear Reveille every morning at 6 am, the Colors and the Star Spangled Banner at 5 pm, and Taps at 10 pm. 

The days are filled with fishing, golf, hiking and eating...   The fishing has been great and the catching has been less than great but the guy at the bait shop says catching one pompano was a good accomplishment.  It was even a better meal!!!  The golfing has been outstanding.  And the weather is just unbelievable.  They keep asking and testing the hypothesis... is it possible to have too much fun!    Of course I don’t get to do all those things but I get to hear all about it! 

And more seafood!  Steamed shrimp, oysters on the half shell, and seared tuna salad so far this week!  There was a shift away from seafood one night tho – a delicious eggplant lasagna! 

So let me tell you about the fishing.  We’ve been going to a beach area near Destin.  They throw a few fishing lines in the water and wait for something to take a bite.  So far, they’ve caught one pompano and a few catfish.  The other day, they didn’t catch anything and they took the bait home and ate it!!!!  (the bait was fresh shrimp!!!)  Talk about a perfect way to start the day – laying on a beach, watching the waves and dolphins, barking at a few people now and then and waiting for them to catch a fish!  What a dog’s life!!!

Mom let me try my hand at fishing one morning and as you can see – I brought the fish in.  Mom, on the other hand, decided to give her catch to the Great blue heron that wandered by!

Oh, and of course, more golf……   Doesn’t sound like Mom has quite figured her game out yet tho.  Think that means there is need for more practice!