Sunny, warm Mobile

Welcome to the sunny, warm Gulf Coast-NOT. It is cold, freezing and cloudy. Mobile has a large navy ship building industry and we passed several ships in various stages of being built or repaired. On one of the boats there was an armed guard watching my every move. You can just see his gun sticking out from his back.The ship he is guarding is a Littoral Combat Ship. 
 

 

What was a surprise was that the ships were trimarans and catamarans-

We believe that the above ship is a High Speed Vessel (catamaran)  with a top speed of 48 knots/hour, which is a little faster than our catamaran which does on average 7 knots/hour. We can if we really push it do 16 knots/hour but are burning money not diesel!!!

Also, what was surprising was the hull of the top ship. It was quite sharp and pointed and reminded me of the Stealth bomber. We saw a very large shrink wrapped ship. I would like to have seen them do that with a hair dryer!!

We had a lovely greeting in Mobile Bay. There were my favourite pelicans and dolphins. I did not know which way to point the camera. We passed two fishing boats both with a large flock of birds around them waiting for the chum.

The city of Mobile is not as large as I expected. The population is around 200,000, It had a nice harbour along the Mobile River.

I was so proud of Gary the other day. He shouted for me to look out of the kitchen window and see a bird. I thought it was a cormorant but Gary did not. When I looked it up in my bird book it was a common loon, the same as what we had seen in Canada but in his winter plumage. He had beaten us to Mobile or had we beaten him?

A loon in winter clothing. If you look real close, you can still see some of the spots and stripes in his feathers.

                                   Loons in their summer clothing.
 I also took some photos of mallards (one with a tuft on his head). I wonder what causes that (we saw it in the white duck in a previous blog). I even managed to get a distant photo of a Kingfisher.

We have been "stuck" in Mobile since the weekend due to very strong winds, freezing rain, ice and a light dusting of snow. For some of the inhabitants of Mobile, this is the first time they have seen ice and snow. The temperatures have been below freezing for several days so the ice has remained on the ground as the city does not have any snow ploughs. We have been told that this is the coldest winter the South has had in twenty years.

I have been experimenting with my e-bay camera. I took a night photo without a flash and an Andy Warhol type photo.

The camera is doing a very nice job with my photos and to me has been quite a bargain for the price I paid for it.

Columbus, Mississippi to Mobile, Alabama

After leaving David in Florida, we returned to the boat in Mississippi. We had a good journey with good weather. Because we had the rental car until Monday and we had returned to the boat on Saturday, we decided to visit a Wildlife Refuge on Sunday (Gary is so good with visiting these places. He knows I really enjoy them. I guess a happy me is a happy Gary!!). We drove 45 miles each way to see nothing, zilch, nada not a dickie bird. We did see bald cypress trees which I find fascinating -

               It is amazing how they can grow in water and not drown.
We left Columbus on Monday with nice calm waters and weather 60 degrees. Since then it has been very cold both during the day and night, often into the teens.
We passed an historic Snagboat, the USS Montgomery which was built in 1925 and was the last of the steam-powered stern wheelers to ply the inland waterways of the south. For nearly 60 years, the Montgomery laboured to keep 7 of the south's major rivers navigable (info from "Skipper Bob Chicago to Mobile") by snagging debris and obstructions. She retired in 1984.

There were a lot of turkey vultures on her funnel and on the top of the boat. Perhaps they knew the boat was dead in the water or dry dock!!

Again, we passed and met several tows along the River (The TomBigbee) and saw several barges being loaded with cargo. We did pass one of the largest cranes we have seen on the river but could not tell what she was loading.

The part of the river we are travelling along is very monotonous, devoid of housing and things to see. We did pass some white cliffs with some nice reflections-

Prior to leaving our anchorage at Demopolis, I had the thrill of my life - no, not that kind of thrill!!! We had a tug come into the marina and Gary asked the captain if I could have a tour. I have always loved tugs and diesel engines. One of my earliest memories is of crossing the River Humber on the Ferry Boat the Winfield Castle or the Lincoln Castle and going below to see the engines. I loved the smell of the diesel and the sight of those big pistons going up and down. The Captain of the tug agreed to let me have a quick tour but poor Gary had to stay on our boat and fill it with water.

The lock at Demopolis had a large waterfall to its side showing why the dam and lock had to be built. I think that was the greatest amount of water being moved at the side of the dam that I had seen on the whole of our journey.

It was so cold going through the locks that I had to ask Gary for a blanket to keep me warm despite a camisole, turtle neck sweater, cardigan and jacket.

After I pulled up the anchor earlier in the week and wrapped the rope that prevented the anchor chain from hitting the side of the boat around the railing, I got back inside the warm boat quickly. Within 10 mins icicles had formed on the rope showing that it was still well below freezing outside.

 
The river had a current that was with us allowing us to motor at lower revs, save diesel and motor faster.

The Tombigee now the Mobile River is also tidal and must have had a huge tidal surge at one time judging by the huge branch stuck in some pilings at the side of the river (middle of photo).
 

I am now a blond. Why am I a blond? I had planned to let my grey hair grow out as I am fed up of having it coloured every month. Gary does not want me to go grey so I bargained with him - shave off your grey mustache and I will colour my hair. Well, he won't shave off that piece of hair that has been attached to him for over 40 years so I am going to go grey. To help the grey not be as noticeable I had my hair highlighted at a Walmart in Mississippi. The girl did a very nice job with colouring and shaping my hair. I did not tell Gary I had had it done and you should have seen his face when he picked me up. So far, it is not true that blonds have more fun!!!!

In my hand I am holding what I think is the most useful piece of equipment aboard the boat. It is a remote control that can steer the boat but not stop or brake it. It can be taken outside so that it looks like no-one is steering the boat if both of us are outside. I use this a lot as I do not like bending down to use the other piece of equipment that steers the boat (the helm and autopilot).

Well, we are now in Mobile, Alabama waiting for good weather to cross the gulf. We may be here for a while depending on the weather, Gary's Mom's surgery and if we can get Gary's cousins to visit us for a while.

Florida continued

Now where were we? I remember - Disney and David's marathon. He ran a half marathon the week after with his friend Dane in New Orleans. He managed to complete it despite very sore feet. I am going to take a moment here to have you think of the proudest moment in your children's lives.Was it a graduation, grade, marriage or an athletic achievement like David is accomplishing?
The day after the marathon we visited a botanical garden in Orlando (yes, even David and Gary). It was not the most interesting as there was not much in bloom. The garden was known for its camellias - over 200 and many different varieties. I have a Camellia at home and it flowers in December despite the cold and frost. It is nice to see some colour in the garden at that time of the year.

The gardens had a house attached that you could go round with a guide. It was interesting but what interested me the most was a wedding dress on display. It dated from the 1920s (I think). I thought it was quite similar to mine (1979) with the high neck, long sleeves and ruffles across the bust.

See, fashions always come back in style!! My dress will be in style in another 50 years!!!
On Wednesday, we went to Gatorland. I do not think Gary and David were too keen but I wanted to go. It turned out to be the best visit of the trip. I have never seen so many gators and the birds were wonderful.

It was surprising how close the birds got to the alligators.

                                                    Great Egret

I thought this was interesting the way the stork was sitting down with his feet out front. I guess he couldn't sit down with his feet behind him - silly me.

Gatorland has 4 white alligators. They are not albinos and I forget the name of their reason for being white - sorry! A senior moment!

                                             A limpkin, I think.

Where does our son get his goofiness from, I wonder!! He should have been given an academy award for his acting!!!

This bird was signalling he/she is in the mood for love!!

                                I just liked the colours in this photo.

Another signalling bird - "see how attractive I am"

 Great Egret chasing off Snowy Egret. 

 This black crowned night heron had unfortunately lost his left foot. I wonder if a gator got it.

We went to a gator show and prior to the show you could have your photo taken with an alligator. If I had sat on him he would only have been good for handbags afterwards.

This young man was very entertaining. He wrestled the alligator onto its back where it fell asleep due to "sensory overload". So now we know what to do if an alligator grabs us, roll him onto his back and run like ----!!! 

The alligator woke up when the man tickled its belly and then he ran like ----.

I do not know if this duck has a name. I could not find it in my bird book. What name would you give it? Ducky!!!

Two pally alligators in the photo above the one above. It is not focused very well, unfortunately.

I was fascinated to see a Great White Egret and a Great White Heron riding on the back of the alligators. Perhaps this is what is known as "fast food".

We also rode a zip line (yes, even Gary and myself). I was not nervous at all for some reason and thoroughly enjoyed the "rides".

The highest we dropped from was 85 feet and the longest we rode for was approx 400 feet. It was over so quickly, we never had time to be scared. We flew over tree tops and an alligator pit on five different zip lines - wheeee!!! Prior to the last zip line we had to cross a suspension bridge made of wooden slats and rope. I was not too happy on that as I was afraid Gary would catch up with me and the bridge would swing even more. I hurried to get over it before he stepped foot on it.

I am going to risk that you can tolerate a longer blog because I am going to tell you about our last day in Florida. We went to Universal Studios. I had heard so much about Harry Potter Land from my friends Linda and Pat that I wanted to see it for myself. Gary and David did not mind going so off we went on a cold day for Florida - 56 degrees and windy. Well, Harry Potter was disappointing. There were hundreds of people there and they got in the way of my photos. We rode the inside Harry Potter ride and after 2 secs of the ride starting I had to shut my eyes and pray for the ride to end. The ride was one of the longest I had been on (or it just seemed like it as it spun, dipped and plunged). I gripped the bar in a death like grip and hated every minute of it. When I got off my knees were shaking, my hands hurting from gripping the bar so hard and I vowed not to ride that ride again. Even David said it was a rough ride.

We did not go on this water ride as we did not have spare clothing and it was too cool and windy. Boy, did this boat make a splash. In the hot summer of Florida this must be a super cooling ride.

Here is a photo of David "pinching" a snapdragon/antirrhinum. I do not mean stealing but pinching the side of the flower to make it open its "jaws". Granddad Fuller taught him to do that years ago and he could not resist it. Thank-you, Dad!!!

I did go on this ride with David - Gary opted out. It was not as bad as it looked.

David doing his impersonation of Mohammed Ali!!! with two characters (I do not know who they are - am I showing my age?).

 David on the roller coaster by himself. He is at the back, on the right wearing a turquoise jacket (mine, because he was cold). I would NEVER EVER go on a roller coaster like this and I would NEVER take my hands off the grab bar let alone wave. David said it was one of the best he had been on.
I think that is more than enough for today. I hope you have enjoyed our visit with David in Florida. I know we did and we miss him already. We love you, David!!  

Kingston Rover Loop Map