Moving on up

On the beach in Carrabelle

Leaving Bushnell and hot, hot Florida days behind, we tripped to Carrabelle, FL, a little town west of the Big Bend in the Florida Panhandle. We found an Escapees discount park which just happened to have a site available right on the water's edge. We really enjoyed sitting in our captain's chairs, drinking coffee in the morning, watching the few fisherpersons go out in their inflatable boats, or watching the sandpipers on the beach just below our front bumper.

We also walked along the beach. It's quite a drastic change to watch tides only go up and down by a couple feet, after the 9 foot tides at Jekyll and the 11 foot tides in Maine.


Tricolored heron

One morning visitor we had on the beach was this tricolored heron that was dong some fishing of his own. He had an unusual way of stretching his neck out and turning his head on its side, presumably to see better in the light chop on the water. He didn't appear to be very successful catching fish, but then, he probably eats like a bird.



Saint George Island Light

On Saturday, we hopped into the car and tripped along the shore into Carrabelle, then on to Eastport and the new bridge to Saint George Island. There's a state park on Saint George that we wanted to stay in, but it was full, full, full. We had reservations to go there a couple years ago, and it's still on our list. Where the bridge lands on the island is touristy, but the state park is a wonderful beach park at the eastern end. Small campground, though, only 60 sites.

On Monday, we left Carrabelle with a plan to get the the Escapees park in Summerdale, AL. But we ran into severe thunderstorm, tornado and flood watches and warnings after about 40 miles. We hunkered down in Quincy, FL, in a ratty just-off-the-highway campground for the night. On Tuesday, we rolled into Summerdale, and ended up staying 3 nights there. We got some of our RV repairs and updates done, and Consuelo spent some time with other pine needle basketmakers.

On Friday, with potentially severe weather again on the horizon, we left Summerdale and got as far as Jackson, MS, where we snuggled into the corner of a Flying J parking lot for the night. Our plan had been to get to Vicksburg, but we had a late start.

On Saturday, we travelled to Hot Springs, Arkansas. Since much of this trip was to be on US roads, I was concerned that it would take too long. But the US roads were mostly 4 lane, and traffic was relatively light, so travel was nearly as fast as on the interstates.

Hot Springs Bath House

On Sunday, we toured the Hot Springs National Park. Hot Springs was the first natural resource to be protected by the US fereral government in the 1830s. In the 1920s, it became a National Park.

The park encompasses the hot springs themselves, producing thousands of gallons of clear, clean water at 143 degrees F every day. Said to cure ailments, hot bathing facilities were built to serve the tourists, and the town grew up around this industry. Famous people and gangsters made their way here to relax.

Consuelo in the shower

The luxurious Fordyce Baths were the most luxurious of the bath parlors built, and the building is now the home of the NP Visitor's Center. Catering to larger and larger crowds, the bath parlors added massages, medical devices, exercise machines, and fresh air to their regimen of treatment. The wonder drugs developed by the medical industry caused the decline of hot springs as a primary cure, but the National Park mission still includes managing the output of the springs.