We continued to enjoy our “Christmas break” the last three weeks at Gulf State Park. In spite of the less-than-ideal weather conditions, we were still able to be outside for at least part of all but 2 days. Those 2 days were just stay inside and binge watching movies and reading days. We didn’t get to use our bikes as much as we had planned because it was just too cold and windy to ride but that just meant there was more hiking. It was all still good. Our friends Barry and Donna visited with us one weekend. We had a great time hiking, geocaching and enjoying our visit that was just too short.
This was our weather several times this visit.
On two nights the park staff asked us to disconnect our water hoses and let the campsite faucets drip. This was the result at our site.
One of many beautiful sunsets this visit
We always enjoy the eagles at Gulf State Park
Just before we left, this eagle pair started staying at the nest. Hopefully, that means a new egg.
A flock of scaups were our neighbors most mornings.
There are many herons in the park. Many days one stayed around our campsite and frequently we saw them on the beach.
Wonderful, yet too short, weekend with Barry and Donna
Our last two mornings in the park were so foggy we couldn’t see the beach from the pedestrian bridge.
Last beach walk this visit
We are now at Grand Isle, LA, arriving Friday afternoon, to resume our mission work assisting in the recovery efforts from hurricane Ida. Those of you that follow our blog will remember that we were here in Spring of 2023. Grand Isle is a barrier island off the coast of New Orleans – about 50 miles south of New Orleans. There is an eight-mile bridge to cross to reach the island that is about 7 miles long. It is absolutely the end of the road. We noticed progress in the repair/restoration efforts since we left last year. Unfortunately, there is obviously more that needs to be done. We are very thankful for safe travels and are looking forward to the next four weeks serving the people of Grand Isle.
After about a five and a half hour drive we crossed back over the 8 mile bridge …
… drove through the flooded streets of Grand Isle …
… and arrived at the NOMADS parking area before the rain started again.
We are still at Gulf State Park enjoying some rest and preparation for our next NOMADS project. The trails here are wonderful for hiking and biking and even with the cooler than usual weather we have used them a lot. We also sometimes just walk around the campground meeting people – talking about birds, travel, RVs and our volunteer mission work.
Gulf State Park provides many educational programs, such as this one about dolphins.
Of course, one of our favorite things about the park is the abundance of wildlife – such as this alligator eating a duck …
… and this nesting pair of bald eagles that we see every year …
… and this curious armadillo that, on one of our hikes, walked onto the pavement, sniffed at Max’s shoe, then wandered off the other side of the trail.
Max’s birthday lunch was our usual order from Blalock Seafood – “a pound of royal red shrimp, peeled and deveined, steamed, mild, and left hot.”
We finally got a chance to try out Anne’s new smokeless fire pit by making a few s’mores.
Time to do a little catching up on our blog, since our last post was about six weeks ago when we wrapped up our project in Oklahoma. From Oklahoma we went back to Alabama for our annual doctor and dentist appointments and some business matters. After that it was to Gaffney, SC for Fred’s annual maintenance and then we took a few weeks to spend time with family.
After our visit to Gaffney, our driver side rear view mirror was shattered by a careless trucker so we had to repair that before we could get back on the road. We also replaced the fresh water pump in Fred.
As has become our tradition we spent Thanksgiving and a couple of weeks after with Max’s brother’s family.
Over Thanksgiving weekend we helped one of our nephews install a metal roof on his garage.
We had a great time camping with Randy and Debra at Santee State Park. We love waterfront campsites.
Chilling around the campfire at Santee State Park
Hiking the Old 301 Santee Walking Bridge
We also camped in a hospital parking lot for one night. It’s nice to have a place of our own to relax in between patient visits.
And we also spent some time with Anne’s brother in Georgia, including a visit to the award winning Christmas light show at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens.
One of the light tunnels at the Botanical Gardens light show
One of the dancing light shows
The goddess fountain is decorated with flowers in the summer, but was beautifully decorated with lights for the show.
The artists at the garden are very talented with light sculptures such as these birds…
… and these butterflies.
Now we are back at Gulf State Park in Alabama for Christmas.
On our way to Gulf Shores we always try to stop at Warehouse Market and Bakery in Atmore, AL to stock up. That’s the only place we have found the Conecuh sausage rolls, so we bought a dozen (and a few other goodies).
We continued leadership of the Oklahoma Disaster Rebuild for this our last week. Last Friday, we said goodbye to Chris and Laura and Bruce and Janette. We had a great two weeks with both couples who helped the team accomplish so much. Thursday night the team went to one of the local Mexican restaurants and had a fun last meal together. On Sunday we welcomed new team member Nettie and her sweet furry friend Amos. This was Nettie’s first DR project and we look forward to working with her on a future DR.
This week we spent a lot of our time completing William’s house. With the delivery of the shingles on Monday morning, we were able to complete the roof before lunch. ROAD also brought us new paint on Monday morning. Last Thursday when we ran out of shingles, we began painting the fascia and soffit. We were not happy with the paint and wondered if it had been through a freeze. With the new paint the painting went much better and by Tuesday we completed the exterior painting. Wednesday, we completed the repairs, drywall and painting in the bathroom as well as painting the ceilings in the living room and hallway and part of the kitchen. Wow, what a difference that made in the interior appearance of the house. The installation of the new door was also completed this week. We also completed several punch list items and at the end of the day Wednesday presented William his Bible. He was so pleased and excited about all the improvements made in his home. Such a blessing to help people restore their homes.
Finished roof
Nettie and Anne painting more soffit and fascia
Michele and Ken starting the kitchen ceiling.
Anne starting the painting of the living room ceiling
What a difference the new paint makes.
Living room ceiling finished
Nettie working on bathroom walls
bathroom wall when we left
Jake and Angela finished William’s bathroom while we worked in Okmulgee.
Bible presentation for Mr William
On Monday Anne was interviewed for a local news story about ROAD on KOTV in Tulsa. The story was still on their web page the last time we looked. Contact us if you want the link.
We also returned to Margaret’s home to complete the few punch list items there this week – touchup on some trim, paint, clean up, etc. We were able to present her with her Bible on Wednesday afternoon as well. She also was so very appreciative of all the many NOMADS who worked at her home.
Bible presentation for Ms Margaret
Thursday the entire team returned to Okmulgee, 50 minutes away, to help our ROAD friends Gary and Sam complete a lot of items at Tiara’s house. We painted the bathroom ceiling and lots of trim, installed ceiling and floor trim, closet doors, assisted with some subfloor/beams/joist work and installed some lights as well as some general cleanup. We also had the pleasure of meeting Tiara Thursday and presented her with her Bible.
Gary and Sam requested “all hands on deck at Tiara’s on Thursday.
Bob and Leone working on trim
Some of the trim required a lot of custom cutting. Bob spent a lot of time getting this piece right. By the time he added the door trim you could easily not notice the crooked ceiling. (NOMADS did not install the ceiling.)
Ken hanging bi-fold doors on the bedroom closet
Bedroom trimmed when we left
Bathroom when we left
Sam and Gary worked all day on Tiara’s Kitchen floor.
Tiara’s kitchen floor when we left. Sam and Gary finished it before they left.
Bible presentation for Ms Tiara
We closed the week with all the assigned tasks for our homes completed. No carryover work for the new leaders. We think this is the first time that has happened when we were turning over a DR to new leaders. Yesterday, November 10, Ken, Michelle and Nettie headed to their next project or home and we left the Oklahoma project in the great hands of Leone and Bob who will be starting some new work Monday.
Great team for our final week in Oklahoma
Also, for the past three weeks, we have worked alongside two other wonderful volunteers, Jake and Angela. They usually work with Habitat but fortunately for us the Habitat build they had planned to work was cancelled so they worked alongside us on William’s house. They had more roofing experience than us and were a tremendous asset. Hope we get to work with Jake and Angela again sometime. (Just maybe they will become NOMADS some day.)
Angela and Jake, our Godsends from Habitat for Humanity
Friday morning we said goodbyes to our new friends in Muskogee. We hope we can return sometime. They do great work and there are many people still needing assistance. Fred took us to an Arkansas rest area yesterday where we stopped for the night. This morning we were up early and made it back to Camp Sumatanga early this afternoon. Thank you, God, for safe travels. We are looking forward to worshiping with our friends at our home church tomorrow. Until next time, stay safe and ask God to help you be the light in this crazy world.
RVing With a Purpose 