Heading To The River

Thankfully, the morning rain held off long enough for Gary to pack up our campsite at Grayton Beach. We barely made it out to the highway before the van's windshield wipers were doing their thing. Whew...that was a close one! Gary is never thrilled to pack up our stuff, and even less so when he's soaking wet. We headed east on US98, and made a surprisingly lengthy stop at Ron Jon Surf Shop in Panama City Beach. The plan was to pick up a couple of Ron Jon decals for our surf themed guest room at home. But, Gary got carried away looking at all the cool stuff that Ron Jon's sells, and he was in the store for more than an hour. It was raining when we arrived there, but had stopped by the time we left. So, I posed for a couple of pics next to the company logos on the side of the building. While Gary was taking photos for us, two other people came along and took pictures of me too. I felt like a real celebrity for a few minutes. That was AWESOME! From there, we continued east for what seemed like an eternity. There were countless traffic lights as we went through all the little towns along the coast. When we reached the entrance to Tyndall Air Force Base, the traffic lights became few and far between, and we were finally able to click off some miles at a faster pace. It was a long way to Carabelle Beach, where we finally stopped for a rest. The seaside rest stop was old, but very picturesque. Gary made a couple of sandwiches, and walked along the white sandy beach for a few minutes. I waited in the parking lot and let my hot tires cool off. I was getting a bit road weary, and needed a break. It was less than an hour from Carabelle Beach to our campsite at Ochlockonee River State Park. Since it was late when we got here, there was no time for Gary to explore like he usually does. By the time he got me set up for our two night stay, it was getting dark. I doubt if much has changed since we were here for Christmas in 2011, but you never know. We had sporadic phone reception last time, and no TV reception. This time, both are good, especially the phone. And if the phone is getting good reception, then we also have an internet connection. I'm SO glad we do, because I really wanted to tell you about our day and show you some pictures. More tomorrow. Sweet dreams!