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It’s that time of year

 Springtime.  Hormones raging; birds engaged in battle.  Grackles, disagreeing on a driveway, tumbling down to a puddle; unfazed by the water. Uninterrupted. The battle rages on. One gains an advantage and presses it. Finally, a winner is determined.  The vanquished must be chased away. (Action photos compliments of Judy.) 
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Yesterday

 The campsites at Manatee Hammock Campground got a whole lot nicer when all the weekend campers left. It really opened up! An early anniversary dinner at Dixie Crossroads Café.  Had the yummy rock shrimp. It’s got a special story.Little hard-shelled shrimp everyone just threw away until they figured out how to crack and serve them.  Today, we headed back to Orlando for Star Island Resort. 2017 summer trip map We left the motorhome in the north forty. And moved into our room.   Nice room(s)! We met up with Matt, Lindsay and family; here for the gymnastics. 
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It’s just not fair

 Judy and I had our 50th wedding anniversary and we had a big celebration.  It was our Golden Anniversary; it even had a name!  We got lots of attention.  The party was so much fun, and the 50th anniversary felt like such a big deal, we decided to celebrate our Golden Anniversary all year long; answering every inquiry with “we’re Golden”, until no-one could stand us anymore. But that year just flew by.  Now it’s over.  Now we’re having our 51st, and it’s not that big a deal.  We’re getting lots of congratulations, but this anniversary doesn’t even have a name.  Hey, fifty-one is more than fifty!  Shouldn’t fifty-one be an even bigger deal? Well, the world isn’t getting off any easier now that we’ve cycled all the way through our Golden Anniversary year.  Want to know how we’re doing?  Just ask. From now on, we’re Goldener!  
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Yesterday

 Judy held her breath all the way under Mobile Bay. I forgot to take any pictures of last night’s camp, so I got some this morning.  Alliance Hill RV Resort. A charming surprise. We drove across the Suwanee River today.  It will take a while for that song to clear.  That’s not as bad as driving through Winslow, Arizona and ending up with Eagles stuck in my head though. Motored on down the road to Titusville, Florida. 2017 summer trip map Manatee Hammock Campground.  The parking spot for the coach isn’t anything special. But the surrounding scenery is wonderful!     The Kennedy Space Center is right across the bay (Indian River).Campers can watch rocket launches right from here.  Space X has been doing most of the launches lately. 365 birds.  If we saw one new bird per day for an entire year, our year would be over today, May 6th. 
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Darn it!

 We were headed for Panama City Beach today to meet up with John and Jo; friends since we were all young.  John and I used to sit together and watch our kids at wrestling practice when they were single digit ages.  When we called to get a camp spot at Panama City Beach, we were informed it was Thunder on the Beach Week; all the RV sites had been booked up for months in advance, for miles up and down the coast.  There is no way we were going to get a camp site.  In fact we probably wouldn’t even be able to drive down the street for all the motorcycles!  With no place to stay anywhere along the coast, it was going to be impossible to see them. Except!  We found an RV site in Marianna, right close to the interstate, well away from the beach, and John and Jo drove an hour north to meet us for dinner!  Yeaa for good friends like that!  A few days ago, when we unexpectedly met with Jim and Cathy, I totally forgot to take a picture.  This time I got us all as soon as they walked in the door so I wouldn’t forget. 2017 summer trip map(Okay.  Every time I make a new map, it defaults to Private.  All I have to do is change the setting to Public.  How hard could that be?  I do it every time; every time someone reminds me to do it, and I’ve done it again.  The trip map is set to Public now.) Alliance Hill RV Resort.  It appears that someone turned their old ranch on a hill into an RV resort.  The spots are nice, concrete slabs and 50 amp full-hookups, swimming pool, clubhouse, dog park, and walking trails.  The owner couldn’t be friendlier or more helpful.  It has a local charm.  It’s nine miles off the freeway, but well worth the extra few minutes. Not only did we get a good RV Spot, but the owner recommended The Wharf Casual Seafood for dinner.  We met John and Jo there.  The food was wonderful and the staff was great. I think I’ve run out of superlatives.