Gulf Shores, AL

Post cover Jan 10 to Jan 14, 2017.

We left Tallahassee for Gulf Shores in Alabama and had a nice drive until going through Pensacola when we had a rock fly up and put a nice chip in our windshield. Oh well at least it is small enough so that we can get it repaired and not have to replace the windshield.

We pulled into Gulf State Park and were wow'd with the area. It is certainly one of the nicest state parks we have been to. The site we had picked out was as nice as it looked online. We were right across the road from the canal that runs through part of the park and had a pull through site. Off to our other side (passenger side) was a brushy / swampy area so it was nice and private. We also found that the swampy area was full of frogs that serenaded us at night. We had great Verizon and AT&T service and wide open sky for the satellite. There is no wifi in the campground. We paid the standard site rate since we were across the road from the canal and not right on it, so at $37/night it wasn't too bad for being in such a gorgeous spot. With having a nice large space, we were able to set up a large area with the pens for the babies to play in and us to sit in with them.

Some how when I started looking at this area to visit I misread the information on the beaches being dog-friendly. When we got there and start looking at all the beaches in Gulf Shores, we found none of them allow dogs. This was frustrating to say the least and it's hard to understand why the whole area would be so unfriendly to dogs. We found some other parks in the area that are okay to take the babies to but it's not the same. It was also frustrating as the beaches are gorgeous with nice white sand.

We did find that the island next to Gulf Shores, Dauphin Island, was dog friendly on all it's beaches. One day, we hopped on the ferry that goes from Gulf Shores to Dauphin Island and took the babies on an outing to the beach. It was their first ferry ride, Spella and Vinnie did great but Prada was her nervous self and was a bit unsure of what was going on. Once we got to the island, we found a few beaches that were nice to walk on and easy for the babies. Vinnie got a nice stroller ride and a few short assisted walks on the beach. The girls got to play on the beach and dip their paws in the gulf waters.

Vinnie enjoying his stroller view of the beach

 Spella daydreaming while she looks at the gulf!

After finding out about the lack of dog friendly beaches, we decided not to stay too long and made plans to head towards Galveston were we all could enjoy the beaches. We did like the area but found this part unfortunate.

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Brunswick, GA visit

Post covers Jan 4 to Jan 10, 2017

After leaving Raleigh, we decided to head down to Georgia. We decided to stay new Saint Simons Island as it was an area we wanted to explore. We stayed at Coastal Georgia RV Resort for a few days and explored the area with the babies. I forgot to get any pictures of the resort but we enjoyed it and found the staff friendly, the campground was dog-friendly and they had no problem with us putting up pens for the babies. The space was adequate but no large. The park was quiet and all the neighbors were pleasant to be around.

We got the babies out to the beaches at Saint Simons Island a couple of times and worked on Vinnie's rehab. He is doing great and with assistance from a sling to hold up his rear legs, he is able to walk and play. We are thinking about getting him a wheelchair but will see how it goes for him.

We spent part of a day at Jekyll Island as well and toured the sea turtle rescue sanctuary there. These people do amazing work to rescue and rehab sea turtles. They try to release all the turtles they rehab but will care for ones that can't be nursed back to being able to survive on their own. It was nice to see the people that work and volunteer there being so caring.

While we were there, the area had a cold snap come through. Luckily we left Raleigh at the right time as they ended up with snow and icy roads and even northern parts of Georgia had snow. We were just cold for a couple of days.

After leaving Brunswick, we head for the Gulf Shores of Alabama but wanted to do the drive in a couple of days so spent one night in Tallahassee, FL. We ended up picking a park as best we could from reviews. We stayed at Big Oak RV Park. While the park wasn't bad, it was more of a permanent resident park with just a few overnighters. They were dog-friendly and we were able to put up our pens.

In the afternoon we drove around the area to see what was in Tallahassee and found a little BBQ place for a late lunch. After that we decided to have a relaxing night and plan on leaving early in the morning for Gulf Shores.

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