This is where we will be calling “home” for the next few weeks.
Friday was Lilly’s day to go to the base vet. Everything checked out just fine except for her teeth. She weighed in at 33.8 pounds and they even scanned her chip to make sure it was still working. The Vet Tech gave us a list of off base vets that we could check for teeth cleaning. She said that if the civilian clinic says they will need blood work, come to the base vet clinic to have it done.
Morning coffee and reading time at the Greystone.
The annual ‘Penguin Bash’ was held on Saturday afternoon. The FamCamp provided fried chicken from Po Folks along with salad and cake and the campers brought side dishes. Sam (Samantha) the park manager also gave out a number of prizes including a month’s stay and a 22” LCD TV. No we did not win anything but had a good meal and met some interesting people.
Monday morning made the call to a local vet (recommended) and set up for Lilly to get her teeth cleaned on Thursday. Had to then make an appointment at the base vet clinic for blood work…..almost as much to do for her as a human! After lunch we stopped by the fitness center and met with a personal trainer. She is going to plot a program for us and on Tuesday afternoon we go back to learn which machines to use and what settings to have them.
After dinner on Monday we headed to the Panama City Marina Civic Center for a free concert by the Band of the Air Force Reserve. It was a packed house – never have seen so many old people in one place! They put on a great show and the female vocalist was out of this world. Hard to connect that she is a ‘professional’ singer with dual degrees in vocal performance and is an Airman First Class in the AF. We were also entertained by the only bagpipe piper in the AF. He was really good and in the middle of one piper tune broke into some jazz. Now imagine that – jazz coming from a bagpipe.
On Tuesday for the first time since our arrival the overflow section was empty. The day after we moved to a site there were nine units waiting for sites. We really don’t think we will be offered a full hook up site (with sewer) but where we are is fine. It is one of the few sites in the back loop that gets some sunshine. It rained very hard this morning and we had two plus inches of water standing on our mat under the awning but by noon it was all gone. After lunch we had our meeting with a trainer and received instructions on the machines she said we needed. It took about an hour to go through each as she first did one of us and then the other. After she finished we went back in and used each as she had instructed. There must be 75 different machines, plus a number of treadmills, stair steppers, elliptical walkers and stationary cycles. It is quite a place and was very busy. Before and after duty ours it is really full.
It was a bright sunny day so we took the quarter mile boardwalk across the dunes to the beach. Judy tried to find some shells and she did find a small sand dollar.
It is interesting how the seagulls will park themselves headed into the wind. Sometimes they stand and other times they nestle into the sand.
Wednesday we headed east to Apalachicola for a seafood fix. The “Seafood Grill” was just as we had recalled…an old single floor store front that has been a restaurant for many years. It is built up 6 steps from street level as the road is just at sea level. It is nothing fancy, nice sized servings and the food is good although their prices have gone up. We enjoyed the meal and then walked around the town some. The city was once a large sponge center with sponge divers going out in the gulf to harvest various live sponges. Apalachicola is about 50 miles east of Tyndall on US 98 and the road passes through some beautiful old towns and some newer vacation home spots. In 2007 when we were here you could still see a lot of hurricane damage. There is still some where older buildings right along the water were destroyed.
The “Seafood Grill” in Apalachicola.
On the way back we tracked the mileage along US98 which runs through the middle of Tyndall AFB. From the eastern most boundary of base property to Bonita Bay where the drone retrieval boats are (the FamCamp is right next to it) 14 miles of US98 bisects the base. On the north side the flight line, runways and aircraft support facilities are found and on the south, all of the housing and base support including the commissary BX and fitness center. Not sure how many acres or square miles the base encompasses but a lot of it is coastal sand and many many acres of slash pine. Last weekend they were doing some prescribed burning to clear out the underbrush along the four mile road to one of the housing areas.
Thursday was Lilly’s big day. We had her at the Vet’s by 7:30 for what we thought would be routine cleaning; turned out to be a bit more than that as several of the teeth were infected and had to be pulled. During the morning we went to the fitness center, and while Judy was doing the Zumba/Yoga Jon did the circuit of machines and then both did some work on the elliptical machines. It was after 4:30 when we picked up Lilly and brought her home. She is not feeling all that good, but has been a trooper about it.
While Judy was at aerobics it was time to ‘blue boy’ it. Our portable tank is actually gray, but the principle is the same when you don’t have a sewer connection. Since the men’s shower has been closed down for repairs and the men and women are sharing (rotating hours of use) the ladies shower it causes us to use our own more. After lunch we went for a 2-3 mile bike ride in the old housing area across US98 from the FamCamp. In the evening we went to the club house and made up a table to play hand and foot. There is one couple here that many don’t want to play with but it worked out for us. It was a long night sitting, however.
Saturday and it was off to the local quilt shop (Quilting by the Bay) and to visit the marina. Actually it is more than a local quilt shop as they have web site, advertise in a number of quilting magazines and ship out lots of material. Upstairs they have large automated quilting machine to ‘quilt’ completed and sandwiched quilts. It was then a stop at Hobby Lobby where we found some interesting material and a couple of other unique things. After lunch at CiCi’s we went to the marina to tour a 3 masted schooner. It is a ship built in 1989 to replicate an old ship. It is sailed by a group called the 12 tribes, a religious group. It is really something. We forgot the camera so no pictures. Well did take some with the camera on the phone, but can’t get them off.
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