THE RETURN of THE WHATLEYS MAY 21-30. Our trip is done, now time for the TR :(

[racefanof88]

Love the pictures!!! Yea, it's sad about the oil spill.....very sad!!! Love the b&w pics too!!!

Thank you Christie. I hope and pray they can come up with something to stop the oil. If it gets in the Gulf Stream, it will eventually get to ya'll too. We all need to pray they find some answers. Thanks about the b&w's; I think they really make a statement.

Awesome photos, Dana!!! I wish I could help clean up the Gulf. Are there organizations taking donations??? What a terrible disaster.

Thank you April, maybe I'll get as good as you at taking pictures, your pictures always turn out so pretty.

I will post an address where donations can be made for the recovery. It can be items or gift cards or what ever anyone wants to do. There have already been some Sea Turtles found dead

 

[racefanof88]

Beautiful pictures, Dana. You've really become a pro with that camera!

I was looking through all those pictures, thinking to myself, "how rough the water looks." Then I read to the end and you said, "It's almost like the water is angry with what's happened." WELL SAID !

I pray that they are able to cap this pump off soon, and that it will quit spewing oil into the Gulf.

Thank you Michelle, I am trying to get the hang of the camera. I do love playing with it.

I told Dale that God was angry because we are destroying the gifts He has given us. The water was so rough, at times, there would be a spray of water that would go at least 15-20 feet in the air.

I am so worried that they can't stop this mess from ruining our beautiful beaches. I worry about all the people who depend on the Gulf to make a living. NOAA has banned all fishing in the Gulf for at least the next 10 days.

We are safe from the flooding but some areas around here were not so lucky. It was so good to see the sun out yesterday!!

LOVE your beach pics--so pretty in black and white!

I'm glad to hear that you are safe. When they showed that house floating down stream it was scary. The sun hasn't been out here in the past several days; it is trying to peak out some today.

Thanks about the pix. I am learning how to change the settings pretty quickly on the camera now

Beautiful pictures Dana. I thought about you this weekend because John's brother and sister came through your area. My niece moved to Pensacola this weekend. I heard on the radio this morning that they expected the oil to reach the Louisiana and Mississippi coastline today. How very sad!

Thank you Lisa. I'm so sad this is happening. As if this area wasn't already hurt enough by Ivan and Katrina, now we have the oil .

 

[racefanof88]

Hi! I'm super late to this party, but I've seen you around on several others' PTRs & the big May meet thread so I thought I'd pop over when I noticed you had a PTR! I just read your last post with the pictures from Pensacola. They are beautiful! It's an awful tragedy in the Gulf. I just hate it... I'm glad you were able to run down there and get some great pictures, though.

I'm going to go back and attempt to catch up!

and for joining in.

Thank you, about the pix. I hope we can save our beaches, but I don't know about some of the sea life, I think we will be paying for this for many, many years to come .

There were a lot of people going to the beaches this weekend just to get one last look.

I'm gonna go over and catch up on your PTR .

 

[Mommy2LittleVols]

You got some really beautiful pictures of the Gulf Coast! I am so sad about what is happening with the oil.

 

[MHTeacher]

I told Dale that God was angry because we are destroying the gifts He has given us. The water was so rough, at times, there would be a spray of water that would go at least 15-20 feet in the air.

I am so worried that they can't stop this mess from ruining our beautiful beaches. I worry about all the people who depend on the Gulf to make a living. NOAA has banned all fishing in the Gulf for at least the next 10 days.

I know exactly what you mean, Dana. So many beautiful things in nature, we ruin with our stupidity and inability to look past the present moment.

I am worried about the beaches too. I really believe that Alabama has the prettiest beaches around here , and I hate to see any of it harmed. My parents drove down to Orange Beach yesterday for a little week trip (had it planned and reserved before any of this happened). I told them to be prepared not to get any fresh seafood during this trip.

I've also wondered what this will do to the price of gas, right here before our trip?!?!

 

[racefanof88]

We had not really decided what we wanted for lunch until we got back in the car at the beach. Dale wanted to eat at Margaritaville since we haven't been there in 1 1/2 years. I got some pictures along the way so here they are

I took this picture because I think it is sad that Destin probably isn't going to be lucky anymore.

I thought this was a funny name for a Bar and Grille.

I haven't seen a fire tower in years

So we drive on toward Panama City Beach and along the way we are seeing lots of motorcycles.

So we got to Beach Blvd and traffic starts to crawl.

This is what we see

We get here and park.

I'm sure everybody knows that Jimmy Buffett is from this area so he is like a hero around here.

More bikes

These guys greet you as you head up to the restaurant

We found out, while in line for a table, why there are motorcycles everywhere; it is the Thunder Island Bike Rally. Dale had a Harley when we got married and he loves motorcycles, so he was in heaven.

Dale and his Harley.....lol.

Anyway, we didn't have to wait long for a table despite the fact the line was REALLY long. We were seated outside on the deck.

This was the decoration on our table

A picture of some of the crowd

Across the street from the restaurant. The Gulf was rough here too.

And of course, ya'll who know me knew, I had to order this

It just wouldn't be Margaritaville without a Margarita .


Continued.

 

[aprilisis]

Great photos, Dana!!! Wow! Dale is just a kid in that photo with the Harley. Is that big building a hotel? I love the parrots.
I SOOO can't wait to see the photos you will take in Disney!!

 

[racefanof88]

You got some really beautiful pictures of the Gulf Coast! I am so sad about what is happening with the oil.

Thank you Julia. I don't think anybody in charge knows just how much oil is being pumped into the Gulf or how much damage is going to be done.

I know exactly what you mean, Dana. So many beautiful things in nature, we ruin with our stupidity and inability to look past the present moment.

I am worried about the beaches too. I really believe that Alabama has the prettiest beaches around here , and I hate to see any of it harmed. My parents drove down to Orange Beach yesterday for a little week trip (had it planned and reserved before any of this happened). I told them to be prepared not to get any fresh seafood during this trip.

I've also wondered what this will do to the price of gas, right here before our trip?!?!

Well said Michelle.

The white sand on our beaches won't be white much longer, and who knows when we will ever get to go swimming in the Gulf again. Your parents can probably find some fresh seafood right now because of all that has already been caught. On the news last night they showed people going out to restaurants in Biloxi to eat seafood. The next story was about people going out and buying shrimp to freeze so they would have it for another time.

On Fox last night they were saying gas may go up by $1.00 a gallon, because of the speculators. That particular oil rig was an exploration rig and wasn't even producing oil to sell, but the greedy are going to use this catastrophe to make money.

 

[racefanof88]

Great photos, Dana!!! Wow! Dale is just a kid in that photo with the Harley. Is that big building a hotel? I love the parrots.
I SOOO can't wait to see the photos you will take in Disney!!

Thank you April. Dale was a kid, he was 25 . Yes that is a hotel; is't it massive? It has a shopping center on the ground level. They will take pictures with one of the parrots on your shoulder . I hope I can get some good pix at Disney. The camera may get a little heavy to carry, but I'm gonna try.

 

[racefanof88]

Service was really good for them to be so busy. Our waitress was great. I wanted to buy one of the glasses to bring home and she told me how to order my drink and get the glass with it .

Can anybody guess what Dale ordered?--------------I bet you did

Yep, a Cheeseburger in Paradise.

And I got the BBQ sandwich

The food was yummmmmmmy. Our waitress asked if we wanted to order dessert, but there was no way we could eat it. I didn't even finish my food. So we paid and headed to Pier Park to walk around and look. Following are the pictures I took along our way. Some of the motorcycles are amazing.

Dale bought a shirt and this is the guy who put the transfer on the shirt

This little guy was just walking around like he was part of the whole thing....lol.

We came to an area where they were having a contest on the best motorcycle and these are a few of the bikes that were entered.

This was Elvis' bike

I thought this bike was really wild.

Then this is the bike I really liked. It was beautiful.

Continued in next post

 

[racefanof88]

This was flying on the back of the bike where the helmet and boots were

This is the guy who owns the bike

I was able to get a couple more pictures before my battery died

We walked around a little more and decided we had better head back home. It was 3:30 and it is a 3 1/2 to 4 hour drive back home. We had a great day, but bittersweet; not knowing how the oil spill will affect our whole way of living here on the Gulf Coast.

 

[racefanof88]

Anyone wanting to help in the recovery and clean up of the Gulf Coast; here is a list of things that are needed, and the address to send the items to


nylons, panty hose, stocking, etc.

FEATHER PILLOWS Or GOOSE DOWN BLANKETS
OR FEATHER BEDS (USED TO ABSORB OIL)

Bleach bleach bleach
Dawn dish washing liquid
heavy duty latex gloves
laundry detergent
towels
rags bags of rags
rubber chemical proof gloves
wire cutters & bolt cutters (for hook removal)
paper towels and counter dispensers
tarps preferably green or camouflage
working vacuum cleaner
heavy duty storage boxes
metal garbage cans (to store grain)
wd40
5 gallon buckets
heavy duty flashlights
ice chest
hand sanitizers
zip ties
heavy duty rakes
heavy duty garbage bags
DROP OFF SITES WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW

They will also be accepting gift cards from Home Depot and Lowe's if you would like to help in that way.

If you would like to mail any of these items
send to 17655 scenic highway 98
Point Clear, Alabama 36564

We still don't know exactly when the oil will make it inland, but we know, without a miracle, it will come in. If by chance we are spared, any donated items will be sent to help at another clean up site.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Those bikes are so neat and I'm not even a motorcycle kinda gal. I got tears in my eyes over the one with the soldiers on it.

Who would you put the box or donation attention to? Did that make sense? Probably not......I know there's a physical address but is there an actual organization?

 

[bouncycat]

Wow...sounds like a wonderful day!!! Dale was SOOO young!! And that hair!!! I can't believe that's him!! Yea, I know if it gets in the gulf stream, it'll come up here. They're talking about that on the news and such. It's scary, beaches and the ocean are such beautiful creations....just won't be the same if the oil comes ashore. Very, very sad!!!

 

[Brave teacher]

Dana, I know exactly what you mean. It breaks my heart to hear about what is going. I teach Free Enterprise in high school, and we have been talking about the effect this will have on prices. We have talked extensively about how this would likely cause an increase in price because of the perception of posible loss. Not looking forward to this. If I were one of the fishermen who helps BP clean this up, I would probably be pretty angry right now helping the people who destroyed my way of life.

Your pics were beautiful. I was hoping to get down to Gulf Shores for at least a weekend this summer because Sam was asking for a trip to the beach. I am now doubtful that will happen now. So sad.

 

[deslynnpatterson]

Dana I love your pictures from Pananc City!!! I was there about 2 years ago with a friend who has friends that live down there-- its a beautiful town!! we went to that ripleys believe it or not that is on the boat down there when we went-- and ate a Carrabas--- and went to a few clubs-- i forget the names-- but i remember going to coyote ugly and dancing on the bar its a very fun exciting town! I love all of the bike pictures they are awesome thats so great of you to post the help the gulf list I am going to see how i can help and look at the list to see what i can send. Thanks for posting that

 

[racefanof88]

Those bikes are so neat and I'm not even a motorcycle kinda gal. I got tears in my eyes over the one with the soldiers on it.

Who would you put the box or donation attention to? Did that make sense? Probably not......I know there's a physical address but is there an actual organization?

They had Lee Greenwood, Diamond Rio and several other songs playing on a tape player next to the bike. I didn't post all the pix of the bike either.

Oiled Wildlife Rescue Volunteers is the name of the organization. Here is a link to their FB page.

http://www.facebook.com/?sk=messages&tid=1271585905204#!/group.php?gid=121557757860409

I just hope and pray they can get this thing under control before everything we know is lost.

 

[racefanof88]

Wow...sounds like a wonderful day!!! Dale was SOOO young!! And that hair!!! I can't believe that's him!! Yea, I know if it gets in the gulf stream, it'll come up here. They're talking about that on the news and such. It's scary, beaches and the ocean are such beautiful creations....just won't be the same if the oil comes ashore. Very, very sad!!!

It was a great day Christie. Dale had the long hair when I met him, he was a biker dude to be sure........ I'm praying they will do something to stop all this mess before it gets to the shore anywhere.

Dana, I know exactly what you mean. It breaks my heart to hear about what is going. I teach Free Enterprise in high school, and we have been talking about the effect this will have on prices. We have talked extensively about how this would likely cause an increase in price because of the perception of posible loss. Not looking forward to this. If I were one of the fishermen who helps BP clean this up, I would probably be pretty angry right now helping the people who destroyed my way of life.

Your pics were beautiful. I was hoping to get down to Gulf Shores for at least a weekend this summer because Sam was asking for a trip to the beach. I am now doubtful that will happen now. So sad.

I think BP should pay the fishermen double what they would make on a normal day. They are losing out on making their pay from normal work conditions plus they are performing a very dangerous job. They will have to have HAZMAT training to boot. The financial impact is likely more disastrous than we can predict.

Thank you about the pix. Dallas has asked me about ever going swimming again, and it breaks my heart that I can't answer that question for him.

 

[racefanof88]

Dana I love your pictures from Pananc City!!! I was there about 2 years ago with a friend who has friends that live down there-- its a beautiful town!! we went to that ripleys believe it or not that is on the boat down there when we went-- and ate a Carrabas--- and went to a few clubs-- i forget the names-- but i remember going to coyote ugly and dancing on the bar its a very fun exciting town! I love all of the bike pictures they are awesome thats so great of you to post the help the gulf list I am going to see how i can help and look at the list to see what i can send. Thanks for posting that

Thank you Desiree. When they passed some of the more restrictive laws in Ft. Lauderdale; Panama City became a big spring break town. It still has that small town feel to it though. If you know anyone who has a hair salon ask them if they can collect the hair and send it down. The will use it in the nylons to make booms and absorb the oil. Any help is appreciated by everyone along the Gulf Coast.

 

[KatMark]

Sorry...I'm behind, Dana (having a hard enough time keeping up on my own pre-trip report). Great pictures. I'm not a big motorcycle fan, but those are some really nice looking bikes.