Who Wants To Try a DIS-Meet At Gulf State Park In May-June 2016?

[SouthAlabama5er]

Yes very sad to hear about the Blues accident yesterday.

So yesterday before we went to Lamberts Cafe, I spend some good quality time in the hammock resting and relaxing after the long bike ride and beach trip,

The view of Teamubr's 5er from my shady hammock,

And you can barely make out Tiggerdad's camper past my feet. Bama_Ed rode by looking for us to talk to about booking for next year, but sadly I was passed out in my hammock. Looking forward to this evening and our DIS meet. This week has been really great, it's nice to meet and put a face with friends from the DIS, sit and discuss all kinda stuff including Disney and Fort Wilderness. Looking forward to seeing who decides to join us next year.

Well might ride around and check out Ed's puzzle, I see he posted a pretty sunrise picture. I will try to take and post some random picture of GSP.

 

[garneska]

We had a bit of a rough night. Yeti is not feeling well. Slept from 10:30 to 2 am and then on and off but mostly off, till about 6. Then again till 8:30. Unfortunately no run, I did think about doing it at 4:30 when I was walking yeti.

Called the vet and are picking up a script at publix for him. Hope he feels better soon and maybe I still get a chance to swim in the gulf.

 

[bama_ed]

I got up this morning and left DW still sleeping and moved my folding chair into a spot on the driveway to watch the sun come up again. I don't do that at home, I don't do it at the Fort. But for some reason I like to do it here. Reminds me of the former tv show on National Geo, Meerkat Manor, where the meerkats get out in the morning for the rising sun to warm their bellies. This is what I am like (although I keep my shirt on).

After the sun rose, I moved over to my puzzle while the breeze was just a whisper to work on it some more. Randy/SouthAlabama5er pedaled up a few minutes later and we worked quietly with hardly a spoken word between us. So intent was I that I didn't know at some point Michael/Tiggerdad was standing right beside me, diagramming pieces in his mind (you can see his wheels turning). He drew up a seat and the three of us were still quiet.

Then Joe/Flametamr arrived and it was not so quiet. But that was okay - it was time to say something other than "Bingo" or quietly "There ya go" as another piece snapped into place. We were all bumping elbows, the four of us, filling in gaps and building out in other places. I paused for a minute to capture the moment.



We got on a roll and had it going pretty good but we finally broke it off before our wives came looking for us. Money is it will get finished tomorrow morning. Here is the status picture.



Kris, if you or Jim want to get in on this, get here tomorrow morning.

Bama Ed

 

[FtW Mike]

Puzzle really starting to come together. Surprised smell of burning peanut oil didn't clue you in to presence of Michael
Please tell Garneska we are praying for her Yeti

 

[tiggerdad]

After the puzzle Ed invited my family and I to head a little ways north to the cheese farm. We headed 30 minutes up there only to arrive and find that it is closed until late June. Wasn't posted on the website but apparently was on FB, but this guy can't stand the drama of FB so we did not know until we arrived.

So, we headed to Stacy's pharmacy in Foley, AL which is an old school pharmacy with a soda fountain that serves ice cream so the girls were thrilled.

Then my wife says, "since we are this far up highway 59 I need to stop back by the Tanger Outlet and get some more things".

Then it hit me: Ed set me up

I've been thrown under the bus folks, stabbed in my heart. I am now in that place all men fear...

The outlet...


Randy, Jim, or Joe, if you read this please help! If Ed offers to lead you somewhere it's a trap! If you get this SOS I'm stuck on the bench outside of Ann Taylor Factory Store!

I can feel things getting dark...

I'd call on my squirrel friends but there are no trees here.

My credit card is missing...

For that matter, so is my wallet.

I'll get you Ed!

and your little puzzle too!

 

[FtW Mike]

After the puzzle Ed invited my family and I to head a little ways north to the cheese farm. We headed 30 minutes up there only to arrive and find that it is closed until late June. Wasn't posted on the website but apparently was on FB, but this guy can't stand the drama of FB so we did not know until we arrived.

So, we headed to Stacy's pharmacy in Foley, AL which is an old school pharmacy with a soda fountain that serves ice cream so the girls were thrilled.

Then my wife says, "since we are this far up highway 59 I need to stop back by the Tanger Outlet and get some more things".

Then it hit me: Ed set me up

I've been thrown under the bus folks, stabbed in my heart. I am now in that place all men fear...

The outlet...
View attachment 173140

Randy, Jim, or Joe, if you read this please help! If Ed offers to lead you somewhere it's a trap! If you get this SOS I'm stuck on the bench outside of Ann Taylor Factory Store!

I can feel things getting dark...

I'd call on my squirrel friends but there are no trees here.

My credit card is missing...

For that matter, so is my wallet.

I'll get you Ed!

and your little puzzle too!

Be quiet Little SQUIRREL or someone might drop an ALINER on you too

 

[friendofeeyore]

Ed, thank you for the site about the turtles. It would be great to actually see their journey to the ocean. Animal lover as I am, would want to help them along, but know that is a big NO!! Tell Kris & Bert we are praying that Yeti get to feeling better. Arnold is suppose to make our reservations for next year this week-end. Happy trails to all of you & be safe. Warning Ed, Arnold loves to put puzzles together.

 

[garneska]

It was a great dis meet. Randy the food was fantastic. Thanks for the leftovers and thank Nick for the leftover corn and recipe. Great part is now we don't have to worry about dinner tomorrow when we get home.

Update on yeti. He seems to be doing better. He was finally able to sleep around 3 pm. We went to the beach then. The tide was rolling so not much actual swimming for me but I got in. I put my face in and did try to swim some just to stay over the panic. Then Bert and I walked on the beach. Next we stopped by to work on ed's puzzle.

Yeti did sleep a little so we woke him up to go outside for some food before we headed over to the meet. Yeti was tired but took him anyways. The dogs are both asleep. Hopefully yeti gets through the night. Thanks for all the wonderful thoughts for yeti. Hopefully we don't have to take him to the vet and the meds continue to work their magic.

Pulling out in the morning. No rain all week but supposed to start while we break camp (hate breaking in the rain).

 

[bama_ed]

Warning Ed, Arnold loves to put puzzles together.

Well, all I can say is Arnold will have to elbow his way past all these other guys (and it seems to be a guy thing on this trip). We have discussed possibly have puzzles set up at multiple campers next year.

Speaking for myself, I took a nap this afternoon (I am on vacation after all) and then headed over for dinner tonight at Randy's "house". His mom and dad had brought 50 pounds of fresh caught Gulf shrimp and red snapper for good measure to go with it. Throw in some sausage, corn, potatoes, vegetables, a citrus selection, spice packs, and you've got an old fashioned shrimp boil. Some of our out-of-state guests were very interested in this quaint coastal custom. So 5er's dad did the cooking and instructing with Randy and Michael doing the stirring, lifting, and holding (yours truly took the pix). We are all shy about showing our faces on the Net but the look on the faces of all those shrimp said, "Eat Me".

Here is Randy shoveling 50# of shrimp into the pot (it's the last primary ingredient to go in).



Stir well.



Meanwhile, the snapper was cut into chunks, coated in milk and corn meal, and fried in hot oil in a propane fired dutch oven. Michael and I were taking copious notes.



Here is the finished product ready to scoop out and dive into.



Everybody brought something - a dessert, pork loin, pork steaks, rice aroni, potato salad, etc. We ate our fill and were sent back to our campers with to-go gallon bags of remaining shrimp/corn/taters/sausage.

We had everybody there - over 20 people in 7 families. Even Mallory and Yeti were in attendance. We sat and stood around talking afterwards with Randy showing how his Mickey globe light changes color, Joe on the pictures of him painting his milk can in a Mickey look for his globe, and more. Our poster WestBeach Bum did stop by after dark with the family to visit and say hello and found he had friends in common with some of us. And dude, keep the Halloween reservation as we discussed - do it at least once.

Some folks are going home tomorrow morning - Teamubr and Garneska. Safe travels to you both. Some of us are clearing out Sunday back to the real world. We've discussed some possible changes for next year but we'll let that incubate for a while and do a roll call in a couple months to see who is coming or wants to. But we are targeting the week that starts on the Monday of Memorial Day into the following weekend.

We might get some rain tomorrow but we shall see.

Bama Ed

 

[Flametamr]

Can only echo what's already been said. It's been a great week other than the yellow flies and the tragic loss of a Blue Angel. But like all good things this meet must end too. Tonight we bid goodbye to Garneska and Teamubr. It was a pleasure to meet all of you and hope we see y'all again soon. Safe travels home. Got a late visit from Westbeachbum. Turns out we were sorta friends already through Mardi Gras camping. Many thanks to SouthAlabama5ver's family for putting on a feast tonight. It was so good. Saying thanks just doesn't seem enough. Those that couldn't attend you should book for next year. You won't be sorry or hungry.

 

[tiggerdad]

Man, I am still beyond stuffed. Randy's parents put on a feast of shrimp, fish, and potato salad then Jim brought out baked ravioli, pork steaks, and then here comes Joe with a pork loin and mac and cheese. Oh yeah, did I mention that Randy's mom made a big pot of shrimp spaghetti? If any of you attended are hungry it's your own fault.

It has been, without a doubt, a fantastic Dismeet. Thanks to Ed for getting the ball started to rolling on this one. We were able to put faces, voices, and personalities with some screen names. Everyone seemed to have good stories to tell and seemed to get along great. My kids were super thrilled to meet Mallory and Yeti.

I know some of you were thinking there would be shenanigans ongoing but our kids and spouses were present, as was law enforcement, so we were on good behavior.

Kris and Burt, be careful on your way back to Georgia. Jim, same to you on your journey back to Illinois.

Three of us are already booked for next year this same time. Anybody else interested in joining?

 

[bama_ed]

I said yesterday that the rain was coming tomorrow. Technically I was right.

At 1245am last night (this morning?) the rain came and it has been recurring several times this morning. I guess even Paradise needs a little moisture to make things grow. Also I had to make an early morning run to the Wal-Mart health and beauty section but am back at Gulf and the rain has resumed.

For those curious to know about the puzzle, it is riding out the storm just fine under a clear vinyl cover. I tilted the table to drain the rain. The forecast for today shows off-and-on rain but there's a couple hours this afternoon that might permit working on it. I slid open the dutch door of the Aliner and took this picture during the morning drizzle.



This might be the day for those indoor beach activities - shopping, going to the movies, shopping, going out to lunch, shopping...

Bama Ed

PS - Bela Fleck and the "Drive" CD is providing a little Fort-inspired bluegrass/newgrass mood music this morning at a low volume.

 

[Westbeach Bum]

So glad we got the chance to stop by and meet you all! It's great to put a face with a name! The wife and I will make sure our schedules allow us to be more involved next year. It's good to hear you guys are planning on a visit again! Safe travels to all!

 

[SouthAlabama5er]

Teamubr and Garneska have a safe drive home, since yall left it's done nothing but rain off and on. Tiggerdad and my bunch are at LuLu's for lunch.

Already packed everything at the camper last night, since we had rain coming. Like everyone said it got pretty around 1ish this morning, thunder woke me up and I was so glad I put everything away. Just taking it easy today and headed home in the morning.

 

[Dirty White Boy]

Hey this is Nic, just to let y'all know I created a page. Thank you Ed, for the magnet.

 

[SouthAlabama5er]

Glad everyone had a good time at the shrimp boil, my dad loves to cook and camp so everything worked out good. I will pass along the thanks to my parents.
Sent everyone back to their camper with a gallon bag of boiled shrimp. Hope everyone enjoyed it. Already looking forward to next and ready to start planning next year's trip, but I still believe we should all aim for a meet at the Fort one year.

 

[tiggerdad]

Hey this is Nic, just to let y'all know I created a page. Thank you Ed, for the magnet.

Welcome Nic. For those of you wondering, Nic has been doing a lot of cooking and camping with us this week. We finally convinced him to quit lurking and start posting. We just have to wait for his wife Judy to proof read it first.

 

[lokin4deer]

Assuming my medical issues clear up in time, we will be in there July 23rd thru thru the 30th. I am trying to move up a week but right now they are full so we will take what we have for now! Site 323 on possum road.

 

[bama_ed]

Nick,

Glad to see you joined up. For those reading, Nick and Randy "grew up together" and are still friends in adulthood. In fact, as I understand the story, Nick is the guy who got Randy interested in Fort Wilderness not so long ago. So Nick, glad to have you on the board although you've been a lurker. Don't be a stranger.

The rain was intermittent this morning with several iterations of about 10 minutes of hard rain followed by 60 minutes of drying out time. Wash, rinse, spin, repeat. About lunch time the sun came out somewhat but it's still a blustery day.

During those dry cycles this morning, we did get the puzzle advanced. Michael came by with his two girls and Joe came by briefly with his before the whole thing was rained out quickly. However, I did manage to snap the last few sky pieces into place this afternoon. Three pieces are missing due to being wet, blown off the table, or overlooked when raising the plastic cover (some pieces stick to it only to fall off during the fold up). But it's done.



Thanks to all who contributed. As I said earlier, the puzzle was an unexpected hit. I thought maybe a person here or there would come over to work on it. But yesterday we had 4 of us on it. So we need either a bigger puzzle (1,000 pieces anyone?) or more of them.

I'd like to get some pool time in tonight but it may not happen. What day is it? Saturday? I like this vacation thing.

Bama Ed

 

[SouthAlabama5er]

Ok so boys will be boys right?, so when Michael, Nic and I left LuLu's Michael and I may have or may not of had a small red light drag race.... F250 vs F450... Michael will be along sooner or later to share who won... I will say that there was flashing lights behind us...

LuLu's was pretty good expect for Michael's wife, she had a hair suprise in her lunch... hey it happens, my cheeseburger in paradise was good. Looking for to dinner to night, dont know where we're going just yet. Made it back to the campground to watch Tiggerdad put some stuff away including hes awning, its windy and rain showers are off and on today, tomorrow the rain chance is 70%... I get to drive home in the rain.

Now I'm going to easy on down to Bama_Ed's site one more time.