Panama City Beach over to Fort Walton Beach

Here we are! Have you been waiting in anticipation for the next post - on the edge of your seats! LOL For those of you that follow along with us daily I should explain our situation. During our trip when we are moving fast everyday and stopping and looking along the way - getting a wifi signal and staying with it is sometimes a challenge. We are always working between a wifi signal and electricity - especially in the evenings. If we travel all day and can charge our laptop with the inverter and then stop at a Home Depot or Sam's Club we are good to go. Last night we had enough charge but stayed at the Walmart in Pascagoula and so no wifi. All very tricky and I must say at times

FRUSTRATING!

but hey - who wants to be on the internet every night anyway. Last night it gave us all the chance to sit back and enjoy Charlotte's Web - Derek had a good cry (Derek's permission to add this bit of insider information) - the relatively new one with Dakota Fanning.

Anyway - just thought I'd let you know why we disappear for days at a time.

Sunday morning at the Sam's Club in Panama City was all well until I heard the words from Derek "we have a flat tire".

UGH!

The culprit - a screw - Derek had the tire off faster then I could get out and get a picture with the wheel still on. He's quick.

In process....

Well - good news - we were right beside the tire installation bays of the Sam's Club - and even better - they open at 10 even though it is a Sunday. Only 1 1/2 hours to wait.

9:59 - the doors open and off goes Derek wheeling the wheel to the bay.......

10:01 - here comes Derek wheeling the wheel back to the trailer.

Nope - they won't do it since we are not members. grrrrrr

So Derek - thankfully he had unhitched the truck - drove down the street to Pepboys. Forty five minutes later he was back with a plugged tire - free of charge I might add - THANKS Pepboys.

Our overnight spot at the Sam's Club - back in the corner.

Just thought I'd show you big rig stealth camping at it's finest. This IS an RV - you don't see them much in these parts but they are somewhat common over in Arizona. This rig spent the night with us at Sam's Club. A bit hard to tell what it is and a bit intimidating also - I'd hate to have to be the one to approach to tell them to move on.

On our way we continued west on the 98 out of Panama City. We took the 30 off to the right to go down to the scenic route that runs parallel to 98 but passes through all the mayhem hotels.

Sadly, the strip through Panama City Beach isn't the nicest area to visit - it is a blend of new and old that really isn't all that successful - a feast for the eyes to be sure - but in a stomach turning way. Lots of colours, lots of signs - it must be just crazy in the summer.

Driving along we came to this building - it didn't surprise me because I had seen it in the magazines

An UPSIDE DOWN BUILDING?!?!?!?!? and A SHIP GOING DOWN?!?!?!?

Derek parked so that we could get a better look.....

WonderWorks may have been an option to visit if Cassia was older.

Signage along the road - sure makes you want to go in - eh?

ESPECIALLY this one - hmmmmm - not sure I would have had my hand up to vote for this name.

A great looking mini golf course - another thing for when Cassia is older.

 Further up we came upon Pier Park - a very new development as you can see. I had looked it up the night before and so I knew that it was mainly shops. It does also have the Miracle Strip which would have made us stop because of the great rides - but wouldn't you know that it is closed down for Jan/Feb.

I would also have been tempted to stop at Margaritaville if I hadn't been there and done that in Las Vegas.

We carried on without really stopping until the public beach called the Boardwalk at Fort Walton Beach - about 60 miles from Panama City. This area is known for it's white sand beaches and so even though it was a bit foggy we decided to stop for a bit.

It's not called the Emerald Coast for nothing! Really beautiful colour of water.

Yup - looks a lot like snow. I would think that too except for the water .... now if you go to White Sands in New Mexico - you really need to remind yourself it is sand not snow - at least for us northerners.

As it was getting late and cool we made the short trip to the Home Depot in Fort Walton Beach where we spent the night. We didn't get far that day but we saw a lot. 

Thanks for visiting!

Teresa

Today's Interesting Link: A few days ago I shared a link to Aggie's Kitchen. She was sharing recipes for strawberries - Florida strawberries. Boy we sure ate our far share from Plant City and the Strawberry Palace. I sure do miss them. I know they are hard to find right now for most of you but maybe bookmark until summer.

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