The last few days we have been traveling along the Gulf of Mexico in upper Florida. So, you might ask, what does the Gulf look like these days?

I am tempted to reply to that, "What oil spill" except everywhere there are boats trailing oil collecting devices behind them. Actually, with the immense size of the Gulf, these little boats look pathetic in size vs. their advesary, an ocean. Oil collection devices are also prevalent at all mouths of rivers and bays. If you look at a map of Florida you see a lot of coastline and few roads leading to it. Those appear to be marshes and canals.

Fresh shrimp and seafood is abundant. Prices are not those you would expect to pay for imported seafood.

Right now I am in my room at Panama Beach looking out over the Gulf that is full of swimmers, parasailers, boats, etc. Again, I would ask, "what spill".

We have yet to make it to Louisiana where there is supposed to be more problems but this is a big body of water. This spill is a terible ecological tragedy but taken in context with the size of the area, not much to see.

I can only report so far that there are no closed beaches, no shortage of swimmers, birds aplenty and this damn Gulf is hotter than blazes and way too humid for humans. Sorry, the last bit of observation is purely washingtonian, at least this one.

Interesting. Maybe the beach clean-up is working? But still think there will be wide-spread damage for a long time. Alaska looks clean, too, but they can still move a rock on the beach and find oil underneath.

But if the water is swimmable, I'd be in it. Best way to lick the heat and humidity.

Enjoy your trip. I envy you as I sit here with a fleece pullover, wool army blanket on my legs, and a small electric heater blowing on me. It's Julember here.

The only day I was happy was the day everybody complained about the heat. I really should head South.

I must say that when I've headed inland a little bit, it's been a little warmer than here. One day the line between overcast and sunny was just this side of Monte, another time it was near Satsop. Yesterday it was Central Park. Just think, soon it will be fair time, in the deserts east of Elma.

We spent June in Aberdeen and I could not believe the weather I put up with all those years. If I had to choose between this heat and humidity and Aberdeen, Aberdeen would win out. Thankfully there are places in this world that are warm and not humid. One of those is our Mexican home and we will be headed back there next week.

Tourism is down quite a bit in Florida. Bad press about the oil spill might be the cause but it is just as likely that hard economic times is the culprit. One thing for sure is that no oil is on these beautiful white sand beaches where we now are staying.

I had thoughts about staying on the coastal roads all the way to Texas to see what those beaches look like but my interest in it is waning. I cannot believe the amount of sweating I manage to do. If you even open the door to the balcony and the humid air rushes into your air conditioned room and your ceilings start dripping with condensation.

On the horizon of the Gulf this morning.. No boats trailing oil booms, just early morning walkers. The reason I related all this is that just like our yearly flooding in Grays Harbor, the press only shows you the abnormal bad parts and not what the rest looks like. I think that is the case on the Gulf of Mexico.

Yeah, that's the price we pay for living closer to the beach and for being a Grizzly.

If you have time, I'd do that anyway. While any roadtrip is a good roadtrip, imho, ones on secondary roads are usually better than ones on the interstate.



I will never forgot when we went to WDW. The second we walked out of the airport, it was like walking into a wall of moisture. I never bothered with putting make-up on for the rest of the trip as it just dripped off anyway. I had heard about the humidity but was surprised at just how intense it was. The "bonus" was that all that sweat also helped keep us cooler while standing in lines.



Interesting point. However, I find it hard to believe that there isn't damage happening somewhere. If not on the beach, in the gulf itself. Plus, the videos of oil-coated birds, dolphins, marshes, etc. are probably not photo-shopped.

Enjoy your vacation...although isn't life for you just one long vacation now, anyway? So I should probably say, enjoy your trip!