Welcome back to our full-time nomadic RV adventures with cats!
Friday at Wind Creek Casino RV Park in Atmore, AL
Cleo is doing much better on travel days, and I think that is due in part to the calming spray that Leslie suggested. She still meows and gets agitated over bumps, but not nearly as much. Nemo actually acts like he enjoys travel days. He sleeps and just looks around, even purrs. More gold stars for him.
Wind Creek Casino RV Park is pretty nice with spacious concrete pads. The entire campground lacks trees and slopes down from the gate, so pretty much every site requires leveling of 1-2 inches on one side. It is a short walk to the casino (of course). There is also a free shuttle (is it REALLY free?). All the sites are full hook-up and pull-through. That means that you don’t have to back into your spot. Just pull through! The RV park has a bath house and laundry, as well as a playground. I guess that’s so the kids have something to do when their parents go to the casino. Actually, I think that has been happening, so really not funny at all.
When the pool is open at the hotel RV guests can swim. Unfortunately, it is closed for the season. There is an arcade, bowling alley and movie theater in the casino area. That part has a slightly run down, old mall vibe. The casino itself is nice, nothing over the top like Las Vegas. If you’re staying at the RV park, you get $5 in free play each day as long as you are paying the full rate at the RV park.
Saturday at Wind Creek Casino RV Park in Atmore, AL
The only reason we are staying four days here is to avoid the crowds at the parks on this three-day weekend. There are a lot of Mockingbirds around us going through their entire mocking repertoire. We love listening to them! Not too long ago we watched a special on PBS about bird songs and found out that they pretty much sing for courtship or staking a claim on their territory. So either way, they are stressed. And we just think they are singing to sing when they might be stressed out little birds!
It’s amazing how many parents swear at their kids in public, or at anyone, for that matter. It is also amazing how many dangerously overloaded trucks and campers there are. That is scary! The type of parent who would camp at a casino and bring four children with them should really evaluate their life choices. We know for a fact that people are leaving their kids unsupervised while they go gamble. Arrrrggggh! I just don’t think kids should be allowed in a casino campground. No exceptions. Have you ever seen the movie, “Idiocracy?” We witnessed Clevon and his family at this campground.
Sunday at Wind Creek Casino RV Park in Atmore, AL
We have had great weather since we started our full-time RV life. In fact, it is strange to think that since July 23rd we can only recall two incidents of rain at all. There was a red flag day (fire danger) in this entire area yesterday due to low rain, low humidity and high winds.
Today we cleaned a bit and made a trip to Wal-Mart. As much as I hate so much of what Wal-Mart has done to small businesses, I am grateful as a nomad to be able to buy tofu, fairly good produce and some vegan meats at times…even in Alabama! Oh, and wine…at times.
Monday at Wind Creek Casino RV Park in Atmore, AL
We found out today that the bath house was going to be closed due to homeless people sneaking in at night and doing drugs in there! Where is the casino security? It is alarming to think that they had to walk right by our camper while we slept to get to the bath house. If someone is desperate enough to sneak into a campground bath house to do drugs, it’s not a long leap to think they would be desperate enough to steal things from campsites to get more drugs.
We discovered that there is a small downtown area to Atmore that is very cute. They have turned a CSX rail car into a stage and backstage area for outdoor performances. There are some cute little shops and a few murals. It seems like murals are the go-to for little towns trying to spruce things up a bit. The lady at the coffee shop actually said, “Where are you from? You aren’t from Atmore.” Hmmm, I wonder what gave it away?
We couldn’t resist buying a Powerball ticket since it had grown to over $1.5 billion. Of course, Alabama is one of five states that doesn’t participate in the Powerball! So we drove about 10 miles into Florida to buy a ticket. If you never hear from us again, we may have won. 🙂
Check-out at Wind Creek Casino RV Park is 11 a.m. Check-in at our next spot is 2 p.m. The problem we run into fairly often is that these times force us to arrive early at our next stop since we try to drive short days (Cleo!). I typically call the next site and ask if our spot will be ready a little early. I’ve never had anyone say no. But it does create an extra step for me.
Our destination was a two-hour drive to the Destin Army Recreation Area in Destin, FL. First, let me say that Cleo was a meowing fool for a good portion of the two hours. More gold stars are awarded to Nemo. Cleo got extra spritzes of calming spray.
Our first impression of the RV campground at Destin Army Recreation Area was that it was CRAMPED and jam-packed. But once Greg used his expert trailering skills to get in our site, it really wasn’t too bad! They have the sites at sharp angles so you don’t have a straight-on view of your neighbor’s site. Don’t misunderstand…they have a ton of sites crammed in, and it is one of the most crowded/tight campgrounds we’ve seen thus far.
The blue/green water, salt air, pelicans and amazing foliage make up for it. We’re only here for two nights, and the one full day is going to be rainy. But, really, it’s okay, mon! Don’t worry! Be happy!
Wednesday at Destin Army Recreation Area (And no, we are not billionaires…)
We decided to take our morning coffee down to the waterfront seating area so that we could get a little outdoor time in before a big storm hit us. And boy, did it! Greg has been through several hurricanes in MS, and he said that this storm behaved more like a tropical storm. There were bands of rain with pretty high wind speeds (for us, in a camper) and the campground lost power for about eight hours during the night.
We have lithium batteries, so we can still watch TV, use lights, the fridge, etc., for at least 12 hours with no incoming solar (we have two solar panels). We cannot use the air conditioner nor the microwave just off our battery charge. However, we do have a generator that runs on either propane or gasoline. And with the generator, we can run everything in the camper. Generators are a bit noisy and cumbersome, so we are keeping that for extreme situations. We were surprised that the electric grid in a waterfront town in Florida would be so easily defeated by a milder storm.
Thursday (Travel Day!)
Today’s drive is about 1.5 hours to Panama City Beach. We are staying at the NSA Panama City Beach Southside RV Park. It still requires military base access, but this RV park is located near the base, not on it. This is very convenient, because we don’t have to deal with lines at any of the gates to enter the base each time we go anywhere. This RV park has its own electric gate with a keycard. There is ample room between sites. Our site, #7, has foliage on both sides that obscures direct view into our neighbors’ campers (and hopefully their view into ours). There is a laundry ($2/wash, $1.50/dry) and bath house. There is a Publix and a Winn Dixie less than half a mile away, so this location is super convenient for creature comforts.
There is also an RV park right on the base. I think it is called Mainside. We walked through it and thought it was cramped. It is right on the water and has a laundry and bath house. By the way, NSA Panama City Beach looks like it has some really interesting diving training that goes on there, plus much more, I’m sure.
After six months, it was time to replace our ClearSource water filters. We have a three-stage filtration system that we connect to our water source outside of the camper. It is really great and our water is consistent from place-to-place. As you can imagine, each campground has a different quality of water. Our filter allows us to have clean water with a consistent taste. Even the cats don’t seem to notice a taste difference, and they are known for being particular about water taste. We like the fact that we can drink water straight from the tap and are showering with filtered water. I have included a photo of the dirty filters just for fun. They remove rust, bad taste, viruses (ew) and more.
This is a busy couple of weeks as we traverse the Florida panhandle and make our way back towards Greg’s family in Ocean Springs, MS. Check back soon for more sunny catio views!
200 Square Feet with Catio Views 
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