Gulf Islands National Seashore

 Once Bob and I figured out when we would be leaving home, he made reservations for us to stop along the way. We usually don't make reservations, but we wanted to be sure we stopped at places we have never been. Gulf Islands National Seashore was one of those places! It was definitely a good find. Due to the torrential rains that pounded the area in late April, early May, we called to make sure the roads and the campground were open before we arrived. Once we got to Santa Rosa Island, it was an enjoyable ride to the campground with vistas of the Gulf of Mexico to our south and Pensacola Bay to our north.

After we set up our campsite, I was off to walk on the beach! Bob and I took a walk later in the evening and he almost caught a good sunset.

 We had the beach all to ourselves. We looked for ghost crabs, but all we saw were their holes.

 The next morning we rode our bikes to explore the park. There were several virtual caches in the park at the batteries from WWI and WWII. The first one we found was at Langdon Battery not far from the campground. We got the information we needed from the sign and then we hiked to the top of the battery.

 This is one section of the battery where the big guns were housed to protect the coast. Bob and I hiked to the top of one of these.

 From Battery Langdon we rode to Battery Worth. I climbed to the top of the battery after we found the information we needed for this step of the cache.

From Battery Worth we rode to Ft. Pickens and took time to tour the fort. The section of exposed arch on the right was blown away when the magazine containing 8000 pounds of black powder exploded! Debris went across Pensacola Bay to the Naval Air Station!

The arches in the fort were made to support the heavy guns. The shifting sands below the fort were also a problem so below each arch you see is a reverse arch to help stabilize the building.

 Upon leaving Ft. Pickens, we rode to Battery 234 and Battery Cooper to complete our virtual geocaches. Then it was time to go  back and relax at the camp site. We had ridden our bikes over 8 miles.

 That night we went for another walk along the beach. The wind was a bit cooler, but it was still a nice walk.  During the night it rained so we weren't sure what the weather would be the next morning. As it turned out, it was a windy, overcast day. We decided to drive to the fort and walk the perimeter wall.This is a view of the main fort from the wall near Pensacola Bay. Ft. Pickens is the largest of the coastal forts.

 Once we got back to the entrance portion of the wall, Bob got a picture of the name.

The weather continued to deteriorate so we returned to the RV to wait out the storm. It rained again that evening and was very windy the following day. Hmmm, we thought it would be a good day to sight see  indoors! Off we went to Pensacola Naval Air Station to tour the Naval Air Museum.It turns out this is the 100th anniversary!

 Bob and I visited the museum once about 10 years ago, before we retired. Additions have been made and displays have been changed since that time. We both got a kick seeing this exhibit.

 After touring the museum, we made a stop at the commissary before returning to the park. The wind had died down and it had turned into a beautiful day. We took a walk along the nature trail and into the next campground area which was closed when we arrived on Monday. Evidently the campground loops B, C, D, and E finally dried out and are now available to campers.

Bob took pictures of the wildlife we saw along the way.

 There were so many osprey nests with osprey nearby that we were able to get many good pictures. This is one of an osprey guarding its nest.

 We enjoyed the walk along the nature trail.

This is the lagoon/marsh next to our campsite. There is an armadillo that lives in the undergrowth, but every time we try to get a picture, he hides!

Friday dawned chilly--48 degrees! It didn't take long for the temps to warm. Bob and I drove out of the main gate and stopped at the first beach parking area at Pensacola Beach. The bike trail begins there and goes for most of the length of Santa Rosa Island. There were   geocaches to be found! We rode our bikes about 5 miles before turning around and heading back to the car. It was a great ride! Yes, we found all but one geocache. It was supposed to be located somewhere on this walkway to the beach.

 After geocaching, we returned to the car and drove about a mile back to Peg Leg Pete's Oyster Bar. We had a good lunch of shrimp and catfish before heading back to the RV. We stopped at the park entrance  to get a picture of the sign.

 Later in the afternoon we walked the trail to the bookstore at Ft. Pickens. I needed to get my US National Park Passport stamped. Well, best laid plans didn't work. The bookstore closed early for some reason and was not going to reopen until the next morning. May be I'll go back and get it stamped or I could wait until we visit again as I know we will return.

 As we walked back to the campground we spotted an armadillo near the trail.

  I also asked Bob to get a picture of Battery Worth so you could see the entire center portion where I made it to the top! Lots and lots of steps!

 Walking the path was like being in Alaska only we were spotting osprey instead of eagles! Here are two osprey in the same tree!

 We have thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Gulf Islands National Seashore and we plan to return some day. Tomorrow is a travel day and our destination is a National Forest Campground in the midsection of Mississippi. Our plan is to be there five days. We have no idea if we will have internet coverage so tune in to see when I publish a new post.