News and Stuff from Bald Knob

I've just returned from vacation at St. Pete Beach. A fine time was had by all the sisters, in-laws, nieces, nephews. I really didn't do much, which is exactly what I wanted to do: sat on the beach, read books, had a few rum collins, sipped a bit of Kentucky bourbon, ate seafood, flew a kite, floated in the ocean, walked the beach before breakfast, collected a few shells and sand dollars, and took some pictures.

The weather in St. Pete Beach was great. They were having a warm spell for this time of year; the temperatures were in the upper 80's. As we were driving down on Friday (7-Oct) I was a bit discouraged. It rained on Beverly and I off and on all the way from Frankfort to St. Pete Beach. It sprinkled a bit on Saturday and we had the threat of a thunderstorm on a few days. Otherwise, it was sunny and pleasant. The wind on that weekend was pretty strong with a good surf for the Gulf. It whipped up a froth of sea foam. Toward the end of the week, the winds were calm through the afternoon and the ocean just gently undulated.

There was some worry about a persistent red algae bloom (red tide) that had hung around since April. It was breaking up by the time we got there. There were a few decaying fish on the beach and one large sea turtle that the tides kept migrating slowly southward were the only slight unpleasantries.

I'm trying emailing this entry to the blog and I don't know what is going to happen to the picture I've attached (it didn't display and I had to upload it). It is the evening, nearly sunset, of the berm with sea oats just south of the Bon Aire Resort. I'll put the pictures up on www.flickr.com the first chance I get.

I'm headed back to Tampa for the reunion of the 362nd Fighter Group Pilot's Association and am looking forward to meeting some of the men who served in France with Dad. More on that at that blog as it happens.