We made an early morning move on Sunday. We traveled 91 miles and are now Sweet Home Alabama residents for the next 3 months. We got settled in and took a ride to Walmart. The rest of the day was spent enjoying our secluded camp spot taking a few pics of critters and such.
We spent most of the day Monday getting oriented to our surroundings and job duties at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge. We got our work truck that was already stocked with all kinds of tools and such, then took it for a spin.
We had a great view of the gulf while doing a little bit of sign repair at the Mobile Street Pier.
We picked up litter at the trail heads, did a little bit of lawn mower maintenance, a little bit of truck cleaning, and then called it a day. The 6-hour day passed by quickly. It looks like we have found another great place to volunteer.
We were pleasantly surprised when we got back to Camp Secour and found Doves, Cardinals, and Hummingbirds feasting at the feeders. Have feed, they will come!!
The mowing extravaganza began Tuesday morning. First stop was the Quonset Hut, (aka Fort Knox due to having 2 locked gates and a locked door), to sharpen the mower blades. We managed to get the mowing and weed-eating done at the compound before the rain set in.
The rainy afternoon was spent pressure washing the green off of the maintenance truck, (aka Munster Truck). We call it the Munster truck because it is about as tall and as wide as Herman Munster, and I look about as awkward as Herman does when I step on the running boards and pull myself in The struggle is real!
We cleaned up the wash rack then called it a day.
We spent the afternoon, sitting under the awning, frying catfish and bird watching.
We left our cameras at home and continued the mowing extravaganza on Wednesday. We got the grass cut and weed whacked at the bunkhouse, the bay house and the visitor center. Things are looking better and better.
I manned the visitor center on Thursday while Lauren got the mowing and weed eating done at Camp Secour. It was a slow day of visitation. I passed the time dusting, sweeping, and vacuuming the building.
After lunch, we took a ride in the gated Pine Beach Trail. It is a one lane road with lots of foot traffic. We parked at the observation tower, then walked around a bit collecting iNaturalist data. It sure is cool to call this work.
We hiked the Jeff Friend Trail getting more iNaturalist data collection.
We sat outside with on and off rain showers, enjoying the many birds that are hanging around the camp. They kept us amused for hours before we went in for the night.
Friday, we started the day thinking it was going to be one of those take it easy kind of days. Afterall, we didn't even go to work until 11 am.
We stocked the vault toilet and fixed a loose board at the Pine Beach Trail. Nothing really strenuous.
We placed a sign at the Jeff Friend Kayak launch to deter people from driving to the shore. Still nothing really strenuous.
That take it easy kind of day changed when we decided to cut back a few limbs at the kayak launch. It was quite a challenge to trim the limbs with all the muscadine vines intertwined around them. After a lot of sweat and a lot of exertion, we got it looking better.
We walked the Jeff Friend Trail lopping a few limbs and picking up a 5 gallon bucket of trash, then called it, for the week.
We had a nice relaxing evening at camp doing a bit of arm chair birding.
Saturday, was a touristy kind of day. We checked out the public beaches in Gulf Shores then headed toward Florida.
There was some kind of boat traffic traveling on the intercoastal canal heading out for the day.
The touristy stuff continued when we stopped at Flora Bama for a beer soda, and of course we bought a tee shirt or two.
We had a nice meal at Fish River Grill in Gulf Shores, where we had our first taste of swamp soup. It was a mixture of greens and beans and so very tasty.
I got the OMG Shrimp Po'boy and Lauren got a Swamp Burger. The po'boy had fried shrimp covered with crawfish sauce and was definitely an OMG! Lauren's burger was huge and very tasty.
We took a walk on the beach late afternoon. There were plenty of shorebirds, a few people, and a lot of camera clicking going on.
