May 9 – “Billy the Kid”

We finally hit the road with an eye to … The Central Time Zone.  Always good to get back to any vestige of “normal” that we can, especially after this Eastern Time Zone weirdness.  I never have understood why anyone should have to stay up until 11 p.m. to finish watching a favorite TV show.  Who decided to set the TV shows like that, anyway?  Well … we were on the road by 8:30.  Oh, wait, maybe that was 7:30 …

 

We listened to Josh online while on the road in the middle of Nowheresville, Florida.  We tried to watch Seaside online next.  We could see them, but no sound was coming through.  They had had some problems with video earlier, and now it was sound.  Kel did his best to feed them help ideas from his car.  We finally got some sound and heard Mr. Bob say something about foundations … and then we lost cell service altogether.  Sorry to miss it.

 

We stopped for gas at a place called Mossy Head.  Yep.  It really is a place.  Wouldn’t you love to live in a place called Mossy Head?  How about Messy Head?  And there were some very nice people at the gas station.  Two different guys insisted on holding the door open for us. 

 

We had to devise a Plan B for getting to Fort Pickens.  The free causeway to the island was jammed.  Totally packed with more coming from both directions.  It was Galveston on a holiday summer weekend … on steroids.  We figured out a way to get to a toll bridge a few miles down the road.  Much less traffic, although there was still a massive amount.  Come to find out, to get to Fort Pickens, we had to go through Pensacola Beach, one of the most popular destinations on the Gulf Coast.  I know that for a fact.  How?  Because we drove our way through literally thousands of cars and even more people.  We were able to get to the fort, though, by not stopping anywhere.  Cheese and peanut butter crackers for lunch again.

 

The fort was pretty interesting.  It was bigger than we had imagined.  It was built with the same general floor plan as the one we saw in St. Petersburg.  It was pretty invincible in its day (late 1800’s and into World War II).  We had time to ramble around a bit and even got a good selfie.  I also found and rescued Billy the Kid.  No, not that one.  This one was an actual kid.  Well, he was when he was younger.  Now he’s a goat - an actual goat.  Ol’ Billy was the camp mascot for some New Yorkers stationed at the Fort back before the 1900’s began.  He even got to go with them to march in a parade in New York.  I’m not sure how he made his way back, but he was there, roaming around in the bookstore.  I asked him if he wanted a change of pace.  He answered, “Sure, as long as there is an island involved in the long term.”  He can’t wait to get back to Galveston.  Oh, and the escape route (back the way we came) was much easier to negotiate.  And there was still a stream of cars flooding in.  Lots of luck getting to beach, guys.

 

We stopped in Mississippi for the night, and we have some plans for that state tomorrow.  We’ll see what happens next …

 

Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

 

Father, thank you for riding with Kel and his family back home yesterday.  Help them now as they get back into the saddle of work and school.  Amen.