The forgotten coast

We have been camped along the Gulf of Mexico for the last eight days at Tyndall Air Force Base. It was clear right away on our arrival that we were going to get a regular, and loud, demonstration of the projection of air superiority of the U S Air Force right from our Camp site. The fighter jets pass overhead on a regular basis on their training runs. The campground is nestled in trees along a small estuary on the sound side of the barrier island that the base occupies and we share the space with a good number of local wild inhabitants including black bears. We saw their tracks on occasion but never the bears.

They call this the forgotten coast and it seems a fitting name in this difficult housing market. There are a tremendous amount of houses for sale all along the coast and many building projects abandoned in mid construction. Its bid to join the big boys of the Florida coast development is apparently on hold for the moment. The towns of Panama City and Panama City Beach have all the necessary conveniences but seem to lack any real charm.

We have spent much of our time working around the motorhome and visiting with the fellow campers here. There are a number of social events from coffee get together in the AM to a gathering around the enclosed campfire in the evenings. The Holiday entertainment on the grounds and at the Civic Center have been very good.

We have been a bit distracted here, as we have finally received a serious, if low, offer on our house in Ohio. This process has taken some real soul searching and acceptance of the poor housing market. There have been negotiations over a number of days that at this writing are still ongoing. We are hopeful that we may have a sales contract in the next few days.

In two days we move on to Navarre Beach to spend the holidays with Heather, Katie and Ryan.