March 2015 And Our Continued Condo Search

                                                                    March 2015

I didn't get my daughters out for their birthday dinners until March, even though their birthdays are in January and February. Their birthdays fall too close after Christmas and with 4 grand kids, plus a granddaughters birthday in December, money gets tight. We celebrated their birthdays at Mikato's Japanese Steak House and Sushi bar. I didn't get a picture of the girls, but I did get a picture of the chef  and the other people who sat at our table. Alisha is 38 and Tiffany is 34. They need to stop making me so old!

The first of March was when more condo or rentals opened up so we could get in to see them. This rental is on the Bon Secour  River in Gulf Shores, AL.

The whole house was for rent. It has a really nice porch,

with a larger side porch with a table.

The kitchen was nice except most of the cabinets were really high.

It had a really nice big living room with hard wood floors. This was a 2 bedroom/2bath house. The master bath had a large bath tub and separate large shower, and a makeup vanity in the bathroom and a walk in closet.

It had a 6 chair dining table which is nice so we could have the family over for dinner. Presently it is very hard to have family over since our place is so small. If the weather was warmer, we could just eat outside on the picnic table, but most winter evening the temperature drops after 3 and it is to chilly and dark for a picnic.

Down from the house was a boat dock and fishing station. If we had a boat, this would be great. I am just not crazy about being on the water with little grand kids who are still learning to swim.

The docks are on a small dead end inlet off from the main part of Bon Secour River. There was a small out door pool in the community also.

View of the Bon Secour River at the end of the inlet. This home rented for $1300 for December, January, and February, but if we wanted to rent it for March, the rent went up to $2,997 a month. (Which is not unusual for most condo's in Gulf Shores).

On another day we visited a duplex on Little Lagoon. (It is almost impossible to find anything to rent that is not on water because Gulf Shores is surrounded by water).

Views from back deck. Right away I could see this unit would be a problem. We had Lennox with us and he was climbing over the deck railing to the other side of the deck duplex, up some 9 to 10 feet up. Boys! There are so much more work than girls.

This unit had a nice size kitchen and a sofa sleeper.

One bedroom had a queen bed with bunk bed which would be great for guest or sleep over grand kids. The master bedroom had a king size bed. The only problem was that this unit only had one bathroom.

You could set crab pots out for dinner though.

The water was very clear and shallow, but that also depends on the tide. I was not sure if we were at high or low tide on our visit.

It had a long drive from the street to the duplex so it was pretty private.

The sail House rented for $1600 a month,

and it was a block from the ocean.

On yet another day we made a day drive to Mobile for a  urologist appointment. (I have had two incidence of urine retention, which has cost me $1600 out of pocket from emergency visits). Unfortunately there must have been an accident on the Mobile Bay Bridge, because we were stuck on the bridge for about 40 minutes. Needless to say I was over an hour late to my appointment. They manage to get me in at the end of the day. The doctor was really nice and recommended a test on my bladder to rule out any problems. Because it was March 13 and we were planning on leaving April 1, we decided I should have the test done in Northern Michigan, just in case I would need surgery,and the doctors up there would want their own test. (It took me 2 months just to get in to see the Urologist).

I have also had 7 Chiropractic appointments in the month of March keeping me very busy. I use to see a chiropractor before we started full timing in our motor home, 2 times a month. I tried to see someone here and there over the last six 1/2 years, but nothing regular. It has been a year since I last saw someone and my neck was really letting me know I need an adjustment. I am hoping I can get back to a regular adjustment schedule, now that we plan on being in 2 places for longer periods of time. Medical appointments can be a real struggle when you are full timing in a RV. Our search for a snowbird rental continues in next blog: