Note: There are 13 photos in this post. Photos by me (Bruce) were taken with a Google Pixel 6 Pro or SONY alpha 6400, unless otherwise indicated. (Photos by Linda taken with a Google Pixel 6.)
SAT 11 – MON 20 November 2023 — Luxury RV Resort — 2/3
Magnetic Minnie Mouse name placards for Madeline and Sadie’s stateroom door on the Disney Dream.
During our second 10 days in Gulf Shores, Alabama, we did a variety of things. Linda brought accounting work for the bakery, of course, and spent some time on that. She also walked almost every day, and we went on a few hikes together. Linda also spent time planning and preparing meals with Nancy and Robert, and the five of us (the three just mentioned plus Paul and myself) dined together almost every night. We also continued to make plans, and purchase odds and ends, for the Disney cruise Linda booked for late February next year. The two younger grand-daughters did not find out about this until Christmas, but I wasn’t posting in real-time anyway (obviously).
Our walks along the marsh and over to Gulf State Park afforded a variety of views. I am always on the lookout for nature images that have an element of abstraction and this caught my eye.
As seen from this vantage point, the marsh surrounding Luxury RV Resort extends well to the north and east to Gulf State Park
We ate well during our time at Luxury RV Resort, which is to say, healthy, delicious, and attractive. The dishes shown here are an amazing salad and a pear upside down cake. Yummy.
The sunrises and sunsets in Gulf Shores can be spectacular, and we had several of each during these 10 days. Our trailer was parked with the rear end pointing slightly east of south, so the large wrap-around rear windows provided good views of both the sunrise and the sunset; good enough at least to see that something was happening and get outside with the phone and/or camera if called for.
Our travel trailer and truck against a beautiful sunset, but this turned out to just be the warmup for what was to follow.
I suspect that most photographers take sunrise and sunset photos (and flower photos, etc.), always hoping to capture something stunning and unique. They can be a bit of clique; I lay no claim to unique, and stunning is rare. But one of the first photos I ever took that I thought was worth printing and looking at was a sunset I saw while stopped for the night in Breezewood, Pennsylvania. I was on my way from my parents’ house in St. Louis, Missouri to Red Fox Music Camp, in southwest Massachusetts. It was the summer between my junior and senior year in high school, and I was making the drive by myself, so that probably had something to do with why I liked the photo. I still have the print, matted and framed, and on display in our rec room. I have been interested in sunset (and sunrise) photos ever since then.
Ooh, that’s nice! But wait, there’s more!
And here it is! Sometimes you have to go wide, and sometimes you have to zoom in. The photographic capabilities of the Google Pixel 6 Pro smartphone really are impressive. And, most importantly, I always have it with me, which cannot be said for my SONY cameras, as much as I enjoy using them and like the results.
Robert (out-of-frame to the left, Nancy (right) and me (center) making pasta for dinner. (Robert does not like his image displayed in social media, so I have tried to respect that in my posts without ignoring his important presence in our group.)
I thought this more subtle, pastel sunset was worth capturing and sharing. Pretty isn’t always dramatic.
Again, zooming in and isolating the most important features of the scene resulted in a stronger photo, IMHO. But hey, it’s my photo and I get to make that decision.
Linda was out for a morning walk and captured this image of work being done to restore the beach in central Gulf Shores, Alabama. These large pipes were serving a dual purpose, being used here to drag and smooth the sand. (Photo by Linda)
Another photo from the same vantage point as the previous one. A bulldozer is moving larger quantities of sand. (Photo by Linda)
The other use of these large pipes was pumping sand onto the beach from the dredging barges used to collect it just offshore, up and down the beach for quite some distance. This stretch of the shore at the northern extent of the Gulf of Mexico is subject to serious weather during hurricane season and the attendant beach erosion. Nice white-sand beaches, in pristine condition, are central to the economies of the many towns that dot this coastline, and to the region in general. As such, considerable effort and resources are put into their maintenance. (Photo by Linda).
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