Better Late than Never (Family Vacation of 2011)

It dawned on me today that I never blogged about our 2011 Florida vacation - made extra special by the fact that we took the camper.  That's right, folks we camped right off of the beach.  Before the trip I touted it as, "Either the best or worst vacation we will ever take."  Turns out, we had a great time. My in-laws also went and took their camper.  Because we took the camper, guess who also got to go on vacation....

The cutest passenger you will ever see, that's who!  I snapped this picture while we were still in Arkansas but it had been long enough for her to realize that this was more than a trip to Sonic.  Mamie is an excellent traveler, by the way.  She slept most of the time.

Good ole' Arkansas.....

Notice how it was not-so-sunny upon our arrival to the Sunshine State.  It cleared up for rest of the trip the next day.  Thank goodness!

 The water was gorgeous!!

We stayed on Santa Rosa Beach - not too far from Panama City and right past Destin.

 I swear I wore bathing suits and swam but this was after supper one evening and we were just walking the beach.



We got in the water a good deal even though there were sharks.  That's right, I said sharks.  Not small ones either - there was one that was a good five feet long (this is not an exaggerated figure on my part but an agreed length by all of us who saw it.)  The sharks (yeah, that "s" is an intentional plural maker) hung around especially in the late afternoon.  Did that deter us from getting in the water?  Nope.  Was I even remotely concerned about a shark attack?  Nope.  But what, upon the simple mention of a spotting, had me running and screaming out of the water as if my life was immediate danger?  Jellyfish. 

In case you were wondering if the little traveler had a good time, let this picture be your answer.

 I look like such a goober in this picture but the scenery is so pretty.

 Aaaaaand speaking of goober.... This is my father-in-law.



 This is right before we left the campsite to head home.  Typical me, I made friends with the couple next door from Louisiana  (we bonded over our common love for dogs - they're more extreme with a total of 5 rescue dogs.)  Before we left they took a family photo.



Coming back we stayed at a Mississippi state park.  This was early in the morning before we left.



This was a few miles from home when Mamie had climbed up to the front seat in excitement because I'm assuming she could smell home.

Another great family vaca in the books.  We've decided we may skip the beach in 2012 since we've been there for the last two vacations.  Chicago is in the running.  We shall see!