Steve & Debbie's Big Adventure: Steve turns 65!

Greetings from the happy travelers! We are back in our favorite spot - Destin, Florida for a 3-month stay. We'll be here all through the holidays, leaving around Jan 15th. Our friends Carl & Carol from St. Louis, Missouri are here so we're in gooood company!

Our favorite beach -- @ Camp Gulf in Destin, Florida

Steve just turned over the big 6-5 on Oct 27th. We had to celebrate with something exciting! We thought a helicopter ride would fill the bill. Steve had been in one at least once before, but it was my first time. I couldn't stop saying "Wow.... wow... WOW! It was breathtaking and exhilarating.

Happy Birthday, Steve!

Ready for takeoff

We flew up and down the coastline and saw sea turtles, dolphins, manatees and small sharks. The water was so shallow and clear near the shore. Pictures just can't do it justice. It felt like we were flying so low and could see SO MUCH!

The beautiful Emerald Coast of Destin, Florida

Here is Camp Gulf - our fall/winter home. We're parked in the center section
(diagonal to the shoreline) and roughly the 3rd row back from the shore. Kind
of hard to see our RV behind the palm trees.

A pod of dolphins near the shore

Near the harbor at the west end of Destin

Catching up since our last post - while we were in Pennsylvania in early September, we visited the Sept 11 Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville. What a scenic spot for such a horrific event.

The marble memorial wall where all the crew & passengers names are engraved

The debris field where the plane disintegrated.

Entering the long pathway alongside the debris field,
looking toward the memorial wall.

We also visited the small town of Somerset, PA and surrounding area where my ancestors first settled after emigrating from Russia and Germany. The town as well as this graveyard was teeming with "Berkey's" (my maiden name). The land of my forefathers... very beautiful country.

Visiting graves of my ancestors who died during Civil War days in Somerset County, PA

Just before returning to Destin, we'd stayed for a month in Foley (just north of Gulf Shores) Alabama. We had a great spot in an "RV Resort" (lah-tee-dah!!) that was quite tropical and made for a very pleasant stay. And the beaches (about 12 minutes away) were nearly as pretty as Destin's.