Island Time, Runaway Shiba, Nail in Tire and other Excitement

Ok...this is the last post about vacation........but we had three different venues ..so....Here is the last report :-)

St George Island



After 10 days of riding around the hills and then visiting with family in southern Mississippi , we arrived home to have time the shibas (who were kenneled longer than they enjoyed) and with our son – who took care of the house. Two days later – we departed for a bit of island time.

Doug rode the bike and I followed in the car with the shibas, food, gear…..



First day in, Doug discovers a nail in the back tire of the Harley. Who knows how long it was lodged in there. He may have picked it up that morning or it could have been with us at anytime during our trip.

So….he rides back to Tallahassee on Friday to get the tire replaced (free since we have an extended warranty) and then back to the beach condo. Same day. I stayed behind and read ¾ of a novel I had brought and to keep the shibas company. They get edgy at new places until they see we are all going to stay – together, Maybe that is a trait of a rescue dog and the history of abandonment.



Friday late afternoon Doug returns and neither of us has had any lunch. Off we go to Harry A’s Restaurant for a late seafood lunch.

Grilled Mahi Mahi and fried oysters with hush puppies and black beans and rice. The black beans have been prepared with jalapenos and have a kick.





Key lime pie to go!

Every October we go to St George Island and stay a few days – eat, drink and watch baseball. It’s either dead in the middle of the World Series games or it’s in the playoffs…so either way, we can watch a few games and overindulge with food and booze.

In the past we have stayed at the Buccaneer hotel which did the job of housing us…..but, it really ought to have been torn down years ago. The kitchenettes are a joke and the one time we paid for one, we could only make coffee in it. So this time we spent only $50 or so more and stayed at a pet friendly condo and it was Very Nice.



Kobe and Aja sat on the deck with us as the slats in the rail didn’t look wide enough for either of them to go through. Kobe stuck his head through a few times but being leashed and collared, never showed an interest in breaking out.



Next morning, we go out to enjoy coffee and stare at the water, leaving the shibas to roam out there with us. At this point, Kobe just walks up to gate and steps through. He just stepped through and looked at us – then ran!
He knew all along he could do that and it was clearly a premeditated maneuver after witnessing his half-hearted attempts the day before.

Neither Doug or I can get the gate open. Kobe is very prey-driven and is running around the complex, looking for birds or cats or something to eat. I am hoping he won’t hit the beach or we’ll never see him again. (I tossed Aja inside the condo and shut the sliding glass door)

Finally we get off the deck but both of us are barefooted and let me tell you – if you’ve never had a sand spur embed itself into your foot, that’s an entire new rainbow of pain you should avoid.

I am running and my glasses are not seated properly and I see an orangey reddish blob and start yelling “Kobe!”

Doug calls out to me, “Tina! That’s a Cat

Right. Long story ends up happily as I am able to get close enough to grab the little red pirate. My feet are torn up by stones in the road, Doug’s have sand spurs.

By the way, our coffee went cold. More is the tragedy.


Tristan arrived Saturday and we rode for pizza, then enjoyed a seafood dinner later on in Apalachicola .



Stopped by a liquor store and grabbed more beer. Watched baseball. Watched the old cheesy Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Conan the Barbarian.

Sunset as viewed from the bridge crossing over St George Island.



Was able to get photos of Tristan and Doug riding home.



End of vacation. Back to drone work. Perhaps someone would like to hire us to eat, drink and write about the experiences?

That would be grand.