Said goodbye to Pensacola and followed Highway 98 east along the panhandle. Joe has a very strong fondness of Dunkin' Donuts, and since we hadn't come across many on our trip we made a mid-morning stop. Another quick stop at Bass Pro for some sunglasses for Joe and fuel for the campstove in Destin FL.
We came upon Panama City Beach. Everyone knows that hurricane Michael hit this area and east of it last fall. Lots of activity and construction here in the beach-y tourist-y area. We saw a few signs that had been twisted and turned and knocked down. Did not really seem like the hurricane did much, until we got to actual Panama City. We saw thousands of houses that had been damaged, blue tarps galore, and miles and miles of trees snapped 5 feet off the ground near the air force base. Some trees were even "debarked", which takes some mega winds to do. The areas we drove through were probably not very wealthy areas to begin with, and they got hit pretty good. Most of the businesses that were open were there to support repairing the area, lots of makeshift RV parks, building supply areas and food trucks.
A little further down the road and we drove through the town of Mexico City. We had thought Panama City had it bad, but this was seriously 100x worse. The hurricane was 4 months ago, and obviously a ton of work has been done, but it will be years before this area looks like a town again. I would say that 95% of the houses were severely damaged, and many were completely demolished. Lots of empty foundations to be found. The only places that were "open" were food trucks next to big tents for the workers. I didn't take pictures of any of the areas we drove through, but I'm sure google would give you a pretty good idea of what we saw.
This part of the trip was pretty slow going. The road had been completely washed out in some areas, and was temporarily fixed, but still really rough.
Not a whole lot going on in this section of the state. Some small towns here and there, but mostly just woods and swamps. We stopped at a park for lunch sandwiches.
We stayed at a city campground in the middle of nowhere. There were probably a dozen sites, and pretty sure most of the other people were living at the campground (monthly, only $500, includes water and electricity!). There were a few tents set up in the primitive area, which means no power or water (and a better deal, only $160 monthly!), and these people were for sure full timing here. Despite this, it was a nice and quiet place, and one of the less expensive places we have stayed.
246 miles
148.53 spent
6.16 Dunkin Donuts
59.91 Fuel
38.21 Bass Pro (fuel & sunglasses)
22.25 Snacks/beer
22 Newport Park
We came upon Panama City Beach. Everyone knows that hurricane Michael hit this area and east of it last fall. Lots of activity and construction here in the beach-y tourist-y area. We saw a few signs that had been twisted and turned and knocked down. Did not really seem like the hurricane did much, until we got to actual Panama City. We saw thousands of houses that had been damaged, blue tarps galore, and miles and miles of trees snapped 5 feet off the ground near the air force base. Some trees were even "debarked", which takes some mega winds to do. The areas we drove through were probably not very wealthy areas to begin with, and they got hit pretty good. Most of the businesses that were open were there to support repairing the area, lots of makeshift RV parks, building supply areas and food trucks.
A little further down the road and we drove through the town of Mexico City. We had thought Panama City had it bad, but this was seriously 100x worse. The hurricane was 4 months ago, and obviously a ton of work has been done, but it will be years before this area looks like a town again. I would say that 95% of the houses were severely damaged, and many were completely demolished. Lots of empty foundations to be found. The only places that were "open" were food trucks next to big tents for the workers. I didn't take pictures of any of the areas we drove through, but I'm sure google would give you a pretty good idea of what we saw.
This part of the trip was pretty slow going. The road had been completely washed out in some areas, and was temporarily fixed, but still really rough.
Not a whole lot going on in this section of the state. Some small towns here and there, but mostly just woods and swamps. We stopped at a park for lunch sandwiches.
We stayed at a city campground in the middle of nowhere. There were probably a dozen sites, and pretty sure most of the other people were living at the campground (monthly, only $500, includes water and electricity!). There were a few tents set up in the primitive area, which means no power or water (and a better deal, only $160 monthly!), and these people were for sure full timing here. Despite this, it was a nice and quiet place, and one of the less expensive places we have stayed.
246 miles
148.53 spent
6.16 Dunkin Donuts
59.91 Fuel
38.21 Bass Pro (fuel & sunglasses)
22.25 Snacks/beer
22 Newport Park
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