Lost on Dauphin Island

After most of the family had gone to bed that first night after arriving at Dauphin Island, Mindy drove in.  She had flown into Mobile and rented a car, stopping at Wal-mart for a few items that we needed and didn't pack, like milk.  That just took up too much room!  Because the Utechts and Josh Graber families drink a lot of milk!

We joke that Mindy is nocturnal.  

It's true.

She is a nurse and works the evening shift so she stayed awake that night while we all slept.  Then she tried to sleep during the day (not an easy task with noisy children! and with us banging around fixing lunch or whatnot, although most of our days were spent outside).  She would wake up in the afternoon and join the family for swimming and dinner.

A start to our mornings.

Some people felt compelled to exercise.  (didn't get a picture of Josh and Adam)

That first morning, Al and I decided to walk to the mile-wide chasm on the west end of the island that Hurricane Katrina had opened back in August of 2005.

It is called the Katrina Cut.

We walked a LONG time.  Our house was located at about the bottom of the above picture.  It doesn't look like it is very far, does it?  But it sure felt it!!   I almost gave up but wanted so badly to see it.  So we plugged on.  Not easy to walk on sand.  Distance wise, maybe it was only 1 1/2 miles, but on sand, it is hard.  

We followed a sandpiper along the way.  After you pass the houses, it is just sand dunes.  We only saw 1 person the whole way.

Then we got to the end.  

.  

"After the BP Oil Spill of April 2010, the Katrina Cut was closed with rocks and other material by the Army Corps of Engineers, in an effort to protect the mainland coast and the salt marshes in the Mississippi Sound from oil contamination.  An added benefit of this project was to help combat over-salination in the Sound, which had been present since the island was breached in that location by Hurricane Katrina in 2005."   

I have read that this is pretty controversial.  Some people think they should have let nature take it's course and that it would have been better for the fishermen.  

We turned around and walked back to the house.  The family had already set up the umbrellas and were swimming.

When we were out walking, my hands had gotten swollen so I had taken off my wedding ring and diamond and put them in my pant's pocket.  At the house, I put on my swimsuit and set my pants out on the deck as they were wet from wading in the beach on our walk.

Clink!

I looked down to see my diamond on the deck.  Oh my goodness!  But where was the wedding band?  Allen joined me in the search.  No where to be found.  Nada.  We checked the deck over and over.  Then we went below and searched too.

I posted on Facebook that I had lost the ring.  Several made comments about getting a metal detector.  Then one guy from church called to say that he had an aunt who lived on the island.  She contacted some friends from her church there and found someone with a metal detector.  He came out and...

It was found!!!

Thank you, Pete and Mrs. Stockton for your help!