This was our first trip with our new companion, Ms TomTom. Not having an exact destination to program into the GPS device, we entered a 'Point of Interest' that we knew about that was located along the direction we planned to explore today. The device performed flawlessly in guiding us from Eagle's Landing RV Park in Holt to the Okinawa Japanese Steak, Seafood House and Sushi Bar in Fort Walton Beach. Although we were frequently startled by the voice instructions, we were pretty amazed by the precision of the information that was provided along the way. What I have not seen as a highlight in any of the advertising for the device is the 'home' feature. After turning off the device and just wandering about for most of the afternoon, when we were ready to return to Holt at the end of the day Deb simply pressed the HOME button on the screen and we were guided through the best route for our return. At one point along the way, we decided to make a short stop at one of the National Seashore locations in this area and when we were leaving the parking lot, the GPS picked up on our sidetrack location and proceeded to guide us out of the park and back to the route home.
We had intended to spend some time on the beach today, but although the temperature and sunshine were cooperating just fine, the sea breeze was much too strong to make it comfortable and we left the beach after only about 1/2 hour; however, nothing lost - we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Destin which is located just to the East of Fort Walton Beach. Destin is a beautiful community of streets lined with palm trees, but also highways lined with strip malls and beaches lined with condos and hotels. We managed to find some nice quiet spots here and there and Deb had the opportunity to get many shots of a cooperative Great Blue Heron and some other shore birds. We were very pleased to have had the chance to explore and enjoy Destin, but we can't imagine what a busy place this must be 'in season' with the many thousands of people that could be occupying all the huge facilities in the area, not to mention what the traffic must be like at that time.
2 comments:
"Ms" TomTom eh? I take it then, that you haven't installed the MR T voice? ;)
Sounds like a fun time - great shots of the herons - looks like you could get real close!
Don't you know? ALL good computer voices are female (ala Star Trek); unfortunately, I don't think Majel Barrett's voice is available for the TomTom.
Yes indeed, Deb was within about 6 feet of a heron at one point before it very slowly took a few steps.
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