January 2019

January 1

I've often heard that what you do on New Year's day, you will repeat the rest of the year!

I would very much like that to be the case.

Today is our version of the Polar Plunge here at Sigsbee.

I had just come in from sailing and my boat was still on the beach

Before the "plunge", I took the sailboat out for an hour or so.  Although I purchased the sailing kayak last year while we were here, I've never really gotten used to sailing it.  So now I have the perfect conditions to experiment and see what it can do.

Overall, I'm very pleased.  It doesn't "go to the wind" very well, but it's good on a broad reach.  I'm experimenting with different sail configurations (it has a  roller furling so I can reef the sail in stronger winds) and different wind speeds to see how far I  can push it.  I don't know if it will capsize with the outriggers on it.  I've got a feeling it can.

After the morning sail, we did the Polar Plunge.  Well over 100 people participate.  And it's fun.  Some people are afraid to go in the water, but over 70 of us do.  It's nothing like the challenges of polar plunges in colder climates.  I've been swimming several times here without a wet suit.  It's comfortable.

After the plunge, I swim for a while, the get back on the kayak for so more sailing.  Overall, a great day.

January 2

We've been working diligently to try and get our reservations extended beyond Feb 29.  We've worked every angle.  We visit the RV Office a couple times a day just hoping.

We've made reservations at other places in Florida for February, but we really want to stay here.

Well, today we got the break we've been hoping for and we are not reserved until April 1. 

We're happy it worked out.

Another day of sailing and swimming.

January 3

We're now beginning to do the little task that we'd been putting off because we weren't sure we'd be here long enough.

It seems that we keep finding little things to do, but we're getting caught up and hopefully, we can begin to relax and just enjoy rather than feeling rushed to enjoy our time here.

This morning Clara and 3 friends drove up to Big Pine Key to go shopping.  I'll never understand!

Vince, Gene, Jim and I drive up mid-afternoon to meet the girls and we revisit one of our favorite restaurants - The Bucktooth Rooster.

January 4- 13

We've settled into a nice routine.

The weather has been great, warm temperatures and little wind.

Typically, every day I get the sail kayak out on the water.  I'm learning a lot about the handling of the kayak under different conditions.

One day, as I was testing the limits on how much wind it can handle, I reached the limit and finally capsized.  It turns out that it was easy to "right" the boat and climb back in.  I don't really think it was the wind, but a combination of wind, waves and poor technique.  Anyway, I've done it and now I know I can recover easily.

Usually, after sailing, I'll go to the heated pool at the community college and swim.  They saved my sheet from last year when I signed up for the120 miles of swimming.  I didn't make it last year - got around 85 miles, but will make it this year.

The waters are crystal clear when the wind isn't too strong.

And of course, the parties continue.

A group of friends organized a "shuffler" party.  Three couples got together and we "shuffled" from appetizers, to dinner, to dessert, ending in a band playing on the beach until late in the evening.

"Shuffling"

Eating and drinking

Shuffling

Party on the beach

January 13

Part of the fun of being here is the "shuffling".

There are about 400 RV sites here and only 90 of them are full hookup.  To be fair to everyone, you can only stay in full hookup two weeks and then rotate to "dry" camping (no hookups).  It's a great system because it encourages a lot of interaction and meeting new folks all the time.

Clara decided to move the "honey bucket" to our new site by hooking up to the bicycle.

Our initial "dry" camping (at one of the best dry sites - 326 - came to an end of Sunday, January 13, so now we are moving to what is probably the best waterfront lot in the entire park - Site 57 in the part of the park called Hollywood.

Site 57 Hollywood, the best site in the park

While I'm out kayaking today, Clara is enjoying her eno chair

It is great to wake in the morning and enjoy coffee and breakfast looking over the ocean (which is about 50 feet away).

Views from the motorcoach at our new site

Unfortunately, Monday, January 14 the weather cools down and it turns cooler, with highs only reaching into the low 70's and the wind picks up.  But it's a great time to be in full hookup.

Sunday, January 20

Nicer weather returned by Wednesday and we're again enjoying the water.

Several evenings (in fact every evening, we go out to dinner with friends at the various restaurants.

Saturday, we took the bikes and head to the annual Key West Seafood Festival.  And now we have some more hanging chairs.  EZ Hang hommocks are at most festivals and events we attend and Clara found a newly designed hanging chair she likes, so why not get two.

Clara enjoying her "new" new swinging chairs.  I think that this addition will bring the total between the two houses and the motorhome to about 15 swinging chairs.  She does love them.

The Sunset Lounge is the center of social activities here on base.  It is a relatively dumpy place sitting in one of the most spectacular locations in the Keys.  And they serve a great cheeseburger.

The parrots come with the band.  The band is composed of campers here at Sigsbee and they're pretty good.  They're great fun and add a lot to the community.

As a result of the numerous shopping trips the ladies go on, Clara shows off one of her recent purchases.

Nancy, ????? and Clara spent one day doing an "Old Homes Tour".  The guys met them for supper at Two Friends Restaurant

I enjoy my mornings sitting in the driver's chair with my cup of coffee and reading the Wall Street Journal online.

Sunday morning (Jan 20), one of those nasty cold fronts that are left over from freezing the Eastern US blows through about 6:30 am.  Now the winds are blowing 25 knots and we can feel the gust in the coach.  The temperatures will fall into the 60's for a day or so.  We'll suffer through and by mid week we'll be back to normal.

January 31

It's becoming increasingly more difficult to keep this blog up to date.

It seems that every day there is something going on nearly all the time.  We've had a series of cold fronts moving through.  Each front comes blowing in, sometimes with rain, sometimes not.  But always wind.  Not the best time to be on the front row only feet from the water and nothing to break the wind.

And as luck would have it, after our two week stay on the front row in Hollywood, we find ourselves in Sigsbee, dry camping, and again, on the front row.  In all the years we've been coming here, it is very unusual for us to get a front row spot, and here we've had two (and almost three) consecutive front row sites.  We're not complaining, but we have to plan for the wind.

We move to our current site (439) on Sunday, the 27th.  We moved early in the morning because no one was in this site.  After getting set up, there was an outrageous wine tasting event, which because of threatening weather, was held under to front entrance to the school here on base (the weather stayed nice for the event).

Then Sunday evening, we went to the Tennessee Williams Theater on the campus of Keys Community College for the Paradise Big Band show (the band is composed of local musicians and was great).  While at the show, the threatening cold front blasted in.  By the time we got back to the coach around 10:30 pm, the winds were howling (around 40 mph).  We had not brought the slides in because the weather forecast was for the winds to hit 12 hours later.  Before we could do anything, the canvas slide topper on the big slide had ballooned up and "wham", the whole thing blew off the tracks.  We got it under control, brought the slide in, and went to bed to a moving coach.  Almost like being on the sailboat.

Monday morning I quickly surveyed the damage, and luckily, there wasn't anything too serious.  Butch came down, and we spent a good part of the day getting the topper back in place and secure.

Lesson Learned!  Bring in the slides when a cold front is threatening and we're going to be gone.  No harm done!

Butch and Linda (who went sailing with us in the BVI last year) arrived Friday the 25th.  We've been out to dinner several times since their arrival with them and other friends.

I'm helping Butch get is Hobie kayak (which is just like mine) rigged for sailing.  It'll be fun having someone sailing with me.  It should be ready in a day or two.

THE REALLY BIG NEWS!  ANNA RECEIVED AN ACCEPTANCE LETTER FROM N C STATE UNIVERSITY.  Her father and mother, as well as me are all NCSU graduates.  It's a lot tuffer to get in today than it was in our day.  Now, she has big decisions to make.  She applied to 6 universities, was accepted at all 6, and with scholarships to four.

Tonight, Jan 31, we had tickets to a new theater to us - the  Key West Theater downtown.  Our Airbnb host, Dawn had recommended that we try to see David Blomberg.  Although initially, it was a soldout show, we managed to get two tickets.

But, we almost forgot we had tickets.  At 7:50, up pops a reminder on both of our computers that the show starts in 10 minutes.  We made it a few minutes late and are really glad we didn't miss the show.  It was great.

We are TIRED of cold weather

December 17 - 18

We are really getting tired of cold, rainy days.  It seems that the weather for the past month has alternated cool and wet, and cold and wet. or just plain cold.  In fact, there has already been a 22 inch snowstorm at the mountain house.

Anna decided she needed a Beaufort weekend, so on Friday, Dec 7, she drove down for the weekend.  Then on Saturday, it snowed in Cary and schools were closed on Monday and Tuesday.  We were excited that she was "marooned" in Beaufort.  Although the weather was miserable the whole time she was here, we always find something to do when she is around.  And no matter what, we love having her around.

Ready to go

Anyway, it's time to head South.  We spent the past week "moving" into the motor coach and on Monday morning, we put Beaufort (and cold, wet weather) in the rearview mirror.  We got as far South as Florence, SC before stopping (and it was still cold), Then on Tuesday, we got to NAS Jacksonville, Fl.  (and it's still cool).

We WILL find warmth!

Dec 19 - We've arrived at Thornton Creek RV Resort near Arcadia, Fl, and more importantly about 6 miles from Tony and Jill's.

Thornton Creek at Butch's pad

Last year when we came South, we had made a reservation here to check out the place.  It is a very upscale motorcoach resort that I had seen in an ad that was offering a free 3 night stay to check it out.  At the time, there were a few "casitas" (small homes) and motorcoaches here.  We told our friend Butch Kurfees about it, and on their way to Key West stopped here like we did; for a 3 day stay to find out more about it.  Butch bought a lot.

And now we're staying on Butch's lot - he and Linda are on an extended cruise to South America right now.  The resort has filled up fast, with lots of new casitas.  However, very few people are here. I guess they've gone home for the holidays.

We feel we're in the lap of luxury RV style being able to stay at such a nice place.

Clara has spent every day with Jill since arrival.  I still can't figure out what they do all day - they love to shop.  Tony and I enjoy rehashing old tales of our days in the Air Force flying B-52's.

Unfortunately, the day after our arrival, there was a massive 3 day storm that inundated the area with ran and lots of wind.  So we were somewhat limited in our activities, but on the 23rd, the weather cleared, but unfortunately, it's turned cooler than normal.

Each evening we get together with Tony and Jill for dinner and fun.

Tony and Jill talk to one of their many grandchildren

It's a great way to spend a few days.

Dec 24 - An unusual Christmas eve dinner of sandwiches at the Pimentel's.  This is after my first Catholic Christmas Eve service at Tony's church.  I know virtually nothing about the Catholic faith except what I hear on the news - which usually isn't good.

I am truly thankful that I had the opportunity to observe this most sacred of holidays Catholic rituals on Christmas Eve.  I know 1000% more than I ever knew about Catholicism and the rituals that are part of their worship.  It was very meaningful and unforgettable.

Dec 25 -  We spent this Christmas with our dearest of friends.  Other than being with our own children, being with Tony and Jill is very special.

We start with a brunch breakfast casserole around 11 am, followed by conversation, walking, talking and just relaxing, followed up by a delicious dinner of prime rib.

An unforgettable day!

Dec 26 - Time to head South.  Our reservations at Key West are Dec 28.  Tonight we are a Midway Campground in the Everglades.  We've spent several days in the past here in this quiet, isolated campground.  It's always relaxing.

At Midway Campground

Tomorrow, we drive an hour or so to an Indian Casino, then South to Key West.

December 31, 2018  On the way to the casino, I thouught about it and decided I'd rather spend the night in Key West than a casino parking lot.  I called the base and found that we could check in on Dec 27, so we skipped the casino and headed down Hwy 1.

It's supposedly about a 3 1/2 hour trip, but 5 1/2 hours later we pulled into Sigsbee.  Many parts of the trip down Hwy 1 were a parking lot.  Never really saw any problems other than more cars than highway.

We checked in with a camp host (the office closed at 3pm and we arrive around 4).  After some paperwork, Clara rode with the camp host to the park while I got gas for the coach.

We got a great site - one of the big ones real near the "beach" on the Northern edge of the park.  While I was getting set up, Clara was socializing.  We were immediately invited to dinner next door and Steve's and Kathleen's (new friends) with Vince and Candy (Maine) and John and Nancy (SC).
Shortly after dinner, we crashed.

On the 28th, we continued setting up, getting the bikes and kayaks off the car and settling in.  We were soon in the water kayaking, swimming and sailing.

Unfortunately, we've found that we may not be able to extend beyond the 30 days we reserved.  I was told when I made my reservation on July 3 that we could only reserve 30 days, so I assumed that like last year, we would be able to extend until April.  But we've found out that we had bad information from the reservation center and we could have reserved until April.  Unfortunately for us, every site is reserved through March.

We're working every angle we can come up with, but so far no luck.

So we're taking max advantage of our time here.  Primarily, in and around the water, reconnecting with old friends, and enjoying fantastic weather (80+ highs and 70 lows).

We haven't even bothered going downtown.  Been there, done that.  Maybe later.  That's not the reason we're here.  We are WARM!  And that's the purpose of the trip.

New Years Eve Vince and Candy had a nice get-together at their place and we actually stayed up until 9 PM.

So much for 2018!  Now on the 2019.

Hurricane Florence (It's better to here wishing you were there, than there and wishing you were here)

It is better being here wishing you were there than being there wishing you were here!

Our dance with Florence!!

Sunday, September 9, 2018

Clara is at the mountain house with some friends. I'm in Beaufort.

We have Airbnb guest arriving today from Waynesville, NC, which is very near to where we lived for a couple of years – 1995-1997. It is one of our favorite places.

Brian and Sunny check in and immediately, we hit it off. In a few minutes, we are in the kayaks in First Deep Creek enjoying a beautiful high tide paddle, even getting pictures of the herd of horses on the island.

Meanwhile, there is talk of a tropical depression somewhere near Africa. At this point I don't think it even has a name.

Brian, Sunny and I plan to get together tomorrow to check out Brian's sailboat which is located in Atlantic Beach. Maybe even a nice sail

Monday, September 10, 2018

Clara and her friends have a great day at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville visiting the Chihuly glass exhibition. We had seen the Home of Chuhuly a couple years ago in Florida.

I realize early that I have a doctors appointment in Morehead, so I leave a message for Brian and Sunny that we'll catch up later today.

On the way to the doctors' office, I hear on the radio about a hurricane. And they predict it is headed for the East Coast of the US, more specifically, right toward us.

I don't get excited about hurricanes. We've seen several, and the weather guessers always make it sound like it's going to be a lot worse than it turns out, and of course the news channels are screaming as usual. Nothing new!

But now I have a boat in the water at Town Creek Marina (which I had planned to take Brian and Sunny out to Cape Lookout on) and an RV in storage. So I pay a little more attention.

After my doctor's appointment, I decide to pick up a couple of things – West Marine, I need a new horn for the boat, and Lowes – I need a hitch for the CRV in case, for some remote reason, I need to pull the boat out of the water.

I stop by the marina on the way home, and things are frantic. They're taking boats out of the water and putting them in the parking lot. They are preparing for a serious event.

Okay, it's time to start thinking about the RV, which is sitting outside at the storage facility where I had been keeping it inside (at the same place). I talk to the owner of the RV storage facility and he recommends I put it back where I had had it before, inside. Ok, I do that. This is the first move of the bus.

On arrival at home, I see Brian and Sunny and suggest that they may want to consider leaving a little earlier than their planned Thursday departure. But they really want to stay and see a hurricane. Ok with me (at this point).

Clara is still in the mountains.

As the evening progresses, I figure I might as well start taking some of the outside furniture and putting it in the workshop. And I do.

I take a Category 4 storm seriously.  We've hung around for Category 1, 2 and even 3, but not a 4.

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

After catching a glimpse at the weather forecast, I begin thinking this “S***, this could be real”.

Now they're talking about a category 4 or 5 hurricane hitting between Swansboro and Jacksonville. There hasn't been anything close to this since 1954 (Hazel).

First, I better get the boat out of the water, which is generally not a one-man job. First, I'll pick up the trailer (in storage at the same storage facility as the motorhome), then I'll take it to the marina and they can load it directly to the trailer. I'm concerned that the Honda CRV won't be able to pull the boat out of the water and up the ramp. The boat's around 4,000 pounds, and the CRV isn't designed to do that.

When I go to check on the boat trailer. I start pulling the tire covers off and find a wasp nest on one of the tires. Go to Ace hardware, and get wasp spray, then back to the trailer. No more wasp.

I get to the marina, and there is no way to get close to the travel lift which is required to lift the boat on the trailer. Obviously, I am going to have to take the boat to the boat ramp nearby and hope the CRV is going to be able to pull it up the ramp.

So now, I'm left with taking the car/trailer to the boat ramp (thankfully very close), then going to the marina and taking the boat to the ramp and single-handedly, drive it on the trailer and then, maybe pulling it out of the water with the weak-kneed CRV.

Good fortune follows and the boat is out of the water.

Meanwhile, I think it would be a good idea to take the motorhome to the house and get it charged up and ready to leave when Clara gets home later today.

So I take the motorhome out of the inside storage and decide to move the boat in there.

On the way to the house in the motorhome, I call Clara and she vetoes the idea of taking the motorhome anywhere. So I take the motorhome back to the storage facility, move the boat out and put the motorhome back in, then move the boat to the outside storage.

By now, it's time for Clara to arrive. She's driving back from the mountain house today (a day or so early – the ladies have been watching the storm movement and want to be home).

She arrives around 3:30 pm. Her goal is to be sure that all the yard art is safely tucked away. There's a lot of yard art and I've been trying to identify it all and take it in. But there is hidden stuff that I didn't know about, so off it goes to storage.

Meantime, before she arrived, I had gotten the RV out of storage and brought it to the house. I have made the decision independently (never a good idea) that we are going to leave town in the motorhome. We can go to Slade's home in Cary, or we can head South, away from where the hurricane is predicted to go.

By now, based on the little bit we're hearing on the news and on the weather apps, this storm is still expected to be “catastrophic” to Carteret County.

And I hear that Carteret County is under a mandatory evacuation. That's ridiculous. Obviously, the Governor doesn't know or understand Carteret County people. Most of the natives are not going to leave, mandatory evacuation or not.

But we are leaving- not because of a mandatory evacuation, but because we can take our home with us.

We call Slade and tell him the plan. We'll take the motorhome to Cary and in case they lose power, we'll have the refrigerator/freezer in the motorhome to help them out, plus my little 2000 watt generator and the 10,000-watt generator in the motorhome. At least we'll have some air conditioning and power when they lose power.

At the last minute (6pm), we head out, but instead of heading to Cary and the kids, (there are feet of rain predicted inland when the hurricane come ashore), we decide that the best tack is a port turn South. No specific destination – just South.

We head toward Wilmington (Hwy 24/17) and continue toward I95. At about

Whiteville (and 11 PM), we decide we can't go further, so we stop at a former Walmart parking lot, start the generator (which runs all night for AC) and crash in the bed.

We've thrown anything we can think of in the car and motorhome and tried to get as much out of the freezer (think 50+ pounds of shrimp), and start throwing away anything else (because we figure we'll lose power). We have no idea what we have with us (remember at this point, the predictions are for 150 mph winds – and although our home has toughed out many hurricanes since it was built in 1938 I'm not sure what to expect with 150 mph winds). I do get the small safe that we have the vital documents in and a box of photo books. I'm now prepared for the worst.

We understand the power of the wind. We routinely get 80-90 mph winds at our mountain home in the winter. It is almost impossible to stand up in that kind of wind. And the roar inside the house is pretty loud. The first thing we did after we moved in and experienced these winds, we had hurricane panels made for the big windows.

At this point, we're really wondering if there will be much left of anything in Beaufort. Remember 150 mph winds.

As a side note: Last year, hurricane Irma went through the Virgin Islands and then the northern Florida Keys. In December, we went to Key West for the winter and drove through the devastation which was still very visible 3 months after that hurricane. And in April, we chartered a boat in the Virgin Islands and saw places that had been completely wiped out when Irma went through.

Although I haven't had hurricane insurance on our property in Beaufort before, when we returned home from the islands, I did get hurricane insurance. What I had seen in the Keys and the Virgin Islands had made an impression.

Therefore, we felt a little better now, because we had insurance. If anything happened to the house in the predicted 150 mph winds, we had the most valuable things that couldn't be replaced with us.

Wednesday, September 12, 2018.

We wake up early, knowing that we've made a good decision to leave and head South.

Slade calls a few minutes after we get out of bed and says, “Dad, have you seen the latest forecast”. “No”. “Well, you better look”. The forecast is for it to turn in a more southerly direction and come ashore about the NC/SC line.

Guess where we are! The NC/SC line!

Okay, what to do now. We felt confident that heading South is the right decision. But is it?

We can go to Slade's in Raleigh, turn around and go back to Beaufort, go to the mountain house or continue South.

I call the RV Park at Naval Submarine Station Kings Bay in the most Southeastern part of Georgia and we can get a site there for a few days. Done. We head South. Only a 4-hour drive.

Wrong. It seems everyone else had the same idea – head South! Parts of I95 are a parking lot.

8 hours later, we're settled in a beautiful location in the RV park at Kings Bay Naval Base  – and God only knows what happens next.

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Wow!, we were really tired from the drive. Both of us slept for 13 hours.

After getting up, we check the weather forecast and it seems that the weather guessers are still guessing. The storm either is/isn't going to hit NC or SC. It is/isn't going to be a Category 2/3/4.

It is going to produce a lot of rain – somewhere. That somewhere is most likely going to impact how/when we start back North and to home.

So, we decide that this isn't a bad place to be. We extend our reservation for a week.

And there is a nice pool on base.

Friday, September 14, 2018

Well, the storm is/isn't coming ashore at Wilmington.

We do hear that there is some significant damage (mostly trees from what we hear) in Carteret County. The news is rather spotty and comes primarily through Facebook from people who can still post there.

So far as we can tell, our house is okay. This news comes through a neighbor from Ohio who owns the house behind us. Their neighbor in Beaufort called them in Ohio, then they called us in Georgia to tell us that our home in Beaufort looks okay -maybe.

I think we've made a good decision, even though we'd love to be home and start cleaning up. But it's nice here, no gas lines, no panic in the stores, and beautiful weather.

BUT, with the weather guessers still guessing, and seemingly having no idea what to expect, we had best keep a close eye on what's going on. We are only a couple hundred miles away from the outer rims of the storm, and you never know. Maybe we will have to evacuate to North Carolina.

Tonight we enjoyed a nice seafood dinner at a local restaurant.

Saturday, September 15, 2018

Well, now the flooding and rain are making big impacts. From what we can tell from looking at Facebook and websites, all the roads into Carteret County are flooded, and I 95 and I 40 are flooded in some places.

This clearly indicates that we are going to be here longer than originally planned. We may still try to move further North if we can secure reservations, but not before.

There are so many evacuees from the hurricane here at Kings Bay that we have a Hurricane Party

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Hot! Hot!

We had forgotten how hot it is when the temperature index goes over 100 degrees. We literally don't go out during the day if we can help it – and it appears that no one else in the park does either. Just to hot.

We use the time to clean up the RV. It needed it.

Monday, September 17, 2018

We keep hearing rumors that there is access to Beaufort now, but nothing confirmed. There may be a way from Raleigh using 264 to Greenville. That part of the state didn't get as much rain so the roads may not be flooded. BUT, we can't get that far North on I-95. The DOT reports that I-95 is flooded in numerous spots North of Lumberton. This means we can't get to Hwy 264.

We decided to make reservations at Santee State Park in South Carolina. We've stayed there several times. It's about halfway back, so at least we should only have a 1-day drive from there when the roads to open up.

Tonight we had dinner with Martha Willy Johnson, a high school classmate of mine who lives near Jacksonville Fl.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Today, the chances of getting to Beaufort from here (easily) seem even less of a  possibility.  I-40 is closed, Hwy 74 from 40 to Wilmington is closed, and it appears that portions of 17/24 between Wilmington and Morehead City are closed - all from flooding.

There may be detours and workarounds, but with this 38,000-pound 71-foot bus/car combination, we're not taking any backroads where we might have to turn around and maneuver.

So this morning we decided to head to Patrick AFB near Cape Kennedy, instead of heading North to Santee State Park.  We cancel those reservations.  We might as well take advantage of our time here and at least see and do something interesting. However, after about 45 minutes driving South and getting just South of Jacksonville, we have second thoughts - this adds another day to getting back home when the roads clear.

So we get reservations at one of our favorite military campgrounds, Mayport Naval Station.  It's a great location, right on the river, and there are lots more things to do around there.

Tonight we went to Safe Harbor restaurant, one of the favorite seafood restaurants in the area.

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

We're beginning to hear that power is being restored in spotty locations in Carteret County.  That's encouraging, but the highways are still flooded.

We are seriously thinking about leaving here tomorrow and detouring via I-26 to Charlotte, up I-85, I-40 and highway 70 to Beaufort.  According to Google Maps, it's less than 200 miles further than the direct route.

One of the great things about staying on military bases is their swimming facilities.  And Mayport has among the best I've seen.  So this morning, as I did at Kings Bay a few times, I get to swim.  It always makes me feel better.

For dinner, back to Safe Harbor restaurant for another great dinner.

Thursday, September 20, 2018

It is frustrating.  I am finding that there is little reliable information about road closure due to the flooding.  Obviously, the news (print and other media) is old information and unreliable.  The DOT websites seem to be the best source, but sometimes they don't agree with emergency management reports from the various counties.

So the only way to find out is to go.

This morning we left Mayport and headed North and have made it to Santee State Park on Lake Marion South Carolina.

We've stopped here many times on our treks North and South.

It looks like we can get back to Beaufort tomorrow.  At least I'm going to try.  Although the news media and DOT says not to go the Wilmington, NC, we're going to Wilmington, NC.  Everything that I can find says there is a way to get through Wilmington and get on Highway 17 and 24 to Beaufort.  I have no idea where we'll be spending tomorrow night, but we're going North.

We got back to Beaufort with very few problems.  At one point, it seemed as though we had made a really bad decision.

We were on the only road that was shown to be open through Conway, SC.  Outside Conway, we started meeting traffic headed in the opposite direction (West) from us (East).  There was a 15-18 mile line of traffic (barely moving) and all heading away from the supposed flooding on the coast.  We began to really wonder what was going on but didn't really have much choice about turning around at this point.  We were on 2 lane highways the whole time, and finding a place to turn around this 71-foot rig was impractical.  So we just kept on - and no one else was going our way.

We never ran into any problems and eventually were on the bypass around Wilmington.  It appeared that everything but the bypass was impassable, but thankfully, we didn't run into any problems.

We arrived home in the evening and were very pleased to find very little damage.  Some shingles had been blown off the carport and a small section of the roof on the house.  We had no water damage and no trees blown down.  We were lucky.

Front Street during the hurricane.  Thankfully, we weren't here.

The oak tree in the back yard shed a lot of limbs

Before we returned, we had gotten in contact with a guy who would clean up the debris and limbs in our yard.  On arrival at home there was a pile of tree limbs on the street.  A great relief not having to do that after arrival.

In retrospect, we could have easily stayed home.  But we enjoyed the trip.

Although, if there is another Cat 4 or 5 hurricane is predicted, we'll leave again.  As long as it's a Cat 1 or 2, we're comfortable staying.

Because of the hurricane, several of our Airbnb guest cancelled, but there were several contractors who needed space.  We eventually were booked primarily by insurance adjustors.