Stormy Weather and Lessons Learned in Two Parts

Roger here...

PART ONE.  Last Thursday night was our last night at St. George Island on the Florida panhandle.  While I was packing up the outside "stuff" in preparation for an early morning departure followed by an eight- hour drive, Dianne, who had been watching the Weather Channel, told me that storms were predicted during our drive the next day.  I noticed that the skies

 were beginning to cloud up, so I came in to watch the weather.  (Thankfully, our satellite allowed us to get the Weather Channel because there were NO local stations to pick up on St. George Island and we also had very spotty cell phone coverage, so using the tether to our cell phone wasn't an option.)

As it turns out, the prediction was for heavy winds during the day and severe thunderstorms, hail, and possible tornadoes at our destination at the Corps of Engineers campground at Lake Lanier, just north of Atlanta.  It is not fun -- and in fact, quite dangerous -- to drive a high- profile vehicle in extreme winds.  The few times that I have driven the motorhome in less severe, moderate winds, required me to have both hands on the wheel to be ready for any sudden wind thrusts that could push the vehicle in another lane or off the road - very nerve-racking.  I had no desire to do that for eight hours, so I called our destination, told them we would be a day late.   I then made a reservation at River Park RV in Valdosta, four hours down the road, but well south of the storms. 

As it turns out, the forecast was accurate.  There were severe winds, snowball-sized hail, downed trees, and tornadoes.  When we arrived at Lake Lanier, the only damage at our site was a fire pit full of 8 inches of water

 - no campfires that night!  We dodged a bullet and felt somewhat smug at having done so.  Little did we know that the bullet was out of the gun, but had not yet reached us.

PART TWO.  The next day was beautiful - warm, sunny, pretty vistas of the lakes and forest from the motorhome.  We wanted to be sure to explore the campground area on that day because the next day was supposed to be cloudy, rainy, and cold - no forecast of severe weather, just crummy weather.  

I got up early the next morning and was reading on the couch.  It was raining and I felt sorry for the man in the campsite across the street who had arrived the evening before and was in a tent. Everything was normal at his site when I first looked out the window.  When Dianne was heading for the coffee, I told her that it would be a good day to clean the roof on the motorhome because it was raining, but no lightning.  I then said that it was probably a little too windy.  (That comment soon became a HUGE understatement.)  

At that point a huge gust of wind toppled a pine tree across the street. 

 It missed the man in the tent, but prevented him from driving his truck.  Within a minute his tent blew down and he scampered to his truck.  Another stronger gust followed, which prompted Dianne and I to "stow" the satellite dish (not supposed to be in winds stronger than 35 mph) and pull in the two slides to help stabilize the motorhome and prevent damage to the awnings that extend over the slides.  We were feeling pretty good about having weathered the storm and were thankful that we did not have the problems of the man in the tent (whose truck battery was also dead), but our problems were just beginning.  A loud pop, followed by the loss of electricity, extended the day of frustrations.  If you watched the national weather that day, you probably heard about extensive damage in northern Georgia due to 50 mph straight-line winds.  Thousands were without power for hours.  That was us.

We decided to use the day to plan an upcoming trip to South Dakota to officially change our residency.  We could make reservations using a tether from our laptop to Dianne's phone.  We switched the refrigerator from electricity to propane , knew we had water, and settled in for a quiet "inside" day.  A comedy of errors (not really funny ones) ensued.

While Dianne was researching campsites on the computer, she noticed that the computer charge was low.  I said "no problem", we'll just run the generator for a while and get our electricity from it.  Unfortunately, to prevent the motor home from running out of gas while on the road, our generator does not operate when the gas tank is less than one-quarter full.  On the day of our drive we had a half-tank south of Atlanta and could have stopped to fill up, but we decided that we could probably find a gas station closer to the campsite, and besides we had plenty of gas to get there - plenty of gas to get there, but less than a quarter tank left = NO GENERATOR. 

 We then determined that we could charge the computer using a connection to the motorhome battery.  Dianne said that the connecting tether was in a box with other miscellaneous electronic wiring.  She thought she knew where it was.  The search began.  Every nook and cranny was investigated - no box of electronic connections.  About two hours later I asked if it could be in the small compartment above the driver's seat.  IT WAS!  I did the happy dance.  Dianne smiled.  Unfortunately, the right connecting tether was not in the box.  We evidently don't have one.  There would be no computer until the electricity came back on. 

Other issues....  We decided to use our rechargeable, battery-powered Coleman lantern for light.  We did have lights that operated from the house batteries in the motorhome, but we did not want to drain them since we could not run the generator.  Unfortunately, we had left the Coleman lit outside all night the night before, and drained the battery; obviously, we had no electricity to recharge it. 

All of our cooking would need to be done using the propane-fueled stove top and oven - no microwave or outdoor grill (in the rain).  However, we turned on the furnace the morning before to take the chill off instead of using our electric space heater that was stowed in an outside bay (too cold to go out and get it in jammies).  We forgot to turn it off.  It kicked on several times the next evening.  When we checked our propane level, it was low.  Ouch.  A good thing we had a supply of crackers.  

Walking the dogs was another issue.  Their morning constitutional was delayed for about three hours due to the wet and windy weather.  When Chaplin, a very quiet dog, needs to go, he stands by the door and stares at the door.  He did a lot of that on that day.  Thank heaven their bladders are much, much larger than mine.

Finally, there was nothing much to do.  No TV.  No outside walks.  And for me...  no reading.  I had just finished the book I was reading on my Kindle the night before and was planning to order a new one.  When I tried, I discovered that the Kindle would not connect due to poor cell phone coverage.  I could have ordered a book using our computer, but then, as you know, we did not have an operating computer!  

There was really only one activity to occupy our time and that was watching the saga unfold with the man in the tent. 

 Did I mention his truck battery was dead?  He attempted to charge it with an electric battery charger plugged into an outlet, not realizing that the campground power was out.  His wife then arrived with jumper cables, but there was no way to get the two vehicles close enough to connect due to the downed tree.  After a few hours a crew came to saw up and remove the tree.

  At that point the man packed up his wet tent (yuck), jumped the battery in the truck, and followed his wife out of the campground.  (I did offer to help, but honestly he was too angry to want help from anyone!)

Frustrations with two people in a confined space (no escape due to the rain) almost always leads to conflict.  I was proud of the way that the two of us conducted ourselves; however, I did grind about an eighth of an inch of enamel off my molars.  (Dianne here - I ground a QUARTER INCH of enamel off mine!!!)

Looking back on the day, we were very lucky to have endured only a series of frustrating inconveniences.  No one was hurt.  Nothing was damaged.  It could very easily have been a different story.  At 7:30 p.m., the electricity returned.

(Short note from Dianne - As you can see from the two photos below, our three

 "sons" were mostly unperturbed throughout the whole drama!)  

LESSONS LEARNED. 

1.  Walk the dogs BEFORE it rains.

2.  Charge the computer when the electricity is on.

3.  Never arrive at a campsite without enough gasoline to run the generator.

4.  Always have an extra book to read.

5.  Know where the electronic tethers/chargers are kept and order a charger that allows the computer to be charged by the house batteries.

6.  Retrieve the electronic heater from the outside bay on cold mornings, even if you ARE in your jammies.

7.  Don't forget to turn off the furnace.

8.  Always have a supply of snack food that does not need to be cooked.

9.  Turn off the Coleman lantern before you go to bed.

10.  Never be too smug about how you handle situations.  Inevitably, your smugness results in being taken down a peg or two!

St. George Island State Park, FL

Hi all - Dianne here.  For those of you looking for Kaia's guest blog, scroll down to the one below today's entry.

The girls flew back to Indiana last Saturday.   We miss them already, but had a great time at Disney.

  On Sunday, the whippet/cat/Boomer caravan traveled to the Florida Panhandle, near Apalachicola, to spend five nights at St. George Island State Park.  Since early January, we have traveled all over Florida:  down the East Coast (Titusville, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami), to three areas of the Everglades (Shark Valley, Flamingo, Collier-Seminole), the Keys, the Southwest Coast (Ft. Myers, Sanibel Island), the middle (Caloosahatchee River, Orlando, Bushnell) and now the Panhandle.  We've saved the prettiest area of Florida for the last!!   Without a doubt, St. George Island State Park is the prettiest place we've stayed in Florida all winter.   It reminds me a bit of Edisto Island, SC where we started our journey last December.  St. George Island is a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico, which has snow-white sand, grassy dunes, tall slash pine trees, tall

 black-needle-grass marshes - it is truly lovely.  

The 

wide, white beaches here are practically deserted; no small feat during spring break weeks in April.  The beaches are so deserted that great blue herons frequent the beach. 

 They walk along, undisturbed, and don't even move as we approach them.

The beach has nine prime walking miles of undeveloped beauty - nothing but white sand, grassy dunes, aqua water, and blue sky.  It must be the fact that this is an out-of-the-way destination that keeps it so quiet and undisturbed.  In order to get here, we crossed a four-mile bridge from Eastpoint, Florida to enter St. George Island.   The western portion of the island is developed, with condos and motels, and a few businesses.  We turned east, and soon left all development and four miles later entered the state park.   After we finally entered the state park, it was four MORE miles of nothing but a roadway through sand dunes to get to the campground.

The sites in the

 campground are large, and it's very quiet here.  It is more of a family destination than a snowbird park, so there is a mix of tents, pop-ups, trailers, and motorhomes.  

 Lots of people with kayaks. 

 If we had been able to get reservations for more than five nights (four full days), we would definitely break out the S.S. Minnow while here.  There are two really nice hiking trails which allow dogs.  (Dogs are not allowed on the beach here at the state park, but ARE allowed on the public St. George Island beaches).   Yesterday we took the "boys" on the longer trail and clocked over six miles on my pedometer before we were done.  It was a good workout, too, because portions of the trail necessitated walking in soft sand.   (I'm still trying to work off all that ice cream from Sanibel Island.)

This is our fourth year in a row to be on the Florida Panhandle this week in April.  This year, it's just a coincidence.  In years past, we were forced to use this week because of Roger's school's spring break.  (The Panhandle is a more manageable drive from Indiana for a one-week stay than the peninsular portion of Florida.)  We've spent the prior three years near Destin: two years at Camping on the Gulf RV resort, and last year at Topsail Hill State Park.   Topsail Hill is another lovely Florida state park.  I must say, though, that for unspoiled beauty and quiet, I like St. George Island even better. 

  

Allergy report:  Roger's oak tree allergy has gotten MUCH better since we arrived here.  There are a very few of the live oaks around here; most of the trees are tall slash pines. 

 From here, tomorrow, we have a long travel day to a Corps of Engineers campground on Lake Lanier, north of Atlanta.  We have our fingers crossed about the oak pollen there.  I'll let Roger take over and add his thoughts on St. George now.

Roger here..

  I suspected that this would be a great place after we arrived at the state park and began driving to the campground.  All that could be seen through the windshield was a narrow road winding through the snow-white dunes. 

 Occasionally there were patches where the sand had drifted onto the roadway.  The green waters of the Gulf of Mexico were always to the right.

Having watched development take over the State of Florida over my lifetime, it is hard to believe that this unspoiled area exists.  People obviously know this is here because the campground is full - not busy, but when walking

 along the beach, the isolation is dramatic.  Two days ago in the late afternoon while Dianne made chili (and rested) and the whippets just rested, I decided to strike out on my own just to see how quiet this place can be.  I walked down to the beach and headed east, away from the park entrance (four miles away), to explore as much of the other five miles of beach as I could before evening. 

 Within five minutes not a soul could be seen - nothing but an endless stretch of white sand and emerald ocean that narrowed to a point at the horizon.  There were lots of sounds (wind, crashing surf, chirping gulls), but none of the human variety.  I walked for about 45 minutes at which time I knew that I needed to head back if I was to arrive before darkness (and Dianne's chili dinner :).  Rather than taking the beach back, I cut across the dunes, avoiding the fragile vegetation, until I came to an abandoned, sand covered, roadway.  The view between the dunes from the roadway was cool.  On the north side was the brown choppy water of the intracoastal waterway and the mainland (four miles away).  On the south side was the green water of the Gulf of Mexico.  The walk back was more arduous than the walk along the beach for a couple reasons.  First, I was walking on soft sand most of the way instead of the hard-packed sand of the beach. 

 Second, the wind, which was significant and chilly at that time of day, was in my face.  Fortunately, I wore a hoody so I was able to tie the hood around my head - Lawrence of Arabia struggling through the barren sand dunes (sans camel).  Dianne's chili tasted especially good after all that exercise.

Last night we had a campfire for the first time in weeks.  The drought that has plagued most of Florida and prevented us from enjoying a campfire is not an issue on the panhandle.  I have to admit that I had significant issues in South Carolina and Georgia in building a blazing campfire.  My fires always seemed to smolder (no flames) after the kindling and fire starters burned out.  My typical campfire activity consisted of - add more kindling, add more paper, restart, sit down, add more kindling, add more paper, restart, sit down, ad nauseam - ending with the pouring of water on the smoldering logs so we could go to bed.     So....  this time Dianne tried her hand.  She began by scavenging an abandoned (hollow) log that was left at the campsite next to us.  Her intent was to use it as a chimney that would create the blazing fire.  It took a while for the log to catch, but when it did, the results were good.

  I guess she will have to build all the campfires from now on :)

We are planning to head to the beach today to sit and watch the water - no more of this walking stuff, at least for today. 

Disney Adventure, by Guest Writer Kaia

Hi! It's Kaia! I just went to Epcot that has different cultures like China, Japan, Germany, Canada, and many more! There was also a huge golf ball in the middle of Epcot. I went with my mom (Amanda Norris) inside the golf ball. It shows you how the humans advanced through time. First, you got inside and get in a car that goes and takes you through a time machine that you create! Then, look fast!

The time machine takes your picture but you might miss the picture if you don't look at the camera. The reason why they take your picture is for something later. It shows how people made math and then, show the earth at the end. Now the picture that it took of you makes a character with your face. There is a screen that you see and it asked you some questions about how you want your future. Then it creates your future!

Then, my mom and I went to China. (Not really.) When we went to a chinese store, my mom saw earrings and a necklace. Then, my mom and I went to the mexican store. And then we had to go home.

The next day, we went to Animal Kingdom. We went to go on a ride called:Everest. In part of the ride you go up backwards! I didn't know it was that much fun. Then my grandma (Dianne Norris) did not feel good so, we went to Rainforest Cafe. It looked like you were really in the rainforest! It had robot gorillas and snakes.

Every 10 min. there would be a pretend thunder storm! The day after that, I went to Disney's Hollywood Studios. The only to rides there were Rock n' Roller Coster and Tower of Terror! I would not like to go on the Tower of Terror or Rock n' Roller coster. Then, that night was our last night we were not so thrilled about it but we finally saw the fire works. When the fireworks were over we went home. And now today I have to leave beautiful Florida. I guess I have to leave but i have enjoyed writing for you so maybe I'll be a guest writer again. Keep going on to Travelwithwhippets.blogspot.com My story is over now so here is more Dianne and Roger. Bye guys!

Sumter Oaks RV Park + Disney World Ft. Wilderness

Hi
all -- Dianne here.


We left the Groves in Ft. Myers and traveled to Bushnell, Florida for a short stay at the Escapees Sumter Oaks RV park prior to our Disney vacation. As the name implies, Sumter Oaks is a beautiful, peaceful park with lovely live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. It is in a rural setting, with owls calling and even a couple of sandhill cranes walking among the RVs!

All winter Roger has periodically had extreme allergic reactions to something on our trip. We've been trying to figure it out since Savannah. After a particularly windy day at Bushnell, Roger had his worst allergy attack EVER, even crossing the line into asthma. (He has never had asthma before). It's a particularly high pollen count here from LIVE OAK TREES.

These lovely live oaks that we have enjoyed since arriving in South Carolina last December have turned out to be Roger's nemesis!! I had to make two emergency runs to the local CVS, first for Mucinex DM and more tissues, then another emergency run for dust masks and an over-the-counter inhaler, just so that he could undo the motor home so we could get the heck out of there!! He was totally incapacitated. I think from now on springtime will be spent in Arizona or Utah. At least Charlie the cat has been vindicated. I've been wiping him down with baby wipes every day, just in case.

Saturday evening was a very happy time for us.

We drove to the Orlando airport and picked up our daughter, Amanda, and our 10-year-old granddaughter, Kaia. Happy faces all around!!! This is the longest we have ever been apart and it is SO good to see them!

The only one who might have been even happier was our dog,

Jasper. I've never seen him so excited, as he was when he saw Mandy and Kaia after four months apart. You'd better get used to the idea that there will be lots and lots of photos in the next few

blogs of our very-photogenic

granddaughter, Kaia. She is our only grandchild and she has been the center of our lives for the past 10 years.

Monday we packed up camp and all drove to Ft. Wilderness Campground at Disney World for a week's stay. We lucked out and are in loop 200, very close to the boat marina, Pioneer Inn, and dog park. Perfect location!!

We are a short boat ride to the Magic Kingdom from here.

Tuesday

we all got up early and spent most of the day at the Magic Kingdom.

Our strategy of getting there early worked out great. We made a bee line for Space Mountain, then Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Haunted Mansion, all with a 20 minute wait or less. Kaia and Roger went on Splash Mountain.

Amanda and I stationed ourselves at the bridge to get a photo of them coming down the chute

toward the final splash. I'm not a roller coaster fan (Roger is), but I do really enjoy Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad. I didn't want to get drenched, so I passed on Splash Mountain.

After we'd hit the hot spots, we took in some of the lesser attractions, then used our park hopper passes to quickly check out Disney Hollywood Studios. By then we'd walked over 8 miles, according to my pedometer, and it was time to drag ourselves home to the RV. Talk about tired and sore legs!! We all collapsed for a while, then grilled hamburgers. After supper, Amanda took Kaia to the sing-along at the campfire and the outdoor movie, "Camp Rock."

Kaia wants to try her hand at blog writing, so come back in a few days to read our special guest writer's take on Disney World.

Roger here.... I can't add much to this. It is wonderful having Amanda and Kaia with us. It was also great that Kaia was able to see her other grandparents, John and Nan,

when we were in Bushnell. They drove down from Ocala to meet us for lunch at Chuck's Odd Cuples Cafe in Bushnell. Good food and good company! They are just as crazy about Kaia as we are, and as you can see from Kaia's face, she was very happy and excited to see them.

The last time we were at Disney, our other daughter Robyn was with us. She is now performing on an NCL Cruise ship in Hawaii for eight months. We wish she were here. I will be taking Kaia on the Dinosaur ride at the Animal Kingdom in her honor.