The rest of September was pretty normal. We did get a lot of rain the last 2 weeks and had about 4". Tinker went to the groomer's last week and got a bath. We went to the IHOP in Vero this last Monday and met our friends for a late breakfast. Mike had a dentist appointment this week. All just normal stuff.
On my birthday we went down to Vero to see the Kingsman 2: The Golden Circle movie. Then we went to Outback for dinner. Mike ordered the 13 oz. Ribeye with a house salad and broccoli & cheese and a piece of Cheesecake with caramel sauce. I ordered the 10 oz. Ribeye with a Caesar salad and loaded mashed potatoes and the Chocolate Thunder from Down Under pecan brownie. We each had a glass of merlot.
Since our trip to Curry Hammock State Park has been cancelled, our next trip won't be until November when we go down to Jonathan Dickinson State Park for 4 days.
The pile of tree debris from Hurricane Irma was picked up on the 23rd of this month. When I went out later that afternoon to check the mail, this is what the street looked like. Our block was the only one on our street that looked like this.
We're slowly getting back to normal after evacuating for Irma. It was really great that the power came back on just as we got home.
Yesterday we leveled the trailer and then unhitched it from the car. We were just too tired to deal with it when we got home at 7:00 Thursday night. We've unloaded everything out of the trailer and I'm catching up on the laundry.
This morning I went around the yard checking to see how our plants fared and took some photos. Most of the leaves were stripped from our Tibouchina tree, but it was amazing that a lot of the flowers were still there.
Our oak trees took the brunt of the storm and the upper branches are mostly gone on the tree in the front yard. Hurricane Matthew took a large number of the upper branches last year and Irma finished the job this year.
We had reservations to go to Fort Clinch on Amelia Island next week for 5 days and Mike cancelled the reservation. They did have some damage and may not have the campground open by next week. Besides, we aren't ready to take another trip right after getting home from this one.
We had reservations at Curry Hammock State Park for next month for 5 days and we got an email that our reservation was being cancelled because of damage to the campground due to Hurricane Irma. Curry Hammock is right on the Atlantic Ocean and only 36 miles north of Cudjoe Key where Irma crossed the Keys. We had been looking forward to going to Curry Hammock - maybe sometime next year after they've made the repairs.
We slept in this morning and took our time having breakfast. I put stuff away in the trailer while Mike emptied our tanks and disconnected from the hookups. I did remember to take a few pictures of our campsite and of the campground before we left.
This photo is looking down one of the road in the campground.
We left about 10:30 and headed south on I-95 and stopped at the Flying J on the first exit south to get gas and paid $3.199 for premium. We stopped a little after 1:00 for lunch at the 5 Guys on I-95 at Melbourne. We both ordered a little bacon cheeseburger and a regular fry and onion rings.
Then it was just 38 more miles to the house. We got home about 2:00. Just as we pulled up in front of the
We were up early this morning because we wanted to get an earlier start than usual. Several RVs left this morning while we were breaking camp. I put stuff away inside the trailer while Mike emptied the black and gray water tanks, disconnected from the water and sewer connections. Then we hitched the trailer up to the Pilot. It must have been about 8:00 when we left the campground and got on to I-10 East.
There was a lot of traffic on I-10, but it was moving fairly well. There were reports of gas stations in Florida having problems getting gas deliveries or were completely out. So we decided to stop only at truck stops for gas and I would check on Gas Buddy to check the gas situation on the truck stops ahead on our route.
We stopped at Love's at Cottondale, FL at 11:00 and got gas for $3.199 a gallon. We decided to eat lunch there and we both had the chicken tenders. Tinker stayed in the car with the A/C running and the doors locked and we brought him a few pieces of chicken from our lunch.
Traffic started slowing down the closer we got to Tallahassee and I took a photo around 1:30 near Quincy, FL.
I took a photo an hour later when we were just west of Lloyd, FL. We had driven 36 miles in that hour.
Traffic seemed to improve some when we passed the exit for I-75. I remember on our way west I looked at I-75 and it looked more like a parking lot. Today it was a little better, the traffic seemed to be moving albeit
We just lazed around the trailer this morning. It was still windy and overcast for most of the day. Then later this afternoon the sun came out and no more gusts of wind.
Mike called Compass RV Park at St. Augustine and made a reservation for us to stay there tomorrow night. It's 419 miles from here and will make for a long travel day. That doesn't account for the traffic on the highways of people going back home after evacuating for Irma.
Mike also called our tree trimmer Andre and arranged for him to come to the house and clean up the tree debris from the storm. Since we have 5 oak trees there is bound to be a lot of branches and such down on the ground.
Mike called our next door neighbor Bruce and there was no damage to our house or any of our neighbors'. The electricity is off for everyone, but Bruce and Tom across the street have generators so they are OK. However, Bruce can't get his car out of our garage until the electricity comes back on. At least he has his truck to use. Mike told him we would be home on Thursday.
I did take pictures this afternoon of our campsite - better late than never.
Styx River RV is a membership campground, but they waived the membership requirements for people
We've been keeping track of Hurricane Irma's progress and she passed between Tampa and Orlando today as a Category 1. Then by the time she was near Gainesville, she was downgraded to a tropical storm and headed towards southern Georgia.
The weather this morning was pretty good, but as the day went on it became cloudier and windier. We have had quite a number of wind gusts today probably around 30 mph or so.
I did walk over to the Laundry here at the campground to take a look in case I should need to use it. They have 4 washers and 4 dryers and a large shelf for folding. Instead of having to rely on my memory, I took a couple of photos.
Now that I'm writing about it, I realize that we haven't taken any photos of our campsite or the
We just stayed at the campground today and kept track of the updates on Hurricane Irma.
This morning she made landfall on Cudjoe Key as a Category 4 with 130 mph winds. There was a report that a 106 mph gust was recorded at the National Key Deer Refuge on Big Pine - we would see them all the time at Fletcher's house there when we went to visit. Sure hope they come out OK.
Then this afternoon Irma was down to a Cat 3 with 120 mph winds and headed towards Naples and Marco Island. By 6:00 tonight she is down to a Category 2 with winds of 110 mph. They think that Irma will weaken even more after this next landfall and as she travels up the west coast of Florida.
Because Irma's track has changed from going up the East Coast and is now going up the West Coast, we're wondering if we're going to feel any effect from the storm as it gets closer to northern Florida.
