Waiting for visitors.

Clearly it's getting time to head south soon.

Well we started South, but not far. We're in Lincoln New Hampshire and it's still cold at night.

We're expecting visitors this week. Barbara's brother Stuart and his wife Linda are coming from UK on a “Leaf Peeping” tour.

We're taking the Leaf Peeping Train

Hurricane Mathew is arriving on a different tour!

Stu and Linda are expected Friday and leave here headed for Vermont on Sunday morning.

Hurricane Mathew is expected Sunday evening headed hopefully out to sea.

So where does that leave us right now? Well the weather is OK, and tomorrow is supposed to be fairly nice so we'll take a picnic lunch and do our own Leaf Peeping for the day. Meantime we've been planning a route to get us to Florida and we've decided we can make an Escapees Rally there in November, so we made reservations at the campground for the event. (If the campground is still there after Mathew goes by!).

If you've never experienced a Hurricane then let me share my experiences.

The first one we ever saw was when we lived in New Orleans in the 80's. We were getting extremely anxious as it formed in the Gulf and headed our way. The locals were planning parties! Apparently back then they just stocked up on booze and invited all the neighbors round until the storm passed by. Luckily the storm veered away before getting to us.

I seem to remember being on vacation somewhere around Virginia Beach with the family when one threatened there. We sat tight and watched the weather channel but we just got heavy rain and moderately heavy winds.

Another one I camped thru! We watched a storm off the coast headed North and the forecast had it staying offshore, so I went camping on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia at a motorcycle rally. The storm turned left and into Virginia soaking the campground and blowing down tents and marquees. I survived warm and dry in my tent trailer, but my buddies were forced to seek shelter in a motel a few miles away.

The last one I experienced came up the coast and hit the Carolina's hard. The next day I got a call from the Navy to go to Wilmington North Carolina and report to a Port Engineer who had some barges that were damaged.

That became a whole adventure because the barges were scattered all around the Cape Fear River when they tore loose from their moorings, so the first thing I had to do was find them! After several days of looking I located them all, then when they were towed back to the dock I had to do a damage report on each one. Eventually I got everything done and sent in a nice report with maps and pictures to the Navy Civil Servant who's job it was. He later got an award for his excellent work! I didn't even get a thank you!!

That one also flooded Annapolis Maryland when the storm surge hit on a high tide.

So we're sitting and watching. Hopefully the storm will go offshore. Luckily they are usually passed by within 24 hours unless they downgrade to a tropical depression and stall over an area for a couple of days, which can lead to flooding.