Back to the USA

We thought our European trip was our excitement for this year but when we got back there was much more in store.

When it came time to leave our friends and relatives on the Wirral we had to drive nearly 200 miles south to London's Gatwick Airport. We left the day before the flight and had a hotel reserved near the airport as we would have to be at the airport by 8am.

British Airways transported us very comfortably and considerately back to Orlando and I have to say that they restored my faith in airlines. Comfortable seats, organized boarding, meals included in the fare, including a glass of wine with dinner, no fees for check in bags. I was very happy, plus the fare was the cheapest! 

We started to hear about a hurricane forming out in the Atlantic before we left England. 

When we got into Orlando we had another night in a hotel as we had to get the rig out of storage and setup. We didn't know wether it would even start after 4 months in storage, so as the flight got in late in the afternoon we left it until the next morning.

Thousand Trails Orlando is a huge RV park and has a big storage lot too, secure, reasonably priced and right in the campground meant it was really convenient. We had planned on 2 weeks in the park sorting things out getting the rig cleaned and polished, stocking the fridge and doing some annual maintenance before we headed out again.

Didn't work out that way!

We hoped either the car or the rig would start up straight away. I had disconnected the batteries, stabilized the gas in the tanks and run the engines and the generator to get the stabilized gas into the carbs and injectors. If one started we could jump the other from it. 

As luck would have it BOTH started first time and so did the generator. We pulled off the wheel covers and took down the shades I'd made for the windows. Before we could blink we'd moved over to the campsite we had reserved.

The rig had survived being stored really well. We'd put out kitty litter and "Damp Rid" to keep the inside from getting moldy. We had the AC on as it was hot and sticky out as we loaded the bags into the rig, filled the water tank and did all the other things needed to get it habitable again. Some business at the bank and shopping at the market was next.

We immediately noticed that all the water was sold out as was the bread, baked beans, batteries and various odds and ends. People were stocking up for the approaching storm.

Television was full of warnings and notices to evacuate. Our main decision was where to go. The storm was estimated to hit the Orlando area on sunday/monday and it was thursday already. We quickly decided to leave on friday morning and head North to Tallahassee where we could stay at the Elks Lodge, watch the progress of the storm and decide what our next move might be. We'd filled the car up and the rig had a half tank of fuel which was good for 200 miles. We would fill up on the way North.

That last decision was to haunt us for the next 150 miles as every gas station we saw was either sold out or too small for us. Eventually we saw one that the lines weren't too long at and gratefully filled it up. We had discussed draining the fuel out of the Fiesta if needed to keep the rig running or leaving the rig and carrying on in the Fiesta if it became necessary.

The 250 miles to Talahassee took 12 hours. At times we were at a snails place for 10 or 20 miles then suddenly the traffic would speed up to 65mph for 40 or 50 miles only to slow to a crawl again. We rolled into the Elks at 10.30pm and parked with the car still attached just taking time to get a drink before climbing into bed.

Miles and miles of traffic

We were so glad to be in a motor home in the traffic. We had a bathroom, kitchen and all our electronics right there, we couldn't imagine how hard it was for other drivers without those amenities.

Saturday morning and the weather service was predicting the storm would go straight up the Florida penninsular so we decided to go west towards Pensacola or into Alabama where there was an Escapees Club park. Again with a half tank of fuel we got onto I10 west.

The traffic was moderately heavy. We left at 7am to try and beat some of it.

All the rest stops along the way were full to overflowing. RV's were everywhere, some fast some slow. Occasionally the traffic slowed, but rarely below 30mph. 

We made good time to Pensacola and filled up at a very busy Love's truck stop near the city. We made up our minds to try and reach the park in Alabama and called to see if they had space for us. They assured us they did and we were there by noon (take into account a 1 hr time change crossing the state line).

The park was very nice and quite big, not very busy at all at first, then the rigs started to roll in. We met up with some couples from our Florida SKP Chapter, Chapter 57 "The Sun Gators" with whom we've had such fun over the winter. News was exchanged and the "Compulsory" happy hour organized! This might have been one of our better decisions since we arrived back in Florida!

Happy hour inspired me to try and mix some New Orleans "Hurricane Cocktails" which are both delicious and very intoxicating. Unfortunately we couldn't find passion fruit juice at Walmart but we did find the box mix for strawberry margaritas that Harold French introduced us when he and Wanda took us out on their boat back in Leesburg, thanks Harold! We bought rum and tequila so people could choose between margaritas and daiquiris.

Cocktails in a bucket!!

Happy hour became a very happy Hurricane Party and Irma appeared to be keeping East of us.

In the party mood

Everyone is still worried about friends who decided to stay behind and about their homes back there. We hope and pray that everyone is safe and well and that the damage is minimal. 

Meanwhile we're safe and sound here and beginning to wonder what our next move is going too be.