Just a month after coming back to the
US, six months after the big earthquake in Ecuador, we found
ourselves bracing for another natural disaster. Thankfully,
hurricanes come with plenty of warning. We studied the projections of
both path and wind speeds, and decided to stay in the forest.
Matthew was expected to hug the coast line, not coming inland. We're
in the Ocala National Forest, which is inland. With Matthew's
strongest predictions, the wind speeds we were expecting here, in the
forest, were maximum sustained winds in the 40s with gusts up to 65
miles per hour. Really no worse than a strong thunderstorm. One of
our neighbors stacked their plastic chairs up and tied them to a
tree. Most of the neighbors left flower pots and everything else
out.
Some friends offered that we could stay
with them during the storm since we're in a trailer. Mostly, they
were located in the path of the strong winds. Bruce laughed about
the idea of us evacuating INTO the hurricane warning area. I did
seriously consider one, though. Buying cake was the major part of
the preparations. It was probably a really fun time over there!
But, we just spent a small fortune on new spices, and if something
happened, I wanted to be able to save them. As it turns out, I should have taken her up on the offer!
Before Matthew's stronger bands hit Ft.
Lauderdale, wind speeds were adjusted down, and by the time it
started raining here, forecasted wind speeds were down to maximum
sustained winds of 30 with gusts to 45 miles per hour. Really
nothing more than a long, windy shower. So, we went to bed, feeling
safe and confident. I did forego using Darth Vader (my CPAP
machine). Just in case the forecasts were wrong, I didn't want to
break my neck being pulled back into bed because of being attached to
a machine! The night went quite well. I had some work come in just
before bedtime, and I had some vague thoughts that maybe I should
stay up and work on it. I decided to go to bed, instead. Bad
choice.
Just as I was getting up Friday
morning, the electricity went off. I really should have stayed up.
Oh, well. The storm wasn't bad, so we just propped open the front
door and watched the rain off of the front porch. A few lizards took
shelter on the porch, but they didn't try to venture in. We watched
some birds flying around, and some of the residents had canvas covers
on their golf carts, so they were driving around from house to house
checking on folks. At one point, when the rain wasn't so heavy, I
went out to take pictures. There were some good gusts, and we had
lots of Spanish moss that got blown off the larger live oak trees.
Some twigs, small branches, and palm fronds got blown around, but I
saw no real damage in the park.
The owner weighed down this little jon boat with cinder blocks. The rest of the boats were left docked out in the lake.
At some points, the wind kept the little waves going one after the other in our little lake. We even had a few little white caps out in the deeper water.
It was difficult to get these live oaks from this angle without raindrops on the lens.
This bench and flower pots were never brought in or secured at all.
I spent some time writing on a book,
and finally my battery and my spare battery ran down. So, we decided
a trip to McDonald's, where they have free wi-fi, was in order. I
like this McDonald's. It's about 10 miles from our home in the
forest. Just like most of them these days, there is free wi-fi and
plenty of plugs. We sat at a table instead of a booth. While
charging my computer, the extra batteries, and my phone, we had some
lunch. There was a guy in there who appeared to be homeless. He was
pleasant and nice to talk to. It seemed like they let him hang out
in there regularly. People coming in and out spoke to him, calling
him by name. He never asked anybody for money or anything else, but
he sure liked to talk to folks. When I got some things that I needed
downloaded, we showed him the radar and the projections for Matthew
returning, and he asked about shelters and such. When we got ready
to go, Bruce gave him a couple of dollars for a sandwich.
On the way home, we decided to drive
further into the forest a little bit. It didn't take long before we
found a likely source of our electrical problems. A tree had fallen
into the power lines. Who would have thought! But, I did learn the
answer to that age-old questions: If a tree falls in the forest and
there is no one there to hear it, yes, it does still knock out the
electricity!
As we kept driving, there were a few more trees
bouncing around on power lines. Some trees had fallen into the road,
but the county was out working to clear them.
The stand this seaplane was mounted on was tied to the truck.
We also saw numerous
convoys of cherry picker trucks and state troopers heading toward the
east coast to provide relief. Not one was tasked with getting those
trees off the power lines in the forest, though.
By the time we got home, we learned
that the reservoir for the water in the park had run out, so not only
did we not have power, but we also didn't have water. Unlike in
Ecuador, I couldn't just run to the cistern and pull a bucket out
either. I'm not sure why we didn't think about pulling a bucket from
the lake to pour into the back of the toilet so we could flush, but
we decided to get a hotel room, instead. We knew there was both
power and water just up the road.
We stopped at a couple of places, who
mostly said they had had a cancellation, so they had a room. Many of
them didn't have wi-fi, though. One place said their internet
provider had said they wouldn't be restoring it until Monday. The
prices were a big concern to me, though. I'd be willing to bet there
was a lot of price gouging going on. Let's put it this way, Days Inn
advertises weekly rates of $199 in Silver Springs. The little local
hotel down the street from them advertises weekly rates of $150. In
what universe would I believe that these no-name or budget hotels
have normal room rates in excess of $85 plus tax, in some cases even
charging extra for the wi-fi password. In fact, that same Days Inn
was quoting prices of $103 including tax if a room were to come
available. They wanted me to believe they charge more for two nights
than they do for a week? I was not born yesterday, folks. I'll
probably report a couple of them for potential price gouging. It's
illegal in Florida during a hurricane.
We did finally find a nice place. It
was called the Alamo Motel, right on Highway 40. I'm not sure if
it's officially in Ocala or if it's still in Silver Springs. It was
a little old and shabby, but it one of the cleanest hotels I've ever
been in. Not even the hint of mold or mildew in the tiniest corner
of the shower. I mean, this place was spotless. The carpeting was
worn. The TV was an old box-style set. The towels were thin and
worn. The tiles in the bathroom had been patched in spots. But you
could have run a white glove on the window sills and in the shower.
Everyplace else was just as clean. It's run by a man and his wife.
He says they care for it themselves with no help. They take great
pride in the cleanliness of the place, and wouldn't dream of price
gouging. In fact, he gave us the room for the weekday rate instead
of the weekend rate because of our circumstances.
I learned that Clay Electric (our power
provider) wasn't even going to start working to restore power until
Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m. I just don't have a clue why I decided
we needed to go back to the trailer to wait for the lights to come
back on, but we checked out of the hotel and headed back home. We
drove through the forest for a while before going on in. It was
10:30. Clay Electic had managed to put caution tape around the trees
that had fallen onto the wires.
So, back to the house we went to wait
for electricity. We did quickly reach into the freezer to throw out
the ice cream before it melted into a big puddle, making a mess of
everything. It was HOT. No air conditioning. No fan. Not only
would this weather not be allowed in Ecuador, but C-Nel had
electricity back on in Puerto Lopez the morning after a 7.8
earthquake. What's the problem, Clay Electric?? Florida Power and
Light, Duke, and Orlando Utilities had been working around the clock,
even during the storm. They had wind speed limits at which crews
were grounded for safety. By early afternoon, almost everybody I
knew who lived in the hurricane warning areas had their power
restored. There were only a few exceptions. Clay Electric started
in the northwest corner of their coverage area. We live in the far
southern sector, just east of center. It was going to be a while
before they got to us, so we went back to the hotel.
We got the same room for the same rate,
and went looking for dinner. Bruce felt like Mexican. We tried this
place called El Toreo and were kind of underimpressed. It wasn't
bad, but it really didn't satisfy the desire for Mexican food. It
was the first time I've not really enjoyed a chile relleno, even when
it's made with a bell pepper instead of a poblano (and this one as
made with a bell pepper). The GPS said there was an El Azteca, which
is a chain we've often enjoyed in various places. Unfortunately, it
was no longer there. So, we found this little hole-in-the-wall
taqueria called Taco N Madre. Trust me. It satisfied! Bruce got a
taco and a tostada. I got a pork burrito. We each got beans and
rice, and we got an order of grilled jalepenos to share. I think
these jalepenos grew next to some ghost peppers! These babies were
HOT! Even Bruce couldn't finish them off. The pork in my burrito
was spiced and delish! The burrito was huge, and not full of fillers.
It was mostly pork with some onions and cilantro tossed in. I
didn't taste Bruce's stuff. He put it away too fast. The food
reminded me of the stuff we got in Mexico, especially in Tijuana.
Add two sodas for me and two Dos Equis beers for Bruce, and the total
charge was under $15. We'll definitely be back there! Seems like
our only options for good Mexican food in this area is Taco N Madre
(very authentic) or Tijuana Flats (not so authentic, but very good
for what it is). Unfortunately, Bruce can't get a margarita at
either of those.
After another comfortable night in the
hotel, in which I got a lot of work done, I woke and checked the Clay
Electric power outage map. We still didn't have power. But, they
say they will finish restoring power by night. It was a beautiful,
sunny, hot day in Ocala, which meant that trailer was going to be a
roasting pot with no air conditioning or fans. So, I suggested we
stop at a sit-down, mom and pop place for breakfast before going
home. We tried the Silver Springs Restaurant. There wasn't a place
to sit, and we had to wait. This was a good sign, especially for
such a small town. We met another couple that was waiting, as well.
When our table was ready, it was a table for four, so we invited
them to sit with us. It was a good meal for a good price with good
company.
After breakfast, we headed for home.
There was a cherry picker at the gas station close to the park,
filling up. That station hadn't had power, too. What did we find
when we got home? We had power!! It had been on long enough that
the meat had refrozen. I checked the USDA website, and it said that
if the meat had been thawed in the refrigerator and not on the
counter and had not been handled, it could be refrozen. It did say
that the cuts would be degraded to a lower quality, but that it would
be safe to eat. Because of that, we're eating the meat. So far, we
haven't gotten sick, but we'll let you know if it happens. The
weather has seemed to break, and it was cool enough to go out walking
this morning, so we can start exploring around here.
Hopefully, we
can finally get settled in so we can start travelin' soon, too.
