Riding Out Hurricane Matthew

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.