I'm going to do some blogging a little out of order. Asa and I got back Friday from our cruise to the Bahamas. It was AMAZING, and went off perfectly. I have a million pictures to share. But, before I can get to that, as soon as we got back- there was a hurricane on the way here.
We didn't really intend to go to Costco on Saturday for Hurricaine prep. In fact, we were just going to get the stuff for the taco bar, and because it was right next to the Verizon store (and spoiler alert, Asa's phone did not survive the Bahamian waters). Anyway, when before we even pulled up to Costco, traffic let us know something was amiss. Honestly, I'd only heard rumblings about a hurricane and that it *might be coming our way* But, when we finally found a parking spot, and all the carts were gone, and people were coming out with water, I knew this was serious. And, that it was our moment to stock up on hurricane prep items too. You wait too long, and you're shit out of luck.
So, Asa and I each managed to get our hands on a cart and headed in. He tackeled the line for water, while I got some other things. The line was crazy, one way on, one way out. And don't even try to go into the milk cooler, because nobody wants to let you back in line.
Which is kind of fair. By the time I made it to the back, there was one pallet of water left, one kind of paper towels, and I grabbed the last thing of toilet paper.
Bread can usually be tough to get around hurricane times, too. Saturday seemed pretty far out to stock up, but even then your pickings were slim. I had to get low carb flour tortillas. What is the world coming to?
And then there was the line to check out, snaking halfway back into the store.
I did think enough to bring the propane tank with us, and we were able to exchange it at Wawa. That was lucky. By today (Tuesday) there was none to be found anywhere. We also filled up the gas tank. Another smart decision, there's none of that around me today either. Not that there are a ton of gas stations up here, but both of them over by Publix were out of all gas.
The forecasts have varied, sometimes we're right in the path, or at the worst case scenerio, just to the east of the hurricane, which is considered the "dirty" side. The main concern for that is obviously it hitting closer to home, but also the fact that the surge could absolutely ravage Tampa Bay, sending 10 foot water walls up into everything from downtown Tampa to Saint Pete, to completely submurging the Clearwater Beach area.
All of that has prompted a lot of mandatory evacatuations. First it was Hillsbourgh zone A, then Pinelleas zone A, and then basically everywhere from Sarasota to Pasco A to C- if you live in an evacuation zone, you are supposed to get out. It's made traffic on i-75 and i-4 a complete nightmare from what I've heard. Everythings closing- from resturants to Busch Gardens to the zoo- to even the airport tonight at 5pm. EVeryone from Good Morning America to CNN to the weather channel has parked it in Tampa.
Meanwhile, we've spent the last day and a half bringing in anything and everything from outside. Our neighbor is on her 40th birthday trip, so we took care of her house too- and when we took out the for sale sign, I joked it's because we were too upset she was leaving.
The plants from the front porch all came in...
As did the furniture and plants from the backporch... (on the upsides all the clear porches will make for very easy powerwashing after this whole thing is over).
And basically everything else we own that was outside got brought into the garage. It is jam packed with stuff, but we were able to get everything in. The Fit doesn't get the garage shelter, but we did pull it right up against the house which could protect it a little.
Yesterday I also filled like every container we had with water, a filled lots of empty milk jugs/pop bottles and froze them so we could have ice for awhile. And in case of a power outage, I did put everything that we like to have cold, but it isn't neccessary in the garage fridge, and all the stuff that has to stay cold to stay good in the firdge in here. We figure that'll limit how much you need to open the fridge in here.
I did also get a Kroger delivery. Plenty of water straight to my door. Plenty of pet food, peanut butter, drinks, and even canned chicken in case of emergency.
Since last night was trash night, lots of people were out trimming trees to get that stuff taken away before the hurricane too. Asa was out there just before dark trimming up the palm trees- and the lighting was quite onimous.
This morning Asa and I made a Publix run. We hit it just right and despite the parking lot being full, we were able to nab a spot, get some water, and even batteries! I got the last few bags of ice, and felt lucky they still had some decent shelf-stable food.
And shout out to the Publix Bakery keeping everyone stocked for hurricane snacks.
It was on our way home though, we discovered all the gas near us was out. The accord is full. The Fit has about half a tank. In a pinch we could use the cars to charge our phones. The grill to cook all of our food, and I've got enough water to keep us for days. When we got home we checked the update: it has shifted a bit south, which is good for us if that model holds. Still, we decided to bring in the one last thing Asa was worried about: his potted Mulberry Tree.
I've done everything I can think of. Charged everything. Got battery packs and flashlights on standbys. I've even done all the laundry, including the dogs thunder jackets. I don't think I can be any more prepared.
But hre's the thing about hurricane prep: it could all be for nothing. You could end up with batteries, and gallon jugs of water, and canned food that will last you months. In fact, even though you're spending a small fortune, that's what you hope for. You hope it was all for nothing. Prepare for the worst. Hope for the best.
I will note though, I did have to prepare for one less kid. Last Sunday, before Asa and I ever went on our cruise, we took Peyton to the airport to head to the UK once again. We stopped at had dinner at PDQ and then got Peyton all checked in before saying our goodbyes.
The next morning, coincidently the morning of the Queen's funeral, Peyton arrived safe and sound. Thanks to Jasmine to braving the train through the crowds to pick Peyton up at the airport. What a girlfriend.
I did message Peyton to brag about our hurricane snacks. I can't say Peyton was impressed.
While I did tell Calib and Hayden the snacks had to wait until the Hurricane gets here, I did allow the first Hurricane drinks.
Before Asa had student calls this morning, we did walk the neighborhood, mostly a lot of kids running around playing under the cloudy skies, but there are signs of the impending storm. A golf cart drove past us carrying all the trash cans from the parks, picnic tables have been turned over hoping to keep them from flying away, chairs have been stacked and tied down.
What most worries me is how high the water is now. We've had a lot of rain, the ground is pretty saturated and the ponds are already high. Some areas could get up to two feet of rain. I'm not sure where all that water would go. Hopefully we don't have to find out.
Asa's just thought he was hilarious with his playlist this morning.
Again, the latest predicted turn is good for us. The further south it comes on shore, the better for us (Sorry to all my southern neighbors/friends) That also will impact the middle of the state more (Orlando just announced they're closing their airport, so I can't imagine Universal and Disney are too far behind on announcing closures). Anyway keep your fingers crossed for us. We're hoping to avoid the worst of the winds, hoping our favorite city doesn't see a catastrophic storm surge, and if we could be greedy, we're hoping we don't lose power for a prolonger period of time (It's really a crap shoot, with Irma, we never lost it- but friends the next subdivision over were out for five days). It's also better the faster it moves. We don't want all that rain, so it can't sit over us for two days. So now, we sit and we wait. I'll keep you all posted!
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