09/29/2022 Hurricane Ian - Part 2 Evacuation from MacDill AFB, Tampa FL

Mr Charley and I stayed overnight in Webster, anxiously watching the weather reports and determined we’d keep our reservation in GA and head to Adel, Ga. We usually don’t stay in State Parks, so I must say we were pleasantly surprised. Reed Bingham State Park was clean, the Rangers were friendly and the sites were large and level! They also had a FREE laundry room! (Mr C doesn’t have a washer/dryer in his rig, so laundry rooms are one of the first things I check out when we land) Some of the FamCamps have free laundry, others are “affordable” ($2 per load). We stayed here 5 days, since we really didn’t know what we’d be coming back to in FL. A couple days later, Becky said they were heading back to Tampa since Ian bypassed the Bay Area and Brady had to get back to work. She spent the first few days back clearing debris and getting her yard in order. Since we had paid through 10/10, we headed back to MacDill. Thank God our trip was uneventful, the roads were clear, water and electric were on and our setup was smooth. I failed to mention on our way out, we noticed numerous staging areas of linemen ready to restore power as soon as possible. Hundreds of workers from many states(TX, AL, MS, even OK!) were setup along the I75 route from GA down to N FL. Trucks with supplies, power companies, and Red Cross, Samaritans Purse and numerous church disaster relief trucks. I can’t tell you how many pickups with “chainsaw” crews for cleanup we saw. All I can say is Thank You and God Bless each one! This is MY AMERICA! People coming to help, because that’s what a “united” America does. When our time at Macdilll was up, we stillhad 5 days before we were due in to Webster. We wanted to try Patrick AFB FamCamp (we’ve driven through and it’s really nice), but they don’t take reservations and we could never get anyone to answer the phone. So, we decided to just head to Oak Alley and get setup. It was like “coming home”. Our reserved site was waiting for us, some of the folks we met last year were here, so we setup camp and “the girls” got settled back into “Full Time” mode. My golf cart wasn’t running well, so I left it in SC. My #1 Son-in-law, Brian, is a master at fixing and restoring vehicles, so I thought I’d give him a good challenge.So, first thing needed here is a golf cart. My bum foot doesn’t let me walk much and I didn’t want to drive my car around the campground everytime I want to do something. So we decided we’d buy one since it’s pretty expensive to rent. A friend of ours told us about a fella in Homasassa that will build one from scratch for us. We drive there, told him what colors we wanted and voila! This is what he made us: 



Good price, blinkers, horn, flashers and fold down seat in the back so the girls can lay down and ride. Mr C also got a new electric bike so he can ride around. He’s done well with it, butI joke he needs a helmet, knee & elbow pads. He just says “Now, Ms Margaret …..”So we’re all settled in and my friend, Debbie comes back from GA with her Montana 5th and along the way, she bought a Class C from a couple in Ormond Beach! So that’s where our Fl Disaster Relief story begins.