Mr Charley and I left SC in September, headed to MacBee for his annual RV inspection and decided we’d travel a little FL before “wintering”at Oak Alley RV Park in Webster, Fl.
We spent a week at Mayport Naval Base in Jacksonville; crossed back into GA and spent a week at Kings Bay Naval Sub Base in St Mary’s, GA; then headed to MacDill AFB in Tampa. (We couldn’t get into Patrick AFB).
In Ga, we met a sweet little girl from TX, patiently waiting for her husband to come back from his submarine mission. Kirsten came out to play with her dog “Josie” and I just had to introduce us and invite her to come over. She’s a sweet, young bride, far from home; yet strong enough to be a farrier (horse shoer), and she’s only 19! She’s a barrel racer at home and numerous horses on their ranch. I pray for this little girl daily for she has truly touched my heart. I pray her husband comes home soon. I’d love to meet him and let him know what a wonderful woman he has.
We met a sweet young family in Tampa, living on base in the FamCamp, waiting on“housing”. He’s active duty Coast Guard.
Becky & Brady have two beautiful, sweet kids. Bella and Bennett, and their sweet puppy “Beau”.
Both of these young ladies have opened my eyes to active military life and how the families “keep going” as they wait on the commanders orders. Say a prayer for our military and their families and thank God for them.
We met a wonderful “retired” couple whojust sold their home & decided to “Full time” in their RV. Karen and Allen are getting “settled” into their rig after selling their home. They’ve been together for 50+ years!
So, our afternoon “Happy Hour” included the dogs and kids from those around us. The kids loved Cheyenne and Sadie, and the “puppies” found out “the girls” had no patience for all their chaos. But in this time, I realized how blessed we are to have such good men and women serving to provide us the freedoms we have.
So, Hurricane Ian has decided “he” wants to come to FL, but no one can figure if he’s coming up the west coast, or if he’ll turn towards the east coast. So, as the “cone of uncertainty” veers from one coast to the other, Mr Charley and I decide we need to get out of the Tampa Bay Area and at least head inland to Webster. I didn’t want to get stuck in the I-75 evacuation traffic, so we decided to head out. Becky told us they were heading to Reed Bingham State Park in Adel, GA. I went online and booked a spot for us for a few days ‘til the hurricane passed through. In the meantime, Becky said they couldn’t book until they had evacuation orders. By the time they got them, the campground was booked solid and they had to find another place. They found a KOA in Okeechobee and safely landed for a few days. Kirsten said they were told to evacuate the campground, so she hooked up their rig, stored it in a safe place and went to stay with friends. Allen and Karen headed up to NC near their son.
(After it was over, everyone that had evacuated returned safely)
That’s the “prequel” to the rest of the Hurricane Ian saga. Stay tuned for further updates as I try to get back into blogging mode.
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