Roaming About

A Life Less Ordinary

Tag: storm

Self-isolation X2

A lot has been said – and written – about this recent pandemic and its affects. I shared a few posts about it myself, here (how it influenced our lifestyle in mid-March), here (what we still managed to squeeze in, sightseeing-wise), here (in relation to our expenses), and here is where I left off on April 1st.

(Click on photos to enlarge or hover over them for captions.)

Self-isolation Take One

After a few hits and misses at several parks and boondocking spots and a failed week-long hotel splurge in Hilton Head, we checked out our “last resort” in decent weather: the free campground at Santee Coastal Reserve in South Carolina. The entrance road was serene and welcoming, but we didn’t settle – mentally or physically – until we arrived without any “No camping due to COVID-19” signs blocking our progress.

The campground was quiet and peaceful. No amenities, which means no restrooms, water, electricity, sewer, or trash. Pack it in, pack it out. That might have been the reason why this place was still open – the workers weren’t at risk cleaning facilities. We found a roomy, relatively private campsite with sun for the solar panels and shade for the camper, a picnic table, and a fire ring.

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A Hurricane… in a Van… in Canada!

I was going to post a blog about our August expenses today, but something else came up. Well, it actually looks like I won’t post anything on this Sunday, September 8th, 2019, because the electricity and internet are both down on the entire island. Good thing we have a self-contained camper van; we have power and can even take a hot shower, which is more than some tourists staying in hotels can do. Internet, however, we can’t reproduce.

You might remember my whining about how we always have bad luck with the weather, wherever we go. Somehow, we encounter extremes: the wettest spring in California in a decade (hey, it did end the drought), the coolest and rainiest September on Vancouver Island, the coldest winter in Southern California and Southern Arizona (we even escaped into Mexico for a few days to look for elusive warmth), the most miserable May in Southern Utah ever, with rain, sleet, hail, and snow instead of the average 75 degrees (24C) that time of the year, the hottest and most humid June in Toronto and Montreal, and the hottest day of the year in Massachusetts (on which Maya got lost)!

Even though this selection of the last two years sums up our weather misfortunes well, none of it beat our experience this past weekend. The three of us found ourselves in the path of Hurricane Dorian – the same one that caused havoc in the Bahamas managed to make landfall on Nova Scotia, with strong effects on Prince Edward Island (PEI), where Zesty is located. Yep, a hurricane in Canada. The last time that happened was Hurricane Juan in 2003. What’s the chance of running into this? With us, pretty big.

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A Storm is a Storm. Or is It?

I am lying in bed with the curtains open. In the seven weeks that we have been here, house and pet sitting in Kent, CT, we have never closed them. We like to wake up with the sun and see the moon and stars on a clear night. A habit from when we lived on our boat Irie for eight years. It is pitch black in the woods. The trees are creaking ever louder, while the wind is increasing. I hear rumble in the distance. Soon, it becomes full on thunder. I am glad the dogs are sleeping deeply. Mark seems to be in dreamland as well. The wind whistles through the barren branches. The wind chimes on the porch sound like church bells. The sky lightens up. It happens in a split second. Then, it is dark again. Why do storms always approach at night? Continue reading

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