Destin, FL – Tonight we are sleeping in a bedroom that has more square footage than our entire RV! We are the fortunate houseguests of our good friends Scott and Mary-Jane, whom we met two years ago at a campground in Sedona, Arizona. We’ve had many good times together since then, and we were delighted when they invited us to stay with them at their rented condo on our way through the panhandle (or, as Floridians call it, The Forgotten Coast).The warmth, peace and comfort we are enjoying this evening contrasts sharply with the one that preceded it. All night long last night, fierce winds pummeled the RV and heavy rain lashed against the roof with such force we had to raise our voices to hear each other (oh, there were the earplugs too).
After managing an hour or two of sleep, we were wakened four or five times by the weather band on the satellite radio, starting with a long beep and then the announcement that a severe thunderstorm, or flash floods, or dangerously high waves had been located in the following counties (then naming all 96 of them) and people were advised to seek shelter, drive carefully or find a safe harbour immediately. The message was then repeated in its entirety, followed by three loud buzz sounds. Usually one or the other of us got to the power button to shut it off before those buzz sounds, but this involved heaving out of bed and navigating the entire length of the RV to get to the radio – not conducive to resuming sleep very rapidly.
Then, at five a.m., another beeping sound and flashing light woke us up. This time, it was the refrigerator, indicating that the power had been cut! Val gave up and got out of bed for good, but I tried to linger a bit longer without much success. Not long after, the wind died down, the rain stopped, and a watery sun peeked through the clouds! And the power came on again! What a relief!
Evidence of the storm was everywhere on the highway once we pulled out of the park. State prisoners were gathering debris of broken branches and dried palm leaves from roadsides in Apalachicola as we drove through there once again. When we caught sight of the gulf waters, the wind was lacing the waves with foam, and the water looked as dark as chocolate milk.
We followed Highway 98 all the way along the coast, and when we got to Panama City we saw a sign about the road being under water. Shortly afterward, there was a barrier across the road, and beyond it a small lake where road should have been, but no indication of a detour we could take to get around it. We had to lurch onto the soft, wet shoulder and turn around and figure out a different way to continue our journey!
A trip we thought would take two hours ended up taking three, and our arrival was even further delayed because we crossed into a new time zone and lost another hour. But our hosts graciously fed us lunch once we finally arrived, and we had a great time catching up and exploring the Destin area.
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