Big Storm Forecasted for our area.

We've been watching the big storm heading toward us and for a while it looked like it would miss us, but as of 4:30pm it looks like Charlotte will get some rough weather.  There isn't a lot we can do about it and have put some papers and stuff in a bag in case we have to get out of here.

It seems like the storms are getting bigger and bigger each year and causing a lot more damage.  Charlotte has been on a flood watch the past week or so at various times.  Fortunately, we are high and dry.   There is a chance of 1" hail during this latest storm and that would make it three years in a row that we've run into hail.  

Stay tuned for a later report on this lousy weather event.  We are the circle with lines through it just east of Charlotte.

Time to think to bring in the slides and batton down the hatches.

As the sky darkened, shelter at Barbara's house came to mind and we packed a few important things, brought in the slides and started to head there.  We made it about a block when the storm was right on us.  Lightning bolts were a flying in the air, the wind really picked up and shoved the car around.  That is when I decided to get off the road, seek some shelter and parked next to a building to get out of the wind and have some shelter from the rain.

We parked across from the Charlotte Motor Speedway and tried to get a picture of it during the storm.  It was raining so hard that the speedway disappeared even though we were about a half block away from it.  

Taken with windshield wipers going full blast.

Signs were flying down the road.

While waiting it out, we called Barbara and warned her it was heading her way.  She said it was sunny and then said, oh boy here it comes.  She had heavy rain and some hail and then lost the power at her house.  So much for going over there for dinner.  She made it through the storm in fine shape except for the power problem.  Henry had been out of town and had to drive through the rain to get back home.  He made it, but even after the rain stopped, didn't agree to do some grilling and opted for a tuna sandwich.

Although we did have power, since we were out, we stopped by a local restaurant and were seated quickly.  The previous customers were just finishing up and we thought that was great.  By the time we finished our meals there must have been 50 or more people waiting to be seated.  It seems all those people lost power and were coming in for dinner.  I almost had to fight my way out of the restaurant.

There were a lot of trees down along the road back and one had blocked a lane in a side road.  I'm glad we weren't driving by when that one came down.

This large tree fell across a busy highway and the road crew had cleared a path through and went on to other fallen trees.  If you look closely, you can see the power lines that were downed by the branches as the tree fell.

 All in all we lucked out on this one.  Areas north of us were hit with microbursts and there was a lot of damage due to trees falling on houses.  I think part of the reason for so many trees falling was a combination of very wet ground and the high winds.  I haven't heard of any deaths associated with the storm and hope it stays that way.

We did not get any hail and for that I am thankful.  That was our day, how was yours?

Rain & Tom Tom GPS

The topic of today is all the rain we've been getting here in the Charlotte, NC area these past few days.  I don't know what the total rainfall has been, but it has been falling on and off all day and night.  Since we just left the desert, the humidity and rain are really getting to us and it looks like it will be getting worse with the tropical storm heading this way.  Thank God the motorhome doesn't leak.

Our Tom Tom car charger quit working on the unit a year or so ago and I've been using the phone charger on it.  One problem has been that the car chargers have quit working after 6 months of use.  When the first one went out I figured it was just old.  Then when it happened again I read the instructions and found out the new ones were not as powerful and most likely burnt out trying to supply the GPS.

Gerry has an Amazon.com gift card and we decided to order a Universal USB Car Charger from them.  It was compatible with our Tom Tom and the price was right.  We tried to use the card to pay for it using Barb & Henry's Amazon account, but it wouldn't accept the gift card numbers.  Finally after finagling with it for a while it went on it's merry way and the unit was charged to their credit card account.  Hummm, I liked that.   They have express shipping for free this month so we took advantage of that also and the charger came in Tuesday.  

I plugged the charger into the car cigarette lighter (why do they call it that when we don't smoke cigarettes?) and off it went.  It was working and charging up the GPS just like it was supposed to.  Ah, the wonders of electronic devices today.  Now I feel able to take the next step and maybe order a new phone.  Maybe!

We've been on the go since we left Red Bay, AL and decided to take a day off.  Just our luck that it's been raining all day and we can't do much anyway, so it worked out fine.

That was our day, how was yours?

Rain, rain go away!

Now I know how Noah must have felt those many years ago with the 40 days and nights of rain.  I wish I could report that the weather has cleared up for the South Mountain Apple Festival, but that would be a lie.  We've had light rain all day up here on the mountain and cold weather to go with it.  The high today was around 45 and cooler for tonight.   Now it is perfectly clear why we go south or west for the winter.

The electric heaters have kept the cabin at a nice temp all day.  They don't do as well when it is below freezing up here.  Maybe by then it will be dryer outside and we can burn some of the firewood.  Or, we can always move out to the motor home and be nice and warm there with the propane furnace and small electric heaters.  I am glad we got the 50 amp service installed this year.  It may come in handy before we hit the road for warmer weather.

You know it is too wet when we don't go out geocaching on a Saturday.  It's always fun to do on Saturday since there are so many festivals, fairs, etc going on around here during the fall.  We run across many unusual events that aren't well publicized.  The wet weather has cut into those events and that is a shame.  For many small towns it is an important fund raiser for them or increased tax revenue.

Rain & Football

Are you ready for some football?  The Packers face the Saints this evening and we are going down to our daughters house to watch the game.  She is a Packer and Steeler fan and sometimes roots for the Redskins.  It will be nice to see a game that they really play all out to win rather than run in as many players as they can to see how well they do.  Of course preseason games are all about conditioning and finding that hidden gem of a player out there.

I know you all must be getting tired of rainy day stories, however if I didn't write about them there wouldn't be anything to write about.  Today was another day of heavy rain interspersed with drizzle and showers.  Tropical storm Lee sure did linger and take it's time getting up the coast and dumped lots of rain on the East Coast.  Our son-in-law called us from a cruise to the Bahamas to make sure we were all safe since his parents in Binghamton, NY were experiencing flooding in the area and his sister was evacuated from her home.  Hershey, PA right up the road from us had the worst flooding they have ever experienced.  We don't have those kinds of problems but it sure is wet and I hope we don't get any high winds soon or there will be a lot of trees uprooted due to the ground being soaked.

I went out a little this afternoon to see if I could get some pictures of the swollen streams and such but it rained so hard I couldn't roll the window down to take a picture.  The cabin looked eerie today and I got a couple shots of it and the meadow across the street.  I don't know if the pictures will do justice to how it really looked.   Don't try to adjust the color of the pictures since that is fog and mist clouding up the view.  It was so thick you could cut it with a butter knife as the saying goes.

This meadow to the right is where we see all the deer and wild turkeys during the early morning or late evening.  The turkeys don't always show up, but it is rare that the deer aren't there.  One of these days we will see the mother bear and her three cubs, but we aren't anxious to get to close to them.


Now I wish I hadn't sold my jon boat a number of years ago.  It could come in handy if this rain doesn't stop soon.

Meanwhile, off to watch the game tonight.  Update:  Green Bay 42 - New Orleans 34  Final  It was a good game until the 2nd half when it slowed down quite a bit.  New Orleans goofed when they tried for a first down instead of kicking a field goal.  The Packers then took the ball down the field and scored a touchdown.  They are both good teams and should meet again in the playoffs.