Thursday, September 25, 2008

Deja Vu . . . All Over Again!


Hello Everyone!

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that when storms come at night, the rest is uneasy and the darkness and winds are your companions throughout the night - then comes the morning!
And come, it did today!

As I said yesterday, we left for our trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It was a five hour drive for us and the trip was one of those non-interstate ones , you know, the ones that are slow and cumbersome. All went well with the travel but the weather wasn't going to cooperate all the way. The closer we got to the Outer Banks, the stronger the winds became. The sky became gray and angry and the sun refused to show its face.

Crossing the many rivers, we began to notice the whitecaps - wind driven water that looked like the ocean! As we crossed a large river, the seagulls could not make their way back to the shore to safety. Many of them were blown into the bridge railings and they lay dead on the road. I thought about the scripture that talks about God knowing when every bird falls from the sky! What a comfort that God knows!

We continued our journey and stopped for gas at Nags Head. One of the other motorist told us that they were trying to get to Hatteras and they were turned back because one of the roads was being bombarded with waves and that the Cedar Island Ferry had been closed for the day!
I must admit this news scared me! What were we going to find at Kitty Hawk, our destination?
Winds were gusting and the waves that were visible from the road looked ominous. Our journey continued through Kill Devil Hills, then on to Kitty Hawk. We found the hotel - the Hilton Garden Inn - waterfront. ANY other time, waterfront would be celebrated, but not in a Nor'easter!

We checked in and carried our luggage up to the room. We had a reception at 6:30 pm with heavy hor'doeuvres so we did not need to go out for dinner. As the evening progressed, the weather worsened! Our balcony has an ocean view, so I stood out on it to take some pictures of the surf. By the way, I forgot to mention that the reception was supposed to be on the pier house of the hotel, but it was moved because of the strong waves. The pictures today are of the waves as seen from the fifth story balcony of the hotel. You may be able to see the pier house (white bldg) in the photo. I'm glad the reception was moved to the hotel ballroom. I can't imagine eating shrimp and thinking I might be swimming with one any minute!!!

About 1:00 am, I was awakened by a LOUD "BOOM!!!!" I jumped up and all was dark except the emergency lighting! The power was out! Mr. Plant Lady continued to sleep. How could he sleep at a time like this, not knowing what had happened? I told him I was going to make my way down to the front desk to find out what had happened - he wanted to go with me. I, personally, think that he was afraid to stay by himself, don't you? Well, the elevators were out, so we went down five flights of stairs to the lobby. Four or five guests had the same idea and we were told a transformer has blown out. That was the source of the "boom".

We made our way back up to the room and opened the sliding glass door to let in a breeze, well actually a gust!! The room was becoming warm since the air was out. Once I saw the fire truck and power company trucks driving around the property, I returned to bed, only waking again three times to check on their progress!

When the morning finally came, daylight flooded the room and we were still safe! Power returned about 7:30 am and I ventured down to see about getting some breakfast. I'm glad I thought ahead and took the stairs again, because the power flashed off again and I would have been stuck in the elevator!

Breakfast was great! Crispy fried bacon, sausage and scrambled eggs with toast, grits, hashbrowns, and a tall glass of tomato juice! Yum!! Yum!!

I'll keep you updated on my continuing adventure. I just hope it doesn't include any more stormy weather.
Be Encouraged!
Plant Lady

5 comments:

From the Heart said...

I'm so glad God took care of you and Mr. Plant Lady. Look forward to hearing more of your adventures.
AliceE.

Lynn - JnL4God said...

Glad you're okay. But I knew you would be. Have a great time traveling and I'll wait to hear the stories. We'll be home tomorrow (Fri) Evening so will have time to catch up over the weekend before returning to work.
Love,
Lynn

christi said...

and the adventures continue......

so glad y'all are safe.

cant wait to hear more!

be blessed ~

Becky said...

Oh my! I am glad you were safe and dry. Those waves and sky look ominous. Be careful out there :-)

debrah said...

Never a dull moment...So glad that you and mr Plant Lady are safe...what an adventure...I didn't realize how storm affect our feathered friends...How kind of our Lord to bring His Word to your mind...knowing that He knows is so comforting...
Be blessed my adventurous friend
In His Love,
Debrah