Day 97 - Storm Evaders
Trip Start
May 19, 2008
1
99
161
Trip End
Nov 08, 2008
Tallahassee,
Florida,
United States
Saturday, August 23, 2008
As we drove along the coast road, the beaches were almost deserted although there were a few brave (stupid?) people swimming in the sea. Most of them were in the cafes and restaurants though.
After about 10 miles we crossed a bridge over the intracoastal waterway and then pulled into a petrol station. While Neil was filling up, Mel checked the map to ascertain exactly where we were. Then she looked at the license plates on the cars
A Grey Morning In The Gulf
. Without realising it, we were already in Florida, having crossed the state line as we crossed the bridge. Shortly after leaving the fuel station the rain began and continued to get heavier until it was truly lashing by the time we reached Pensacola. We crossed the bridge over Pensacola Bay and then followed the coast on Highway 98 until we reached the town of Mary Esther where we stopped to have our lunch overlooking the intracoastal waterway. From there we continued along the coast road toward Panama City feeling the wind getting stronger and stronger and the number of cars on the road become fewer and fewer. As we drove through Panama City the wind was the strongest that we experienced and at one point there were no other cars to be seen on the roads. Just the crazy Brits in their old VW! And the NBC news van doing their storm report. It was around this time that we finally found a meaningful weather report on the radio. Although the wind we experienced was strong and we went through some heavy downpours, our gamble had paid off and the storm was passing over the pan-handle about 60-70 miles north of us at that time.
We passed several State Parks between Mary Esther and Panama City, but decided that as it was only early afternoon we would get as far east and away from the storm as possible
Crossing Pensacola Bay
. After our road took us through the centre of Tyndall Air Force Base, we picked up signs for St Joseph Peninsula State Park. As the weather was much improved and it was now late afternoon we decided to head for there to camp for the night. As the name suggests, St Joe S.P. is on a peninsula, right at the end of the peninsula actually. And after passing three signs for it and taking the 16 mile detour off our road, we arrived to find it closed. Why oh why couldn't they cover up the signs or post a notice to say it's closed instead of having you drive all the way out there?
So most disgruntled we set off back towards our main road again. Now unsure as to when or where we would find somewhere to spend the night, we stopped off for fuel at a small gas station and got caught in a downpour. By this point we were quite unamused, but the people in the petrol station were really friendly as they talked about the "hurricane". We wanted to say "It's just a tropical storm" but didn't have the heart.
A little further down the road, the sun came out and it really was the nicest part of the day. We were obviously in the "eye", as a little further still, the greyness returned and the rain began again
Panama City
. As it began to get dark and it became obvious that we wouldn't be parking up any time soon, we decided to stop off at Burger King for "dinner". As we pulled into the car park we weren't sure if they were open as there were no staff behind the counter, no customers and no cars in the car park. As we pulled up alongside the doors several members of staff jumped to their feet from where they had been sitting and enthusiastically waved us in. We were obviously the first customers they had had in some hours. It was really interesting hearing them chat to each other about refuge shelters and the pros and cons of evacuating, particularly the cost factor. As we looked out of the window into the darkness and saw the rain lashing down and the trees being buffeted by the wind, Neil (in his best Barnsley accent) said "Wot's all t'fuss abart, it's just like a winter's neet rarnd Barnsley"! And despite his terrible accent, he was right. It was just like a typical British winter night, except it was really warm outside! Back on the road we set off towards Ochlockonee River S.P. about 45 miles north-east. We hadn't travelled for very long before the local news on the radio announced that communities along the Ochlockonee River were being evacuated because of flooding. Guess that park will be closed as well then. We also heard that Sir Paul McCartney and his girlfriend are travelling Route 66 - copycats
The Storm Battering St Joseph Peninsula
! Whilst looking at the map to find an alternative destination, Mel realised that we had crossed into the Eastern Time Zone a couple of hours ago and so instead of being 8.30 pm, it was 9.30 pm. We began to see lots of standing water and so decided to head for Wal-Mart at Tallahassee rather than get bogged down in an RV park. We also passed an awful lot of frogs on the road, mostly dead ones, obviously brought out onto the road by the excessive amounts of surface water. The ones that weren't already dead had serious suicidal tendencies as they kept leaping in front of us.
As we turned off Highway 98 and headed north on Highway 319 we passed through small communities where the houses were surrounded by flooded gardens. It's unbelievable the amount of damage these tropical storms do.
As we neared Tallahassee the rain began again. After driving through the city on the roads that were the most likely candidates for a Wal-Mart we hadn't found one and so decided to head for the next big town, Perry, about another 50 miles away. Just as we approached the outskirts of Tallahassee, we suddenly spotted the most well-hidden Wal-Mart in America
Hardly Anyone On The Roads!
. Hugely relieved, we pulled in, found a nice raised-up spot and parked up for the night. By now it was just after 11pm, and by the time we got into bed it was about midnight and that's when the rain really began to come down. What a day! Miles travelled: 316
Total miles travelled: 9501
Days on road: 77
States visited: 18
National Parks visited: 11
