Tuesday August 29th 2023

I got up this morning and slowly started to packup to move. It is the safe decision. The Lake Seminole area should only get tropical storm winds and a few inches of rain, but the storm has moved west a little with each new update. As I was getting ready to depart several big fifth wheel trailers arrived in the park. They have apparently chosen to ride out the storm at East Bank campground on Lake Seminole. I’m moving on about 100 miles west.

Shortly after the noon hour I pulled out of the campground and made my way south to Interstate 10 and headed west. Traffic may have been a little heavier than normal, but I really don’t know what normal is. The east bound side was filled with lots of power line maintenance trucks from out of state heading for staging areas near the storms path. I’m not sure where they were from, but it always amazes me how many crews come into the state when a storm is approaching. It reminds me of Ice Storms in the northeast during winter. Whenever my power went out during one it seemed like it was always a Quebec Canada crew that restored my power in southern New Hampshire.

The majority of my journey was uneventful. Regular afternoon thunderstorms were in the area. Most of them were south of I-10 near the coast. The edge of a few storms forced me to turn on the windshield wipers a couple of times and the wind really picked up at times. The real event of the day happened in the last fifteen miles. Traffic came to a mostly stopped stop and go mess around mile marker 60. My exit was at mile marker 45. It was 2PM. A couple of heavy wreckers capable of moving big rigs passed by in the breakdown lane. Clearly there was a big accident ahead.

About 4 miles and nearly an hour later I reached an exit from the Intestate. Since traffic still wasn’t moving faster than an occasional 2mph jaunt, I decided to detour to US 90 which parallels I-10. Unfortunately, lots of other people had the same idea. Traffic moved a little faster than 2mph but now there were traffic lights in the mix as well. It was six or seven miles before the traffic started to break up. With the help of my GPS I found the back way into the Eagle’s Landing RV Park in Holt Florida. It was 4PM. The last fifteen miles took 2 hours.

By the time I got setup I was soaking wet from the heat and humidity. I was also ready for a nap, but I needed to eat first. Sitting inside with the AC pumping I recovered without a nap. It will be an early night.