ST AUGUSTINE, FL  Safely home after a harrowing experience.  And things got even crazier after getting home, but more on that later.

On September 25th, we drove from Down by the River Campground up to Boone for a tour of Samaritans Purse.  We had tried in two prior years to get a tour, but unforeseen events prevented it.  Thus we drove to Boone with no idea how the following hours would turn out.

The tour began with a talk in a conference room by the tour director.  Photos on the walls were referenced, and books by Franklin Graham were discussed, with the director giving each of us one of the books for free.

Automated Photo Name Tags Provided

Then we left that building to walk over to the Christmas Child boxing building.  The tour consists mostly of this.  There is no tour of the very many other buildings over the well maintained grounds.

We Depart Welcome Building for Christmas Child Building

Off to the Christmas Child Building

Rainy Crossing Over to Other Side of Properties

Entrance to Christmas Child Building

On the walls were many more large photos that help tell the story of the Christmas box preparation and delivery.    

Closeup of Some Wall Photos

Extra Large Christmas Box Suspended from Ceiling

Proceeding to Back Section

Messages from Ukrainian Children

Wall Photos of Delivery Methods Used for Christmas Boxes

Closeup of Some Delivery Methods

Another Delivery Method

Pictorial Used to Explain the Gospel to Child Recipients

Gospel Presentations Given to Children

Entry View to Packing Room

At this point we entered the packing room area for a detailed explanation of how every kind of gift is included in boxes to be sent to the children around the world.

When we drove back to our motorhome, parked in site 62 of the Down by the River Campground, we noticed someone in a very long 5th wheel trailer preparing to move out of the campground.  It was around 5:30 pm, rather late to be leaving for another location.  This was our first implication that something was afoot that most of us did not understand.  Before we had left for Boone, the campground owner had told us to unhook from water and sewer.  Only the power remained attached.

At 1:05 am the following morning, the campground owner's father came knocking on our door demanding we evacuate.  He meant for us to leave our motorhome where is was and leave in our Jeep for a high school gym that the fire department had designated as the local evacuation center.

We did not want to leave our motorhome there, so I hurriedly unhooked the power cord while Betty prepared inside to bring in the slides.  Within 15 minutes I was driving the motorhome out of the campground through inches-deep water.  Betty followed in the Jeep.  After looking around the area for a high place to park for the night, we settled on the parking lot of a nearby drug store.  

View Behind the Pharmacy Parking Lot

The next day we called the campground where we had stayed in earlier months, The Pineola Campground, and they gave us a site that was high enough to escape the rising water.  However, a little after noon the next day, on the 27th, the owner of this campground knocked on our door telling us to come with him as he would take us to the second floor of the hotel out front.  We hastily filled a couple handbags with stuff and headed out in his Jeep Wrangler, which rides higher than our Cherokee.

View from Our Motorhome

View in Direction We Were Taken to Hotel

The following videos were taken from the second floor balcony of the Pineola Hotel.

A few minutes later you could watch the waters starting to recede.  After a few hours, it had receded enough for me to walk back to our motorhome to get the Jeep to bring Betty back.  The following video was taken of the view of the campground from our site then.

The following video was taken from ground level near our campsite the following day.

Panorama Shot of Area Near Our Site the Following Day

Our motorhome was spared high water and its related damage.

White Line Shows the High Water Level at Our Motorhome

View Back Toward Section Where We Had Parked in July

If you look back in this blog at the July 24 entry, you will see what this area looked like before the flood.  After the flood, look at the scene below: 

We Were Camped at the Pavilion Site on the Far Left

Here Is a Closer Look

Our Neighbors at Far Right Sites

What's Left of Beautiful White Hydrangea Blossoms

Main Entry Road to Campground

Long View of Entry Road After Repair Work Is Started

Power, water, sewer, wifi, and cell service were all gone.  Someone told us to visit the local hospital to mooch off their wifi.  We got there and saw a horde of people doing exactly that, so we joined the horde.  We called as many people as we could fit in.  The next day the entry road to the hospital was sealed off by the police.

The Horde of Moochers at the Hospital

There was no church service on Sunday since the church building was flooded.  The following day we drove up to Boone to do some last minute shopping at their Publix to set us up for the drive back home on October 1st.  The usual route was closed due to flooding, so we took the only remaining road that was recommended by the police, US 221.  It was a horrible drive, so many twists and turns that you wondered if you might end up where you started.  Added to that was the crumbling road surface in places.

Example of Road Edge at Bridge Crumbling Out

A Closer View of Crumbling Ground

We finally made it to Boone, did our shopping, then headed back home.  Rt 105 was open heading south, so we started down that path.  Then it stopped at its intersection with Rt 184 through Banner Elk and Elk Park, eventually leading into Newland from the west.  Once again we were shocked by the condition of the roads (and all the property left and right of it).  One road's giant culvert was washed out from below it and broken in half.  Very little was holding up the road as we drove over.  As we headed through Elk Park, there were many lines of traffic to make way for fallen power lines and the linemen who were working to fix them.  We also saw churches and houses whose foundations had been washed out from under them.

Example of Building with Foundation Washed Out

After Many Stoppages, We Made Our Way Through Newland

Once back at the campground, we gave thanks to God for safe delivery back and prepared to leave town the next day.

 

The next day we had to take Rt 181 south out of Pineola, since US 221 south was closed due to a huge landslide over the road.  Rt 181 was another roller coaster ride.  Very tiresome, especially after all we had been through already, but we made it to I-40 leading eventually to US 221 south below the landslide area.  This led us on to Kinards, SC where we had a reservation with a KOA.  They had water but no power, wifi, or cell service, so we ran our generator all night, so there was no problem.  The next day to a KOA in Savannah, then on home.

As mentioned at the beginning of this blog section, things then got crazy at home.  Hurricane Milton (yes, another hurricane) passed through Florida from near Tampa to just south of Daytona Beach.  Huge damage on the west coast from ocean swells and on the east coast from dozens of tornados spawn by the storm.  Possibly worst hurricane ever.

We were fortunate in that our home was spared any significant damage, but the following Sunday after church we drove up I-95 to see my sister in the hospital.  During this drive, we were in a traffic accident that totaled my beloved Honda Pilot, caused me minor injury, but bruised Betty badly.  We thus had to cancel our European travel for the Viking Cruise.  Another jolt, but it could have been far worse.  Thus, where in prior entries in this blog I say to stay tuned for blog entries on the river cruise, there will be none this year.  It has been quite a summer and early fall.

DOWN BY THE RIVER CAMPGROUND, Pineola, NC.  We actually have something of note to share for a change.  Yesterday, Thursday, September 19th, we drove up to Bristol, VA to visit with friends from our the early days in St Augustine when they were fellow members of Covenant OPC.  These were the first of our close friends to move away and, if you look on this blog for prior years, you will see recorded other times we have visited them up there.  It was fortunate this year that we were much closer to Bristol, VA than in prior visits.

We visited the Kozielskis in their nice new home (see photos below), where most of our short visit was set.  They also drove us to a nice seafood restaurant where we had lunch together.  

Felix and Kathy Kozielski with Betty

Kathy Next Took This Shot Including Me

Due to schedule conflicts, we had limited time to visit with the Rohrbauchs, other friends from Covenant OPC.  We foolishly even forgot to take some recent photos of them to include here.  

Today and tomorrow will be laundry and other housekeeping days, along with any sightseeing we might be able to fit in.  It has been a somewhat unusual year, in that noteworthy items to include here have been limited.  

Stay tuned for our travels in October, when we fly to Europe for a Viking Cruise.

DOWN BY THE RIVER CAMPGROUND, Pineola, NC.  On Friday last week, Aug 23rd, we visited the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park in Blowing Rock, NC.  We walked the trail around Bass Lake, a truly beautiful area.  Mr Cone and his brother ran a mill in the 19th and early 20th centuries that produced most of the denim used in the textile industries.  They chose to use some of their fortune to make this park for the enjoyment of the general public.  Bass Lake was formed by the Cones by building up earthworks all around the area.  It even created an island in the middle of the lake.

View of Bass Lake from Entry

Mrs Cone Planted Water Lilies in the Lake

Closeup of Some Lilies
(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Trees Appear to be Several Trees Grown Together

Here It Looks Like Three Trees Together

Island Created in Lake

Numerous Hydrangea Varieties in the Area

After that pleasant walk around the lake we visited with fellow Floridians up here for the summer.  About half the license plates around here are Florida plates.

That was our adventure for the day.  We are becoming fairly boring.  Our days lately are filled with shopping, household chores, laundry, reading, etc.  Since we are parked in one area for months on end, there is not a lot more to share.  Later on in October we shall travel to Europe for a truly significant change of scenery.  Please stay tuned.

 Pineola Campground.  Not much adventure to report, unless you consider following a realtor around the area looking at potential summer homes an adventure.  It does take a good deal of effort in many ways.

We have decided to seek a summer location near Newland because it is close to both the church and the YMCA.  Boone had newly built homes that I found very appealing, but that is too long a drive from here, and the traffic is only getting worse.  On Thursday we nevertheless went to Boone to see what they had to offer.

The newly built homes that I liked most in Boone were in a neighborhood of similar designs, small but very well built.  Perfect for a summer home for retirees.  It was a rainy day, so the frontal view of the house below is taken from their brochure.   

Frontal View of Bungalow

Nice Open Living Area with Gas Fireplace

Good Sized Bedroom

Panorama from Back Porch

Panorama Taken from Front Porch

Since this is a development still in process, we could have had the builder take our choices for a garage, etc.  That would be nice, since most newly built homes around here are elaborate and expensive.

Yesterday, Friday, we looked around this area.  First we went to Beech Mountain, an area to the north of Newland but considered nearby.  Biggest problem with this location are the narrow steep winding roads that lead up there.  There was plenty of traffic, and construction continues up there, with large delivery trucks making wide turns on the curves, wandering into the next lane as you approach.  How anyone builds anything up there is a mystery to me.  Maybe they hire a contractor from Switzerland.  All around you are buildings of various kinds, including large hotels, tucked into a nooks and crannies close around other buildings, wedged into clusters of trees of various sizes, some very old.  As we rounded one corner, we looked up and there were buildings tucked into a wall of rock reminiscent of European buildings spotted all along the height of a mountain.  Could be interesting to live there except getting in and out is unnecessarily too time-consuming.

We looked at a condominium located on the ground level of a high-rise accessible by a tower stairway that led down below ground level and extended up several more stories above ground level.  Then they had ramps and stairways that wrap around to the other side from the road.  How you would get bags of groceries around there to your unit is another mystery.

Thankfully, the one we were to visit was on ground floor, meaning that is was on the same level (somewhat) as the road that leads into there.  It did have you walk a small stairway up and then down to the apartment due to accommodating the structure of the stair tower.  They presume that everyone is very fit.  Beech Mountain is very high in elevation.  There was a sign above the entry door to this condo that read: "Above the Clouds" Elevation 5,056 feet.  This is one of the very highest points east of the Mississippi River.  Mount Mitchell is the highest at 6,684 feet.

Once we got into the condo unit, it was very pleasant, modern, and clean.  It was spacious in the open kitchen-living room design, and the master bedroom and closet were very nice and roomy.  Inside (alas) was another stairway leading up to the next floor where the guest bedroom and bath were located.  Things were getting problematic for us.

Notice Stairway on Left of Panorama

Nice Master Bedroom with Quite a View

Master Bedroom Closet

Master Bathroom

Rear Balcony Panorama View

Once Again, Much Farther Down Than This Appears

Don't look down, get dizzy, and fall over the rail.

Upstairs is the guest bedroom, which is unacceptably small.  The large white cabinet on the right is a pull-down murphy bed which takes up all the rest of the space.  If you like heights and do not expect guests, this might be an ideal condo for you.

Next we visited a home "nearby" Newland.  One drives quite a ways to near Morganton (a nice town with much to offer for shopping and entertainment) to get here.  This was much farther from church and the YMCA than we were looking for, but it was worth a look.

Many of the homes for sale around here are very old, 30-50 years old.  Oldy Moldy.  They may look nice in the realtor photos, but visiting them is a dismal experience.  There are exceptions to the rule.  We found a home that was very well kept, with beautiful yard, but was far too much house for us.  And the yard was precipitous in topography.  Just walking around the yard was too much for retirees, which is why the current owners are selling.

Just Getting Up Their Driveway Is Interesting

The driveway winds up to both the upper floor or the lower floor.  Getting out at the top floor one finds a very spacious home with an open design.  Very modern-looking.

Nice Open Living Room and Kitchen Design

Then if one ventures downstairs one finds a whole new set of bedrooms and bathrooms that are as nice as the ones upstairs.  This is very unlike most basement areas.  The door in the upper left below leads to a large parking garage with huge amounts of storage.  Whoever gets this house will have a wonderful home, if they can handle the stairs and precipitous lawn.

Entering the Basement

More Rooms in the Basement

Guest Bedroom in Basement

Looking at houses can be exhausting.  Hard decision-making, and around here the variety can be overwhelming.  We are in no hurry, since we can take another year to look, and prices may come down along with interest rates.  If some market watchers are correct, we could experience another drop like 2008, which would bring down everything.  For now, we shall just look around to see what is out there.  So far it has been an education in the area around here.