Hurricane Interruption

Monday morning, October 29

Several people have been wondering where I’m at, and if I’ve headed inland to get out of the way of Hurricane Sandy. I am safe! My blog posts usually run 2-3 days behind real time, and when I added a post yesterday, it was for last Wednedsay. I finished up a wonderful week in Delaware – making all my donations and doing all my walking, and camping for 5 straight nights because it was so nice out. On Saturday my last walks in Delaware were at a state park and a national wildlife refuge – both right on the ocean, and it was such a pretty day, no one would have suspected what lay in store even just 24 hours later. It’s so sad to know that this whole area that I’ve enjoyed walking and driving through is now the target of so much destruction.

I left Delaware Saturday afternoon, and headed back to Rhode Island through New Jersey and Connecticut. My plan was to finish up my 2 days in Rhode Island (interrupted when Taryn came for a visit), then move on to Massachusetts. I mistakenly thought that might be far enough north (especially if I stayed inland at first) to miss the worst of the hurricane. I even had plans to stay with my mom’s cousin Tuesday night and we were looking forward to going through old family scrapbooks.

On Saturday night, Newport Rhode Island was still quiet and calm, although the motel had hurricane info signs up – I knew the camping was over for a while! I watched the news Saturday night and again Sunday morning, and I had to come to the realization that this was going to be more of a monster than anyone had thought at first. I saw that all of Massachusetts was under a threat, as well as New York and Pennsylvania and the rest of New England. I knew the sensible decision was to head away from New England while I could. So with reluctance, I hit the road west, and right this moment I am in western Pennsylvania, on my way to my daughter’s house in Ohio. As the day went on, and I was listening to CNN in the car, I knew I had made the best decision, although, truth be told, part of me wanted to hole up somewhere and see what a hurricane is all about! But not this one! So, I will happily hunker down in Ohio with my daughter and son-in-law and 2 grandkids for a few days while we watch what happens. It’ll be fun to spend Halloween with them, and I’ll be able to babysit and help out for a few days, and enjoy some special grandma time! I will then resume my journey, but will not go back to finish off New England states until next spring. After Rhode Island, the next 3 states were going to be Massachusetts, New Jersey and Maryland – all right in the bulls-eye path of the hurricane. I will have to head out in a different direction – and that is fine! I have a lot of flexibility. So Sandy has had a major impact in my itinerary, but I have simply switched gears and switched directions, and will continue on after a nice family break. (I was going to be taking a family break with them around Thanksgiving anyway, so it’s just a little earlier and longer).

I will add the rest of the posts for Delaware when I can, but I need to get back on the road. I will be thinking of everyone in New England and hope people will stay safe.