So, I arrived back around 11:45 p.m. on Monday night.
When I went to Publix Tuesday at lunch, all water was already gone. People probably started to prepare over last weekend. By that time, flights back to Iowa were already full. Besides we didn’t know the exact path. (It is the following Saturday and we still do not). When I left work on Thursday, we were thinking it was going to go out the East Coast. Now, Irma is going to hit Tampa.
As everything (flights and hotels) was going fast on Tuesday, I booked a hotel for Saturday and Sunday just in case. I don’t want to be a burden to anyone and I don’t want to be trapped in a house. More on that later.
Anyways, I missed grabbing the hotel with the parking garage I wanted that was a reasonable price, so I scoured around for a car cover. I joined Amazon Prime (free trial) on Wednesday to get the car cover on Friday. It never made it. So, yesterday, I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and bought a thick vinyl shower curtain.
Today, I went to Epcot. It was a nice day with a breeze. I ate at Thailand, India, Germany, and Ireland. Then, I went to Disney Springs and had a real lunch at the Polite Pig. I had a chicken salad sandwich and a watermelon, tomato, and basil salad. A lot of people were out. Watching the news makes it seem like it is so bad…. It really isn’t. Epcot has about 200 power trucks staging in the parking lot.
I checked into the hotel around 4 p.m. All rooms are suites, so I have a living room and a bedroom. It only a little smaller than my apartment (I kinda feel guilty when I see shelters full). I think it was worth the $86 (and even the extra resort fee) just to have some help if necessary. From my hotel, I can almost see my apartment from a few years ago. I would never have guessed I would be surviving a hurricane here. I am on the 5th floor looking east towards Port Canaveral, so that is good news. The hotel says to be in the living room during the storm and if necessary, we might be evacuated to their convention center. I thought my hotel was like Gaylord Palms. It is not. It has towers, so our building will be locked during the storm…. which is a good idea I guess. I think we are all going to be moved to the convention center on Monday to wait out the last portion of the storm. Hopefully, the impending curfew will be lifted, so I don’t have to stay another night even though work has been canceled again on Tuesday. So, I did not work yesterday. Hopefully, I will go back to work on Wednesday.
(There are tons of people from Miami here…. I hear more than the average level of Spanish and they are more aggressive than Orlandoans). There are a few restaurants on property including a very nice food court type area. I think we would be fine for a week or so here. No housekeepers will be here until after I leave.
Andrea found free public parking in a parking garage near a mall, so I took my car there. I went to call the mall and I knew the manager as he was the old manager at my place of work. I got his voicemail, but it was till neat. I took my car there and there were other cars with panoramic roofs around me. I was going to use my shower curtain just in case Uber or Taxis aren’t readily available, but I decided, in the long run, taking the car would be better than having half a boat. I Ubered back for $11, so I can return my two shower curtains, my car tie straps, and my car cover for a grand total of over $70. I will look into getting a better car cover for the next storm. I just purchased whatever could get to me the quickest.
Dad’s cousin who lives near a swampy area has evacuated. Pray for Tampa and Miami. Don’t worry too much about me and don’t watch the news too much!!!!
Other things I did this week:
- went to the Mayor’s simulation summit
- saw the palm tree by my apartment get removed (it has been questionable to a long time)
- celebrated a co-worker’s birthday
- prepared using tips — freezing water for water later, putting towels below windowsills, filling bathtub, and freezing ice with a quarter on top to see if ice thaws = food is bad
Two last things:
- I told Andrea that this is last week has been an extravaganza of problems to solve. I even drove down to Disney with my garbage in my car. I had to find a place at the hotel to throw it away.
- Many people would agree with this statement: “I gained 10 lbs since they said the word “hurricane” – finished all my hurricane snacks and now I am starving and no hurricane yet.”
But I think I will have to Uber back to my car with a bunch of leftover snacks and drinks…..