This was our 2013 Jayco Flight Swift 198 RD

THIS WAS OUR 2013 JAYCO FLIGHT SWIFT 198RD, PARKED AT THE TOMBSTONE TERRITORIES RV PARK IN ARIZONA



Sunday 15 April 2018

Oh my oh my, so much water!

It’s been a few days since my last posting and so much has happened. I am torn if I want to start writing from the past, last week, or the present, today Sunday the 15th. Either way, you get a set of pictures capturing the beauty and the nasty.

We are home! Yes, we cut our stay short in Alabama by a week. While the southern states only had some rain in the forecast, the northern states and especially here in Canada, we have to battle far worse conditions with heavy and above normal rainfalls, ice rain and even sleet in addition to very strong winds.  Our area had a major flood warning and we thought it to be prudent to get home in case that would happen. We made it just in the nick of time.


When we arrived everything seemed to be still ok in our area but overnight the Lake Erie came onshore as well the heavy rain flooded all drainage pipes and the fields around us look like they are part of Lake Erie. Our camper is parked high and dry and the house and the garage are on dry ground too.  Benno’s shed is dry inside although it doesn’t look like it from afar. My shed is waterlogged and I’m hoping the John Deere lawn mower plus everything else in there will be ok. It is a mess everywhere you look. 



picture is courtesy of Teresa Warren










We are not done yet because it is still raining and the wind that is blowing 45 km/28miles per hour from the East, is pushing the waves of Lake Erie with the high water level from the snow melt of the upper Great Lakes over the break walls destroying waterfront properties and flooding basements and homes. Debris, trash cans, whole porches and fences I have seen afloat in the neighborhood.  We have a reverse flow of water from the Lake Erie coming out of the road storm drain in our area. I went outside donning my new pair of high rubber boots (which I bought this morning in a hurry at the TSC store) to take a few pictures.  There were ducks swimming on the submerged lawn of our neighbors. We now own a waterfront property!!


So, now that you’ve seen the nasty, here are some nicer and funny pictures of better times. On my to do and see agenda I had a day on the beach planned and we were waiting for the right day to go.  Finally last week it looked to be the perfect time. Not all beaches allow dogs, but the Gulf Shores along the way to Fort Morgan are pet friendly and that is where we went. At this time of year the area is mostly deserted and 90% of all houses had a “For Rent” sign posted. There are public beach access roads in-between the developments but we discovered there were no public parking areas for our truck to park. After driving parallel to the beach for several miles without seeing anywhere to park, Benno decided to pull the truck next to the road on a bare spot. He got out to test the ground condition and thought it was packed pretty hard. Well, it had seemed that way. The moment our tires left the paved road we knew we were in trouble. Nope, the ground was not firm it had only a hard crust over very soft sand and you guessed it, the more we tried to get out, the more we dug in. Actually, it was funny. 






Five minutes after burrowing the truck deeper and deeper, rescue arrived in the form of three friendly construction guys on their way to lunch with their 4x4 pickup truck and a chain. It was no big deal to them and after a few laughs all around in no time at all we were back on firm ground. 




We then got smart and parked the truck on the grass at a side road and walked up to the beach to have some fun.  It turned out to be a lot of fun for the dogs. I had thought we would take the dogs by the leash and walk nicely along the water. Well, both dogs discovered that it was more exciting to get totally wet and then to run off into the sand. Oh man, Benno and I ended up carrying each a pitch wet and sand covered dog back to the truck. 





The beach sure was beautiful and clean. Note to self, next time going to the beach with dogs bring more towels.  Since we left Alabama earlier than planned, I did not get everything crossed off my list of things to see and do, hopefully there’ll be a next time.


On our drive back home to Canada we took the I-65 North passing through Birmingham, AL. We were thinking about Bill from "On Our Way"  and his road rating of 1-10, when we hit a section of the I-65 in need of serious fixing. A real shock absorber and tire killer. I mentioned to Benno that I would give this section a number 5 rating. Benno said he was leaning more to a #4 rating. However, it was pretty bad. Actually we like Bill’s road rating, it is a great help and one knows what to expect! We overnighted at Camping World’s parking lot in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Next day we followed the I-65 to Louisville, Kentucky, then the I-71 to Cincinnati, Ohio, merging onto the I-75N. For a leg stretch and lunch of Swedish Meatballs, we stopped for an hour and a half at IKEA, which is located right beside the highway at Exit 19. Afterwards we continued on I-75 to Wapakoneta where we made a coffee stop at McDonalds and used their wifi to reset our home thermostat to jiggle the heat up for our later arrival.  Past Toledo right at the Ohio-Michigan state line we hit the worse road section of the whole travel. We bounced and hopped so that our dogs had to hang on not to get airborne. I personally would give this section of the I-75 which is screaming for improvement a #3-minus rating and this is where our 29” flat screen TV fell off the bedroom wall complete with mount. Thank goodness the soft carpet saved it. The motion had pulled the screws right out of the thin wall with Jayco backing. We drove 1655 km, a bit over 1000 miles to get home.


We hope everyone had a good week and weekend. Thanks for stopping by and please stay tuned for more news.

13 comments:

  1. Wow coming home to all that water around your property is not fun, as is getting stuck on the beach, But what would life be without some new experiences and challenges, Glad you made it home safely.
    We don't worry so much about the roads they are what they are and constantly change. Next time could be much better or maybe worse. Our Motorhome takes them all in stride.

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    1. We were glad to be home when the flood came so we could have salvaged things in case it got worse. Now we are relieved that nothing got damaged. You are better off in a motorhome than towing a light weight trailer that is bouncing over the potholes. Even at 55 mph it gets bad and with passing traffic next to us nothing we could do but bare it.

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  2. Glad you made it Safely Home and that you won't experience any real property damage.
    Dogs are like children in their own way and love to play at the beach.
    Like George said roads change constantly so you just have to slow down to Enjoy the ride.

    It's about time.

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    1. Yes, we are happy to be home and all is ok now. Our dogs totally surprised us by wanting to play in the (not so warm) ocean. We didn't really mind but the sand in their coats caused me a bit of work. LOL

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  3. Welcome home, even if it is to wind , rain, water and cold. Hope the water doesn't get any higher for you. Yes that section of I-75 is terrible, it shook things up in our trailer also.
    Love that your dogs take to the water, Clemson puts the brakes on real quick when he gets close to it. Stay dry and take care.

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    1. Thank you. We had a better homecoming planned for next week when the sun will be out and the temps are a little kinder to the skin. Happy to be home regardless. I sure hope the I-75 gets a real makeover. We'll now forever be using the "Bill rating system" ;-)

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  4. Waterfront property! Like Bill says, i hope it doesn't rise anymore into Benno's new shed! Good that your home is on a bit of a hill.
    I love the dogs in the water! They were having fun. The two pictures of you and Benno, I noticed you were dressed the exact same so I had to look twice to realize the second one was you. :)
    The photographer seldom gets behind the lens, so I take a lot of silly selfies. :)
    Bill gets a lot of good comments about his road ratings, I'm glad you appreciate his input.
    Stay dry!

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    1. Thank you. Water has receded now. There is a bit of mud on the floor of my shed and that will be power washed and dried out. All is good. This kind of flood only happened once before many, many years ago, we were told. Hope it will be as long for a repeat.
      We hadn't realized we were dressed alike. White shirts don't fade in the sun that's why we like to wear them on the beach. As to the Khaki shorts, coincidence.

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  5. You certainly ended your vacation with some drama. Sorry about the stuck truck but would have loved to have seen the dogs on the beach.

    Yikes to the flooding, been there as you know. Good thing you decided to come home early. I pray that things will not get any worse. Keep us posted.

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    1. Contessa, you would have chuckled seeing us being stuck in the sand. That was dumb to even think we could park there. We won't do that again. ;-)
      All is good now and we were spared. Our house and property were on "The National" CBC News 10 p.m. although many areas had it worse.

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  6. aha, I thought that was your place on the news ! Not what you really wanted to make the news for that. Better if you had been accepting a lottery check or something. Good that tv was not damaged. Snowing pretty good here this a.m. Why not eh ? let's get some snow on top of the ice. :( Kelly

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  7. I like your reply Kelly. Winning a lottery ticket would be a major moral booster now, eh! Water is down but it's snowing right now, or is it hail? Something nasty outside again. I hope we are going to be rewarded with a very hot and nice summer. It'll take months for the soggy clay to dry up. Benno thinks he needs to get more gravel on the ground!

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