10/7/24 update

We spent the morning in final preparations by tying our outdoor furniture together, the things we could not get inside.  We made sure anything with an electrical wire was on the second floor. We secured kayaks and paddleboards.  We packed.  I boiled eggs, gathered headlamps, flashlights, candles, matches, lighters, can openers, nonperishable food and packed a small cooler.  Since I had cleaned out the refrigerated recently due to Hurricane Helene, we didn’t have much.  I packed a bag for our dogs and included two dog beds to make their stay at the hotel more comfortable.  I learned this from the last time!  We pulled together our legal documents and other important items.  This left room for one suitcase each for clothing, shoes and toiletries. When you’re looking at a walk-in closet and thinking you may never see these things again it’s overwhelming.  I packed one pair of jeans, a few pairs of shorts and athletic pants, along with some short sleeve, long sleeve shirts and a sweatshirt.  We made sure we had our raincoats and a large umbrella. I was able to pack a bag of art supplies that I cobbled together from things that were saved from Hurricane Helene and were on our second floor.  This brought me some joy in the moment.  It gave me hope.  We hit the road.  Leaving our home was very hard as everything we’ve heard to date tells us that Hurricane Milton will be devastating, and it is headed straight to us. Our little island of Anna Maria was quiet.  There was so much debris that had yet to be picked up that it was overwhelming to thing about what will happen if it’s not picked up before the hurricane hits.  We stopped at Starbucks in Bradenton and put in the hotel address to Google Maps and headed out.  What should have normally taken us one hour and fifteen minutes to drive took us four and a half hours. Isabel, our youngest daughter a freshman at UCF, joined us at the hotel.  She brought food too!  We are in a nice Hilton property – Home2 Suites.  We have two queen beds, a couch, a desk and a small kitchen area.  I was able to extend our reservation until Monday as the reality that we may not make it back to Anna Maria any time soon is upon us.  The employees at the hotel are very accommodating, they waived the pet fee and told us we did not need to give them the required 2 day notice to leave, just let them know the evening before.  We found a pizza restaurant, Flippers, near the hotel and had dinner.  We are glad to be together.  I am overwhelmed with gratitude to know my family is safe; our daughter Stephanie, her husband Thomas and their children Lucy and Tommy and our daughter Chandler all in Nashville.  Ryan and his girlfriend Ashley in Kissimmee and Isabel with us.  I think about the families in North Carolina that were impacted with Hurricane Helene, and I pause and give thanks for the lives of my family.