Today the little con

WE’RE HOME!

Today the little convoy made it over the top of mountains… with no problems whatsoever. We were surprised to see blue skies once entering Oregon.

Though there was some evidence of flooding there was nothing like what we saw in California. In the parking lot Donna met a family that came over from Eureka that lives there.. They came to escape. The father said he heard a loud pounding on his home and went out to investigate. They live adjacent to the forest and what he saw was a swath about 200 yards wide by a ¼ mile long in which every tree blew down. He packed his family up and left coming to Redding..

This was an excellent training lesson for me. As you know there is book learning and there is life experience. Of the two life experience is far more memorable. Some of the things I learned are:

• If you lose electricity… You lose:


• All gas stations. What’s in your car’s tank is what you’ve got.


• All cafes.


• All grocery stores


• Motels are available with no lights or hot water and at top dollar.


• The motor homes and cars with trailers are stuck… winds are just to dangerous. I’m pretty sure you would not like to be inside one either.


• The police and firefighters are very busy … I think the crooks know that.


• Credit cards are useless. Large bills may not be accepted. The $1 bill is king.


• Aggressive people cut lines and do not wait… they don’t have to.


• People sharing the experience are friendly.


• If you have to go to the bathroom and there isn’t one eventually you will go… even the ladies.


• A hot water shower is to be cherished.


• Food can be hard to come by.


• There is nothing like a good flashlight and batteries.


• When stuck waiting for the road to clear turn off your lights, radio and engine…conserve everything.


• Always carry toilet paper.

On a side note… you may remember that aggressive deer that ran over a hundred miles to jump out at our car in the article below? Well he beat us to Oregon and was standing by the freeway with a buddy waiting to give it another shot.