Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024
Sunset, Kailua-Kona, The Big Island, Hawaii, March 11, 2024

Monday, October 26, 2015

Downgraded Hurricane Patricia Did a Sideways Blow of San Antonio - Sat., Oct. 24, 2015

So much hype about Hurricane Patricia...we were going to have 8-10" of rain, it was going to rain for three days...the news broadcasters were having a field day describing the upcoming gloom and doom.

Here's what really happened in San Antonio. Thursday and Friday of last week we had off and on rain showers, not enough to even saturate the ground. Predictions from prognosticators finally narrowed down the impact to San Antonio as being 100% chance of rain and thunderstorms on Saturday.

Being the night owl that I am, I was awake when the rain started in earnest at 1:00 a.m. The wind picked up and the rains came down. The rain abated for an hour or so, then came back with a vengeance at 3:00 a.m. I finally went to bed at 3:30 a.m. Bob was up early because he had an 18-mile marathon training run he wanted to do, leaving about 6:00 a.m. It was still raining heavily so he came back to bed.

At 9:30 a.m. I woke up to cold, wet feet. A pesky leak in the vent cover over our bed was dripping away. The only time it leaks is when we have a massive downpour. We put a beach towel on the bed and a big stock pot on top of that to catch the drips. Of course with the rain and wind and cold, wet feet, I was not going back to sleep. It was time to get up. It quickly became obvious I wouldn't be leaving the 5th wheel today. We had ponded water up to our bottom step. I was perfectly happy to stay inside, out of the elements.

I made pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon applesauce on top (instead of syrup), and put fried eggs on top of the applesauce. They are so yummy! Just perfect for a stormy fall morning.

We then watched our Netflix DVD selection, "The Day After Trinity," a documentary about the makers of the nuclear and atomic bombs. Both of us had just finished reading, "Los Alamos" a historical novel by Joseph Kanon, so it was interesting for us to see the location of the secret campus where Oppenheimer and the other physicists, scientists and mathematicians lived and worked on the Manhattan Project. I slept through part of it.

Bob had some accounting work to do with the company he used to work for. He met the bookkeeper at 2 p.m. to work on quarterly reports and was home by 6:00 p.m.

We had a date planned to go out to dinner and decided on Zio's Italian Kitchen because it doesn't have a waiting line on a Saturday night. Bob loved his Chicken Amalfi which had a lemon cream sauce with dried tomatoes served over angel hair pasta. I opted for the rib eye steak, which wasn't as good as the last time i had it.

By the time we got home from Zio's, all the ponded water around our rig had subsided. We didn't need to get our feet wet going back in.

We were very lucky that downgraded Hurricane Patricia veered around us. To the north and to the east the damage was much greater.

Sunday morning, Bob ran his 18 mile training run and was home by 11:20 a.m. We went to see Bridge of Spies at 1:45 p.m. This was my second time seeing it.

Movie Review - Bridge of Spies: I thought it was excellent and very well acted by everyone. It's a tight Cold War thriller based on actual events. Tom Hanks plays an attorney (James Donovan) who is asked to represent Russian spy Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance). Donovan makes a plea to the judge of the case not to issue a death sentence; however the judge would not consider it. Donovan takes the case to the Supreme Court and pleads the case for keeping the spy alive in case any of our soldiers were taken into custody by Russia, the U.S. could trade the Russian spy for our soldier. The Supreme Court gave the spy a 30-year prison sentence.

Meanwhile, one of our airmen in a U-2 spy plane was shot down over Russia. The airman was able to escape the plane and parachute to the ground. However, he was captured, tried by the Russians and given a 10-year prison sentence. You may remember the incident involving Francis Gary Powers. The CIA recruits Tom Hanks as a private citizen and lawyer to enter East Berlin to negotiate for the exchange of prisoners. With Steven Spielberg directing and a script by Matt Charman and the Coen brothers, the movie has good lineage. The movie is very exciting and reading the facts at the end give you satisfaction with the way things worked out.

A quick update on my blistered feet: They are healed up and I'm ready to walk again. Yay.

Our weather today was absolutely gorgeous, but chilly this morning. We had blue skies, gusty winds, and the temperature made it to the low 70s by this afternoon.

Bob and I are getting ready for our cruise. We've booked our shore excursions, made reservations at two of the restaurants on board the ship, and filled out all our pre-boarding paperwork. Now we need to buy some new luggage and shop for some clothes. Getting very excited!

Lighthouse Trail - Palo Duro Canyon



5 comments:

  1. If you haven't visited Oak Ridge Tennessee, I suggest a visit. When you go into the museum you tour it and then they have one bus tour that is limited to the number of people it will hold. You have to be an American with valid ID to take the bus tour which takes you to the actual sites of the Manhattan project.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jan, We have been to Oak Ridge, Tennessee and toured the museum. However, there was no mention of bus tours. This was in Febrruary 2011 on a rainy, dreary day. Maybe they only do bus tours in the summer??

      Delete
  2. The news people really do hype the weather events. It's as if their whole purpose is to present one thing to be afraid of after another. Glad you had no real damage from the hurricane although cold wet feet in bed sure isn't much fun. I suppose with less humidity the bed clothes will dry out. On the east coast w'd for sure need a dryer. I know you are glad to have your feet healed up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. News media hype all kinds of things to make us afraid. That's why I don't watch news very much.

      Delete
  3. Glad to hear you didn't wash away in all that rain! We've been "enjoying" the remnants of Patricia here in SC. It's gotten in the way of our workamping job.

    I'm with you, enjoyed Bridge of Spies very much. Can't lose with Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. :c)

    ReplyDelete

Please let me know what you think, your experiences, and constructive criticism to make this blog stronger.