St Thomas 2020
Day 11: Wednesday, July 29
Riding the storm out...here comes Tropical Storm Isaias
Well, we knew it was coming and really didn't know what to expect. I had been keeping a close eye on this storm for awhile. The locals had been talking about it and the potential to become a hurricane. When we went parasailing they talked about it coming this week and we had to get our trip in with them at some point before it hit. When we went scuba diving they were talking about how they had to get the boats moved to the "safe" area before Wednesday.
So, here we are. I knew I would take this opportunity to start packing up things we didn't need anymore and the dirty clothes because honestly, we managed to have enough clothes for the 2 weeks without having to wash them. Kendra, however, wanted to wash hers because they had ran out. She said the place at Sapphire was a little expensive and not open long enough hours. So, she used the van and took them to the laundry mat instead.
I managed to sleep in until 8am this morning and immediately went outside to check the situation. The wind had picked up quite a bit and you could see the palms bending over in the distance. The waves had definitely picked up as well. It looked somewhat gloomy out. The guy that took the beach chairs in and out every day reported to work as usual although those chairs were not coming out today I could guarantee that.
Mr Eeerka was still out doing his job despite the wind.
The family was up shortly after I was and time for some breakfast. Since it was going to be a gloomy day spent mostly inside, I tried to cheer things up a bit from the start.
Time to wash and inspect some of the rocks and shells we collected over the last week.
I have to admit, packing is always so depressing and it's even worse when you are doing it days before you leave. It was really hard to concentrate and I would take multiple breaks an hour just to inspect outside. Wind still picking up and blowing the palms harder...and people walking along the beach. The security guard was out as well.
I took a video of the wind and storm picking up. Then we noticed there were several paragliders out and taking full advantage of these winds and waves. I would pop out to check them out every so often and then finally we decided (once the rain stopped for a few minutes, we decided to go out to get a better look).
We stood under some of the grape trees and had several friends around us. I'm sure they were wondering what these big birds out there in the ocean were.
Since this was a day of staying "home" and not getting to visit a beach, you know I'm going to take full advantage while I'm standing out there watching the paragliders to take more pictures as if I was visiting a new beach.
As we watched and I took pictures, it would rain off and on...then I knew we had over stayed our visit and should have walked back about 5 minutes earlier because all of a sudden it was POURING! Now normally this would not be a problem and we'd just make a run for it. However...no running for me on this foot. Ugh
We would hide under the grape trees for awhile just waiting for the opportunity to make it or break it.
The rain slowed a little but was still going strong and we knew we should just go for it and off we went. I felt so bad for the hubby because he won't leave me behind and had to endure the pounding rain on us in slow motion. I always tell him to go ahead "save yourself" but he just won't.
Back to packing...dreadful, simply dreadful.
Kendra dropped Kam off so she could go do laundry and it was a girl hangout day...except for the hubby who stayed far away from the silliness.
We did get a text from the Landlord to make sure we brought in the cushions and anything else that could possibly blow away during the storm please. I was already on it but it gave me an idea...the grill was "somewhat" light and especially the lid. So....why not bring it in! Hmmm...idea's were swirling in my head now.
We still had a lot of food to eat up and we decided "hey, why let this rain damper our cookout?" We brought the cookout inside! (Don't worry, it's an electric grill and it doesn't even smoke).
Remember the hot dog the hubby got at the Sapphire beach restaurant? Those bacon hot dogs? You think I'm going to let them show me up? No way. Bacon hot dogs it is! (Except for Sakari who refuses to eat hot dogs and never has...so she'd make some Ramen Noodles...which she could eat every single day if you let her).
It was heading here....we were riding it out. I was checking in on Kendra to make sure she was ok and wanting to know when she would be returning. The last thing I needed was for the wind to blow her off some hill somewhere on the way back.
First picture at 9:47am when the winds were really high and then again at 2:53 pm. Some had passed over us and more were on the way. I believe I read that the wind was around 45mph.
Now there was talk on the STT fb page that the governor had told everyone they would NOT be passing out sandbags for this storm nor were you allowed to take any sand from the beach. There seemed to be a lot of angry residents.
There was also a stay in order and off the beach until I think it was 3pm the following day.
The girls were busy entertain these selves with a little gymnastics and made up stuff. They are so silly.
I caught a glimpse of Kendra returning...she had made it back safely. I was tracking her on the way back and stepped out as she went by.
Honestly the rest of the day was quite boring and consisted of more packing, cleaning, and watching t.v.
Dinner time...stroganoff, mashed potatoes and biscuits.
The winds would pick up and the rain continue to beat down off and on. Nothing too overly exciting but I can officially say I've been in a Tropical Storm and I have to admit that it was neat to watch the palms bending over, hearing the whistling of the wind and actually going out on the balcony at times to "feel" the storm.