Adios Hanna

Tropical Storm Hanna has come and gone with little fanfare. We had some rain and some wind. The winds were gusting to approximately 45 mph. It really was not much of a storm. Most of the heavy rain was west and northwest of us. Today it is hot and muggy. Gave me a chance to get outside and do some work. There are only 4 days and a wakeup until we head out for our Canadian fishing vacation. I am finding enough work to keep me busy so that the time goes by quicker. We sure look forward to this yearly migration that we take.

Hanna Has Arrived

Tropical storm Hanna arrived here early this morning. I heard the first sounds of high winds around 6 AM this morning. We are on the eastern side of the storm and most of the rain is on the western side. Top winds for our location has been about 40 mph. It has quited down quit0e a bit now. This is a fast moving storm. I think it will be all over with in an hour or two. Next storm is hurricane Ike. This is the one I am really keeping track of. We are flying out of Norfolk on Thursday morning and I am closely watching where Ike is heading to. I am hoping that Ike will stay away for a bit so it won't affect our flying out as we head up to Canada. Based on the current projected path of Ike, it should not have any bearing on our flight. Only 4 days and a wake up until we leave.
Also wanted to mention that I have been smoke free for a little over 3 months. This is the longest time that I have been smoke free since I was 17 years old, which has been an awful long time ago. I have no desire to smoke at all. This is a done deal. Better late than never. I forgot to mention that we were returning home from one of her business trips, this time to Charleston, SC. We needed a break from driving and stopped by a place called JRs Smoke Shop in N.C. Don't be fooled by the business name. They have a ton of other stuff. Everything from home goods, perfume, clothes, collecters dolls, etc and all at really good prices. It is a really big place. Of course one of their big things is selling cigarettes and cigars. We used to stock up on smokes on the few times that we have gone there. As we were walking around, I noticed that they had a bunch of those talls ashtrays in various places in the store. I was walking around and starting smelling cigarette smoke all over the place. I saw several customers actually smoking in the store. I could not believe it. The business promotes that sort of behavior by having the ashtrays around. This is the only place in a couple of years that I have seen people walking around smoking. Just think...how long has it been since you saw someone smoking in your local WalMart or grocery store. I remember the day when I used to do that but it was years ago. I am so glad that I have stopped smoking. Best thing I have ever done for myself!!!

Our Bags Are Almost All Packed

As much baggage as we have, you would think that we are running away from home for good.

We are getting real close to our vacation starting. Only 7 days and a wakeup. I am keeping an eye on the weather channel. There are 3 tropical depressions/huricanes out in the Atlantic that I am watching closely. Hanna should be in our area Saturday or Sunday. I am not too concerned about Hanna. My main concern would be the next hurricane that might be heading in our direction...Ike. It might be around Florida possibly by Tuesday. We are flying out around 9 AM on Thursday morning. Hopefully Ike will slow down a bit until after we are gone or even better, that it takes a totally different path..maybe staying out in the Atlantic. Below is a picture of all of the baggage that we are taking with us to Canada. The real trick is making sure that each bag weighs less than 50 pounds. Over weight luggage cost a lot more than having one additional piece of luggage. They have you coming and going.