We had planned to leave for Florida today. Our plans were to spend a week in Panama City Beach at St. Andrews State Park, and then travel on to Melbourne where we would stay a month at Land Yacht Harbor (an Airstream only park). But the closer today approached, the more our uncertainty as to what to do expanded.
A few events lead to our decision.
Weather. We checked the weather. Daily. Hourly. Sometimes even more often. As you are probably aware by now, the weather forecasted a major snowstorm for the entire southeast. Unless you live under a rock, you have probably read about this or seen it on the news. It’s making national and international news.
I went to FaceBook and asked, “stay and play in the snow, or leave early?” Of course, my Florida friends said, “you have to ask???” Our Airstream friends were mixed, and extremely helpful in terms of making sure our Alde heating system was working. Some of our northern friends had already come south, but at least one of my friends experienced snow in the deep south after they left clearer skies up north.
Houston doesn’t get snow. In fact, KHOU-11 (our Houston news) said in a recent blog post, “Snow is so rare in Houston that we cannot even discuss the top ten recorded snowfall events in Houston’s history, because only eight of them exist.” Well, now there will be nine.
The NPR is talking about it. Winter storm “Enzo” is wreaking havoc all along the I-10 Corridor. Pictures and videos are flooding the internet of Beaumont, downtown New Orleans, Galveston Beach, and the panhandle of Florida. It’s a HUGE blizzard of “epic proportions.” (Now I sound like a weatherman.) I even saw a video of a cowboy in Texas riding his horse through the snow, pulling someone on a makeshift sled behind him. Classic.
Medical concerns. In the meantime, Tim received some disturbing news from his dermatologist. He has a few skin concerns, and the medicine would come in the mail for some of them. More importantly, he needs to schedule surgery on a spot very close to his eye (right on the corner by his nose). She’s about 95-99% certain it is basal cell carcinoma. He is waiting for the MOHS center to call back with an appointment, and whether we can afford the cost.
Work concerns. In addition to his regular work obligations, Tim is now scheduled for a presentation trip to Minnesota the first week of February (2-4). It’s easier to fly out of Houston than all the places we had planned to visit in Florida.
I also have some work to catch up on. I’m still supervising some LMFT Associates in Texas, and I need to complete some CEUs for my AAMFT supervisory status as well as licensure. I can do this better with the solid internet we have here as well.
Sometimes, it’s less hassle to go with what you know.
All that being said, we decided to “hunker down” and stay where we are. We were able to cancel our reservation at the State Park for a small fee, and delay our reservation at Land Yacht Harbor by a week (no fee). Both of these were paid in full, and LYH has no refunds, so we were glad to make these changes. We did try to reschedule St. Andrews, but it’s really hard to get in Florida State Parks this time of year. There are only one or two days available here and there (across the state).
We did end up getting between an inch or two of snow. The pictures are pretty. It stuck to the ground, but not the concrete. I was hoping for a total blanket. You know the kind that turns the trees to a solid white? The kind you see in all the other pictures from up north? However, this was pretty exceptional for our neck of the woods.
When stuck inside, it’s a good time to bake bread. There’s a little heat coming up from behind the sink, so my einkorn starter rose really well.
If you look closely, you can see the icicles hanging from the front of our Classy Girls, looking like fangs. She kept us nice and toasty warm inside! It warmed up to the 40s later in the day and most of the snow melted.
As it turned out, Panama City Beach Florida ended up getting more snow than we got in Willis Texas. Go figure! Looks like we made a good decision.
À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!