The Clean Up

our new sand

There is something wonderful about waking up after a hurricane with full power and bright sunshine.  Of course, we had to peek around the plywood to see the sun but we knew it was there nonetheless.  Went outside to assess any damage.  Outside of a few withered plants, nothing was touched.  In fact, we wound up being the winners of more sand on our beach, which is always welcomed!  Cover up those nasty pebbles.

In a joint decision, Geoff removed the board from the kitchen window to let a bit more light and air in downstairs.  Drove up the neck to rescue the car - no damage there either.  Since we didn't have anything to clean up, we ate breakfast and headed out for a bike ride down to Wilbur's Point and West Island.  We were curious to see what those 72mph winds did to the landscape.  It soon became obvious, that other than a few fallen trees, nothing much was hurt.  In fact the West Island causeway was spotless, the beaches were back to normal with the usual sunbathers and kids.

West Island Beach

Got back in time for lunch, and decided to take out as much outdoor furniture to make the next few days enjoyable.  Then we can squirrel it all away again on Weds. morning.  We also came up with a plan to store our newly acquired plywood.  Every inch of this property is so strategically organized for storage, we had to think hard.  We invested in pressure treated wood so that we could stick it under the deck.  Took a tour around the stores to snag a couple of pallets to put the wood on.  K-Mart said no, but the folks at Benny's were very agreeable.  Even got a strong young man to load them onto the truck.  They made a great platform under the deck for our new hurricane boards.  So that is one less thing to worry about when we get home.

We are very fortunate that we survived this event unscathed.  If anything, we learned an awful lot about hurricane preparedness. Having all that warning, we kept learning a few more tricks everyday about what kinds of things to do and be careful of.  I am also grateful for a very timely birthday gift that our friend Doug gave me this year - a battery powered hurricane lamp.  It served us well throughout the night.

Life on the beach is back to normal - with calm seas and beautiful sunsets.

It is now time to get back to business of travel.  We are hoping the airports are all back to normal by Wednesday night.

Next time.... the road to Amsterdam