September 5-7, 2019 Hurricane
Dorian did not stop us!
Waking up after our travel down here, we expected to see
dreary skies as evidence of Dorian expected arrival, instead we awakened to bright
sunshine and BLUE Carolina skies! Is it gone??
Well no, the storm just was
taking his time and the weather channel assured us did not miss him! So after Deb walked the pups,
we decided to go into Aberdeen VIA the GPS! Well we need to update the roads on
our device because many of the suggested “turn here” commands would have left
us in farmers fields or worse! We did get there and found,,,,… a WalMart, so we
got to shop and tour at the same time!
We got back In time to enjoy a dip in the pool and about ½ hr
in the hot tub! All those travel aches feel better after that warm water. Back
at the Motorhome the weather man continued to warn about Dorian so we activated
the weather radio and decided we might as well sleep!
Thursday morning continued warnings and now the skies took
on that ominous look!
The bands of rain started about noon and continued off
and on so we went to the lodge to watch some news and post a previous BLOG. It had
the only strong internet we could find . We seriously considered driving to see
a movie at the AMC in Fayetteville but decided it was too far in this weather. After a while we decided that cooking would be
no fun tonight so we drove back into Aberdeen to the Golden Choral which
welcomed us as seniors for a “special price”.
The food was plentiful, if not fantastic, and we shared
stories of hurricanes past with the staff that did not seem concerned too much
at all! The drive back to the motorhome was a bit more interesting as both the
wind and the rain intensity increased! The NOAH radio told us the winds and
rain would last until 2 or 3 AM but the severity was not expected to reach
critical levels. Flashlights all charged up and
2 AM I was awake listening to the wind blow and the pine
trees swaying but it was not severe and it only lasted until about 3:30. At
daybreak the skies were clear and blue! Wow what a change! ROADTRIP!
The South is where NASCAR was born, made famous and made
lots of money and much like there are huge stadiums in the NORTH for football
there are famous and infamous race tracks dotting the South where historic
races and events take place! North Carolina and South Carolina are home to some
of the great race tracks of NASCAR history and two of them lie just a few miles
apart on each side of the Carolina border! Charlotte is just 70 miles west and
famous Talladega just a smuge further west in Bama!
Rockingham, (the Rock) is one of the
short 1.1 mile tracks. It was one of the famous tracks that built the NASCAR
legends Deb and I went to a NASCAR race at the Rock a few years ago and the
excitement of the crowds both inside and outside racetrack made the event so
memorable! The track is being rebuilt for more racing and other entertainment to
bring back that involvemet.
Then we crossed the border to South Carolina and just a slightly
different atmosphere between the two Carolinas! South Carolina is a bit more
agricultural while North Carolina has developed more industry. But 50 miles
south we came up to the DARLINGTON RACEWAY between Pee Dee and Florence!
HUGE track visible for miles and dominating the area!
There is pride in the present
and past of NASCAR clearly evident in commumity! A rare stop for Deb and I and
the pups at Mc Donalds and then we drove the back roads back to camp. During
our drive we saw some higher water and a few broken trees but little else to say
Dorian was here!
2025-02-07