At long last, the Silver Chalet is ready for us to pick up after her brush with severe injury on April 26, 2012. As Mike was driving over to Bates RV, Dover, FL, for some minor warranty work, traffic was diverted from a 4-lane to a narrow two-lane road. As he approached a 90 degree/15 mph turn, he observed a semi-tanker barrelling around it, at a high rate of speed. He threw on the brakes, and watched in horror as the truck came into his lane, corrected, but not before the rear tire of the semi hit our GMC truck on the bumper, fender, finally bouncing along the aluminum skin of the Chalet. Mike just closed his eyes and prayed, then cried.
After two months at Bates RV, insurance delays, (since FL is a no-fault state, we were responsible for the entire repair costs), we drive over to the Tampa Bay area on June 24th to spend the night with dear friends, Frank & Linda Tucker Brandt. Since we thought tropical storm Debby was headed to Texas, we are surprised to encounter squalls the entire trip! We wuz wrong!
We have a lovely dinner and evening of playing spades, while watching in horror as 14 inches of rain in 24 hours, starts creeping into their lanai! Where are the sandbags when you really need them?
Monday morning dawns clear and sunny. So, we say our goodbyes and head to Bates RV to pick up the Chalet! After 45 minutes of the service office staff hunting for our invoice, keys, etc...we go out to the Chalet to take a look-see! Debby has found us again, so we start inspecting the repairs, sans any Bates techs, btw. We decide she is okay and take off.
High water and wrecks add up to several hours of delays, so we arrive at St. Marys late in the day. The campground has lots of standing water and the rain continues all night. In the morning, we are greeted with water several inches deep all around the Chalet. Since the nearby St. Marys River is 18 feet above flood level, I suggest that we take off a day early in an attempt to escape Debby, who has decided to follow us up the coast.
The following is an account of Debby, oh my!
"A combination of storm surge and torrential rain lead to heavy flooding in the Tampa-St. Petersburg metro areas the evening of June 24. Cars were floating and water rescues were performed in Clearwater, and parts of Tampa's exclusive Bayshore Boulevard were closed due to high water.
The following is an account of Debby, oh my!
Apalachicola (12.68 inches), Gainesville (12.02 inches), Cross City (11.85 inches), St. Petersburg (11.55 inches), and Tampa (10.13 inches) all picked up over 10 inches of rain from Debby over 4 days. Debby helped break a new June rainfall record in both Gainesville (old record 14.77 inches in 1965) and Tampa (old record 18.52 inches in 1945).
Rivers such as the Suwannee, St. Mary's and St. Marks were sent into major flood. Near Macclenny, Fla. the St. Mary's crested early on June 28 about 1.2' above the previous record crest from 1964's Hurricane Dora.
Debby spawned a preliminary count of 21 tornadoes in Florida. Most of these were on Sunday, June 24. Unfortunately, there was one fatality from a EF2 tornado in Highlands County, Fla.
According to the National Weather Service in Miami, a total of 8 tornaodes were reported in South Florida on June 24 alone, the most in one day there since Oct. 14, 1964 during Hurricane Isbell.
Another seven tornadoes were confirmed in west-central Florida, including a waterspout that came ashore at the Pass-a-Grille Marina in Pinellas County the evening of June 24, rated EF1."
As we conduct our rear tail light check, I notice that the left ones are not functioning. We decide to find an RV repair shop along the route to take care of the problem. A Camping World is on the way, so we stop there around lunchtime. The tech soon discovers the problem is loose wiring from the wreck repair. He also points out that the plywood over the electrical area, under the sofa is soaking wet and has soaked into our blanket slip-covers and the bottom of the cushions. We also discover that repair trim on the front of the trailer is hanging loose. After contacting Bates, they agree to take care of any costs we incur to get these items repaired.
Santee State Park is a lovely park situated on a cliff over-looking Lake Marion and a wildlife refuge. Our first night is breezy and cool with temps in the 60's and NO rain!
While filling up with fuel around lunch, we espy a lovely colonial style restaurant, Clark's Inn, across the street. They offer a home-style buffet M-F. Soup du jour, salad bar, fried chicken, spaghetti, stewed okra/tomatoes, squash casserole, mashed potatoes, field snap peas, peas & carrots, bisquits and dessert. It is so delish, we eat there two days in a row! For those of you who travel 95 through SC, don't miss it!
Nearby, we visit the Eutaw Springs Battleground where the last battle in SC during the American Revolution was fought. Major Majorbanks, British Army, led his troops in battle against Brigadier General Francis Marion on September 8, 1781. Casualties were high with over 700 Brits and 500 Revolutionaries perishing.
Overlooking Lake Marion is the Santee Indian Mound and Fort Watson. The Santee Indians were part of the Mississippian culture that thrived in the area for thousands of years. The mound is believed to be at least 1,000 years old, one of the largest such ceremonial centers ever discovered. Not only used for religious rites, archeologists have discovered at least sixteen graves as well as artifacts.
In 1650, there were around 3,000 Santee. By 1751, their numbers had dwindled to a mere 500 or so due to illness and death from diseases brought from European explorers and settlers.
During the American Revolution, the British built Ft. Foster atop the Santee Indian Mound, thus providing an elevated vantage point overlooking the Santee River as well as the road to Charleston. A siege was begun in February, 1781 by Francis Marion which lasted for a mere eight days. The fort's barrcades were breached by the use of a tower constructed by Major Maham, aka Maham's Tower. The victory was an important one because it further limited supply lines to the upcountry, so they abandoned the back country of SC.
The triple digit heatwave has caught up with us, so we do a little laundry and take advantage of the Wifi cafe overlooking Lake Marion.
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