On Sunday the 21st of October, after four glorious weeks in Frisco, NC, Billy and I were sitting at Pop’s eating shrimp, crabcakes and hush puppies watching two tropical storms that were developing off the coast of Central America, Sandy and Tony.  A few days of sun, surf and sand later, we watched as Tony took his expected right turn, and Sandy took prominence.  As Sandy crossed Cuba and then the Bahamas, she left extensive damage in her wake.  We began to get nervous as she headed toward Florida. At this point, Sandy could follow one of two models: the US model, taking her off into the middle of the Atlantic on Tony’s heels, and the European model which took her up the east coast of the US and then possibly taking a dangerous left turn to landfall.

Delightful seventy degree days allowed us to swim in warm ocean waters.  Our dog, Angie, was having the time of her life on our long beach walks.  She was totally intrigued by the fish caught by surf fishermen and even watched a blow fish turn into a tennis ball right before her very eyes.  On Thursday the 25th of October, we expected another peaceful island day until something told me to turn on The Weather Channel and check on Sandy.  Immediately, the tone told me to pay attention.  It took us an hour to assess the situation and make our decision.  We were heading out of there first thing in the morning.  Sandy was taking the route of the European model.

My first thought was that I couldn’t believe this was happening for the second year in a row.  My cabbing machine was set up and I had been making cabochons all week.  I had several project stones in mid-grind.  Two buckets of stones were on the floor.  Two loads of laundry needed to be done.  The list of what needed to be done was long, but we attacked it as if our life depended on it… because it did.  We all know RV’s don’t fare well in hurricanes, and that goes for any people inside, so we got a credit voucher for the remainder of our stay from Frisco Woods Campground, filled the truck up with fuel and by about 2 PM, I was taking Angie for our last walk on the beach.  As usual, the locals are typically nonchalant about it all, but I did notice people driving highway 12 with a little more purpose than usual and anxiety filled faces as they filled up with fuel and began to buy supplies.  When Angie and I stepped onto the beach that afternoon, nobody was panicking, obviously they didn’t know yet.  As we said goodbye to the ocean, we informed a few beach goers of Sandy’s changes and warned them to be wary.  Believe it or not, I had a little trouble convincing them and had to repeat myself three times for my message to get through.

For over the past year, we’ve had a few issues with our 2005 Ford F350 Diesel truck.  Yes, it’s the infamous 6.0.  Early in our stay on the island, we drove the hour up the island to the nearest Ford dealership in Manteo on Roanoke Island to have a suspicious white smoke coming from our tailpipe checked out.  The smoke stopped just before pulling into the dealership.  The tech checked it thoroughly and, scratching his head, said he couldn’t find a problem and that likely we got some fuel with water in it.  Four days later, we had a 15 minute period of more smoke, only now it was black.  On the phone, the dealership said it was probably getting rid of some carbon they knocked loose and was normal.

Okay… now the stage is set.

Sunset over the Sound on our last night on Hatteras Island.

Day 1:  At dawn on Friday the 26th of October in Frisco NC on Hatteras Island, we pulled out of the campground.  Some RVers were also leaving, some looked like they were staying.  Sandy was to officially arrive the next day, but wind and rains would start that afternoon.  Just as we did last year, we headed for the NC State Fairgrounds in Raleigh.  An hour into our drive the smoke problem returned… with a vengeance.  Instead of white, the smoke was thickly black with a blue hue.  Loss of power accompanied the huge cloud of smoke around us.  We chose to go straight for R D Sawyer’s, the Ford Dealership about 15 miles ahead… and then we prayed we’d get there.  By God’s grace we arrived, albeit in a cloud of smoke large enough to bring every employee out to see what was burning.  We dropped our 5th wheel in a gravel and grass parking lot on the side and waited to hear the verdict in our RV with the generator running.  While we waited, we checked on Hurricane Sandy.  The good news was Sandy was taking a route a little further out from the Outer Banks, the bad news was that Sandy was huge and picking up speed.  Two or three hours into our wait, we lost power in our RV.  As we checked circuit breakers and fuses, the rain started.  We couldn’t find the problem.  So, now we had to replan our route to take the RV to a repairman we knew about 4 hours southwest of us.  Unfortunately the news on our truck was not good.  The suspected bad fuel injector turned out to be a cracked fuel injector with a piece missing inside the cylinder, warranting major engine work.  So, now it became obvious we were stuck on Roanoke Island and shopping for a new truck.  The last shock of the day, as Sandy approached, was, we were informed, that the parking lot where our RV sat, typically floods during hurricanes… sometimes in inches, sometimes in feet.  I called our roadside assistance number for our insurance company and was given a number for a tow company called Seto’s.  When I called, they were prepared and willing to pull us out and asked where we wanted them to take it.  Since I had no idea where a safe place would be, I asked them for advice and they offered to take it to their property on high ground in Kitty Hawk, and would put it next to their building which would at least provide protection on one side.  We made arrangements to meet the next morning for the tow.  Michelle at R D Sawyer’s called the Elizabethan Inn, a mile down the road in Manteo and arranged for a doggie friendly room at their best rate.  R D Sawyer was kind enough to give us a loaner car to get there.

And so, we left with what items we could reach and grab and headed for the Elizabethan Inn, in shock and worn out, and wondering what Sandy would bring. 

The rest of the story to come.