Day 1: Hurricane Helene, Here We Come

Traveling through the path of a major hurricane

photo by author

My vacation starts the moment I wake up. Excitement and fear battle each other with no winner in sight. The first thing to do is to check and make sure the path of hurricane Helene hasn’t shifted.

It’s already starting to sprinkle at our house. The oppressive heat we normally feel is gone as a breeze replaces it, causing the pine trees to sway against each other. The chickens, as if knowing they need shelter, are still in the hen house and don’t even come out when I fill their food.

My son drove us to go pick up the rental car. We arrived half an hour early and it’s a good thing we did. If you ever rent one through Hertz, read the fine print. I got the cheapest one which we found out was an electric car. After a bit of frustration, we paid for an up grade to a compact car which doubled the price. Now we had to wait for them to get the other car ready. We get out to the parking lot only to find out that the key didn’t work to that car. Back in we go. They issue yet another one. We wait while they clean it, and then are told, nope that one won’t work either so they are pulling one from the back.

At this point I’m seriously contemplating canceling our trip. Perhaps this was a sign that with the hurricane bearing down on us we…