I literally never go anywhere these days, and Linda and I never can go anywhere together for all the reasons I've written about in the past. However this past weekend one of my nieces, my sisters daughter Emily, was getting married in beautiful Eagle, Colorado just outside Vail and so we decided that since it was my sister that I should be the one to go to the wedding.
I was going to go up there on Thursday last week and return on Monday and enjoy celebrating this proud and happy day with family, and I did. However, just like when I was working and travelling 175 days a year, the minute I decide to go out of town all hell breaks loose.
You may have heard that Southern California was hit by it's first hurricane/tropical storm in eighty-six years and of course it happened when I was out of town leaving Linda, her mom, and my mom to fend for themselves as I was frolicking in the hills of Colorado. Above are some pictures of the damage in our HOA and the raging river in the wash behind our HOA.
Thankfully nobody was hurt and our house sustained minimal damage, a few shingles came off the roof, the cover for our dog run blew down, and some yard decoration fell over but nothing that can't be fixed easily. I am grateful for all the family and friends that reached out to us to check on us, we appreciate your concerns.
While the venues were spectacular, my niece was beautiful, and our family was getting older, now with pictures to prove it, it was hard for me to enjoy myself because I was worried sick about what was happening back home. Sunday was the worst of it and Linda was calling every fifteen minutes with updates. First the power went out, then thankfully it came back on very soon. Then shingles started coming off the roof and the dog run cover blew off and sent cement blocks into the neighbors yard.
My mother was concerned because she was alone and the back yard was flooding and water was creeping up to the threshold of her sliding door in the dining room. Linda wasn't able to get out because of flying trees and siding to help but luckily her neighbors were able to help. Meanwhile I'm on my third mimosa regaling the grooms family with stories like I was the opening act for the headliner on their early show.
I cannot tell you how many times over the years when I would travel leaving Linda behind that we would get fourteen inches of snow, or the water heater broke down, or the A/C stopped working and she was left to fend for herself. Now a hurricane she had to tackle alone, it is unbelievable.
Here are some rain totals about halfway thru the event. The valley itself did not get as much rain as they were predicting. Original estimates were up to ten inches possible but we only got around four inches, which is still a years worth of rain for us in two days. The problem was that the mountains got about a foot of rain and guess where it runs off to, that's right, down into the valley. That's what caused the most flooding and the most issues for us here.
On Monday I was able to talk my way home via an alternative route from my scheduled plan and arrive back here four hours earlier than the original scheduled flights. I went from Eagle to Dallas to Phoenix to Palm Springs and was happy to be back home. I am a frequent critic of American Airlines but this time they came through for me and I appreciate their efforts especially the gate agent and generous passenger in Phoenix who got me on a flight that was closed because they had a mechanical issue that delayed it a bit and the nice lady that gave me her seat.
I'm happy everyone here is fine and that there were no deaths associated with the storm that we've heard of so far. I'm happy that Emily and Chris tied the knot and I wish them a long and happy marriage. I'm grateful for my sister and brother-in-law who drove an hour and a half each way to pick me up in Aspen when my Eagle flight up there was delayed and I got rerouted. But I'm most thankful to Linda for not changing the locks on the door and letting me back in after abandoning her this past weekend.
(The picture on the top of this blog is the view coming into our development and the picture above is the view as you leave.)