Sunday, October 14, 2018

SHIVER ME TIMBERS

Where did summer go. As I sit here typing this it is 52 degrees outside, while just a few days ago the temps were in the 80's. The weather this past week has been devastating to so many people thanks to Hurricane Michael.

Hurricane Michael crossed the Yucatan and quickly formed in the Gulf of Mexico. I think because of the short time he was projected to over water in the Gulf the projections of a minimal hurricane sort of fooled everyone.

In just a couple of days he went from a minimal Category 1 Hurricane to a devastating Category 4 Hurricane when it made landfall near Pensacola, Florida. The death toll in the Florida is still climbing.

Michael's Devastation was not limited to just Florida. As he moved inland he spread devastating flooding through Central North Carolina and Virginia.  More than six inches of rain fell in the Roanoke-Salem Area in just a matter cause big time flooding throughout the Roanoke and New River Valley's.  Several people in the area have died and sadly the death toll in this area also continues to rise.

After Michael moved out, a cold front that brought snow to the Upper Midwest has moved through and out temperatures have drop considerably. Today I don't think we got out of the 50's and if is supposed to remain chilly most of the week.

The cool weather here makes me kind of glad that I will be heading out to hopefully warmer weather later this week. I have checked the weather for both Washington and Chicago and found that both places are project to be chilly. 

I have about 3 hours to kill when I arrive in Washington on Thursday and the temperatures are supposed to be about 55 so I am going to have to dress warm if I want to kill some time walking around D. C.

When I arrived in Chicago Friday Morning it is supposed to be cloudy with a low of 43 and a high of 56. So again I will have to dress warm as I have about 5 hours between trains in Chicago.

I am in the final stages of preparing to depart on my big Amtrak Adventure later this week. I have charged all of the batteries on my media devices and I still have to get a couple of new Media Cards for my video and still cameras. This is all pretty much new to me as I am used to packing and throwing everything I need into the car and Hitting the road.

This trip I am having to pack light and depend on other forms of transportation. So far I am down to one large backpack and a small backpack for my camera's and media devices. I am going to have to rely on Uber or Lyte and when in Chicago and Washington I am going to be walking and don't want to be saddled with dragging a bunch of luggage around those cities.

One good thing is that I will have access to the Metropolitan Lounge in both Chicago and D.C.  This is an semi-exclusive lounge reserved for Business Class and Sleeping Car Passengers. There is a secure area where you can leave you luggage if you want to walk around the city.  Another benefit to being able to used the Metropolitan Lounge that you can help yourself to free soft drinks and snacks while you wait, and you are allow to board the train first and get settled in before the coach passengers. 

Finally I have been working hard on getting videos ready to upload. I did get my Video of my visit to Austin Texas posted this morning. I have one more ready to go and it should post a day or two before I leave.

Once I am on the road media posting will be limited as internet and cell service will be hit and miss especially once I get to west Texas and along the Rio Grande Valley.  This is the same area that I visited in March of this year and cell service was very, very limited.

I hope to have another video or two ready to go before I leave but for now , take a look at my most recent video from Austin Texas.


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