wading back in

We got up early this morning and headed back to the campground after spending the night at Rudee's Mom's. She loaned us her car to get around in and we sure appreciated that. The campground is about 30 miles away and since it was early we decided to stop for breakfast. I guess it could have also been a case of "the nerves" and we were trying to delay finding out about the bad news.
After breakfast we knew we couldn't procrastinate any longer and were ready to meet our fate, good or bad. About 5 miles from the campground we started seeing white stuff on the roofs and on the edge of the road. SNOW! Man oh man, we just aint livin right. :-(
The road to the main campground entrance which was totally blocked by deep water yesterday now only had a small amount that we easily drove through. We got our first glimpse of the campers parked on the front row of sites and it was not good.

This motor home had the ground underneath it washed away and was barely hanging on, others were pushed off their jacks and were sideways in their sites. The entire front row looked like a war zone, it was really sad and our hearts sank.
They wouldn't let us drive past the office which was fine because a lot of the roads were either flooded or the pavement had washed away leaving large holes. We parked the car and started walking back into the campground. There are probably 300 sites at this park and maybe eight to ten roads. We picked our way along the roads staying in the areas where the water had receded and got to within one road of our motor home. We could see it but were blocked by water getting to it. I finally found a shallow section though and waded across.
Once at the motor home I could clearly see the level of the water and it wasn't too bad. The water stopped about two to three inches above the bottom of our outside storage compartments.

The interior of the compartments were damp but not really soaked like I expected. The inside of the motor home was high and dry! We were extremely relieved to find that. Next I checked the Dakota. The water only reached the bottom of the bumper and did not come inside at all. To be safe I checked the oil, transmission fluid and air filter for any signs of water (there were none) before starting it up. No problems here either.
That only leaves the Harley and cargo trailer. I made my way down to the over flow parking dodging peoples decks, stairs and firewood that had been deposited all over the place. We even had a piece of firewood that had been deposited on our step by the flood.

Once at the cargo trailer I could see that about 1/3 of the lower part of the trailer had been under water. I cringed a little and opened the door ........ not good. :-(

The water was up to just below the seat and most of the engine had been under water. I took a couple of photos, let Rudee take a look and closed the doors back.

Now it's just a matter of letting the insurance companies do their thing. We have a different company for the bike so we will have different adjusters for the trailer and bike. That also means two deductibles but we knew this going in since we were both a couple of insurance geeks in our former working life. :-)

Here are a few of the photos I had on my camera that I took during the flood:

We are both a little bummed about the bike but are very happy we have a place to live and our toad is not damaged. Things could have been much worse. The last couple of days when I started feeling down and having my own little pity party I reminded myself of the people who lived through hurricane Catrina or, most recently, the explosion in West, Texas. We have been blessed by the help from family and friends  as well as the support from our fellow RVers. Several people have offered us places to stay and offers to help in any way they can. We are truly blessed and we thank each and every one of you for lifting us up in this difficult time.

We decided not to stay in the motor home and were able to drive our truck out to the highway. We will spend another night with Rudee's Mom and will move back home tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.

where do we go from here :-(

As I write this I am sitting at Rudee's parents home. We had a large amount of rain yesterday and last night. The campground we are staying at is bordered by a creek with a large levy between the creek and the campground. Early this morning the creek flooded and the levy broke causing a flash flood. We woke up and the water was rising fast. We were on the higher ground then the rows of RV's behind and beside us but could not move the rig or our Dakota due to the flooding around us. The campground called 911 and the local Fire Dept. brought in a large pay loader to rescue us late this morning. The water by that time had risen to the middle of the wheel hubs on our motor home and was continueing to rise at about 1'  every hour. We tried to drive out with the Dakota but quickly found the water was too deep between us and the highway. I walked in front of the truck while Rudee drove and when the water reached my thighs I abandoned that idea and we backed up back to our site.

Once our rescue crew arrived we were loaded into the bucket and driven to the next occupied trailer and we rescued another couple and their two dogs. The water was up to the floor of their trailer and over the hood of their car. :-o

Here are some additional photos:

The Harley is parked inside our cargo trailer which is parked in the over flow parking and mostly flooded. There was a cargo trailer parked next to ours which was apparently empty because we saw it floating across the campground.
We are safe, dry and grateful to the brave men who came to our rescue. I'm not sure what we will find when we return to our home, we are praying that the water will crest before it reaches the inside of the motor home. We'll see how it all goes once we can get back into the campground and can assess the damages. I'm still amazed at how fast the water came up, less than an hour from dry ground to "we're in trouble" :-o I'll keep you posted.

wet weather

Not a whole lot to write about here. We have been in a cycle of rain and thunderstorms plus the temperatures have been yo yoing up and down.
Friends Rob and Jany spent another week end here in the park and we actually got to take a short ride on the motorcycles.
I did manage to rescue a piece of diamond plate that I took off the semi a couple of years ago. I had it on a scrape pile at Ryan and Amanda's place. The sheet was a 4'x8' piece that made up part of a covering for the spare tire(s) on the back deck. My plan is to cut it down to size apply some spray on bedliner material to it and have a sturdy, non-skid "runway" on the floor of the trailer for the bike.
Monday I cut off what I needed and gave the rest to Rob to do the same on his Raptor Toyhauler.

Speaking of the trailer, we used it to pick up a new refrigerator for our daughter Amanda. On the way to her house, in the rain of course :-( , we ran into a small amount of hail. :-o I was able to pull off the road and got some partial protection from some overhanging tree limbs but now the trailer has several small dimples on the front "V". Guess the "new" got worn off pretty quick on that one. We are not sure if we will turn in an insurance claim or not. The damage is pretty minor and we are weighing if the small claim is worth the risk of our rates going up. :-) We may take the trailer back to the dealer and get an estimate to see exactly what we are dealing with.
Not to be outdone Amanda was on her way home from work at the same time and her van got peppered with the hail. She has dents all over the hood and roof as well as a few others scattered on the sides. I really thought I gave all that "hail damage appraisal" stuff up when I retired. :-)

We have no real plans today and, of course, it is raining again. In fact they are predicting rain and thunderstorms everyday this week. :-(
Guess we will just roll with the flow. I'll keep you posted.