Dastardly Derecho

Well, we are finally back among the living after the most insane storm either of us have ever witnessed! A week ago today on Friday evening, we were quietly watching a rerun of Dexter (as old people do), and an insane wind started to blow. Phillip was certain it was a tornado. I "blew" it off and told him he was crazy. We went to bed.

About  one am our power went out. We weren't too concerned, because our power has gone out lots of times since we've lived here. All the lines are still above ground. Above ground power lines + huge old trees + mountain storms = power outages. Little did we know, we were experiencing a "derecho", which it a really specific kind of thunderstorm that involves winds over 150 miles an hour.It can seriously turn over a moving car. It managed to break huge trees in our backyard.


The longest we have ever waited was two and a half days. Let's just say we broke demolished  that record. We went without power for 6. full. days. Oh, and did I mention that the temps were 100+ each day? During the day we survived by hanging out at air conditioned spots in Charlottesville (few and far between), where we charged our laptop, iPad, and phones.


At night, we survived with two tiny battery powered fans, the windows open, and these things called "Frog Togs Chilly Pads". They are these rubber-ish bands that when soaked in water keep you cool for hours. We slept downstairs, since it was a "comfortable" 86 degrees, while the upstairs was upwards of 95 degrees. Luckily, we have a basement where our three dogs could be comfortable.

When the power FINALLY came back on, it did so at 4:30 in the night. It was the best sound I have ever heard. Like the biggest surge of relief. I immediately looked over at Phillip and said-"Let's go sleep in our bed!!!!!". So we did.

Here are some pictures of the insanity. Trees fell down on our gardens, our deck, our house. Our JMU flag that was MOUNTED to the house flew off our house and into the neighbor's yard!

 Sadly, we lost over $300 worth of food, despite our efforts to keep it on ice in coolers. Ice in Charlottesville was really scarce for those six days, so we weren't always able to find it. Still, so thankful for the AC being back on and being able to cook again! We will definitely try NOT to take it for granted!