I hope everyone else is okay who lives in (or is traveling) in the areas of the fires. My husband considered me and my son among the 'hundreds of missing' for a couple of days. I woke up Monday morning to a smokey haze as far as the eye could see and the smell of smoke in the air and ash falling from the sky like snow, but didn't hear about the fires until my son & I had a hard time finding a place to eat that was open, and then only taking cash.
We learned about the fires from a clerk at Jack-in-the Box. Upon searching for open businesses we found many closed with hand-written signs in the windows. Returning to my hotel, I learned that people were evacuated 2 miles South of my location and checking in after saving their horses. My son lives 8 miles north of town in a forested area and we were both quite concerned about the possibilities.
No cell service, no ATMS or credit card machines working anywhere in town, and no Internet either on Monday.
Roads in and out of town were closed for a few hours after my son had left to return home and as it turns out neither of us could sleep Monday night. Tuesday morning I went to wash up and found no hot water. The natural gas had been turned off all over town (and probably everywhere in several counties) because of the fires, so no hot water for showers.
On my way to my son's place (a whole other story; he just moved in and is now moving out)I noticed 3 gas stations had the pumps cordoned off, so I stopped to fill up my tank at the first one I found still open for business. Our plans had been to drive to the coast to conduct some business and gas was a necessity. But then I saw a cardboard sign saying there was WiFi at the library. So after getting my son we went in search of food again and none of the restaurants or fast food places were open, but the groceries stores were open. Cash only of course. Thank God I had enough cash with me for gas and food and so forth. And that I brought along a hotplates and some pans and plates for my son, so I am able to cook us meals. Otherwise we wouldn't be eating much.
And thankfully we are not among those thousands of folks without any power at all. This town still has electricity and the TV stations via satellite are still working, so The weather channel and CNN are my only sources of news about the fires. I'm watching now to learn more about the road closures and it looks like it's going to be hard to get out of here. I'm scheduled to leave on Saturday and I'm taking my son and his dog with me. So working on preparing for him to move out and shipping his stuff to Illinois is pretty much the order of the next 3 days.
Thankfully the fires have not reached my son's area, but with all those trees (forest) he's having a hard time sleeping. We did learn from a clerk at the grocery store that the WiFi in a pub in town was working and people were not having trouble getting on like they were at the library. So we made sure to arrive when they opened at 3 pm and I sent a message to my husband.
Then late last night the Internet started working here at the hotel, so I feel less isolated from the outside world. I still nèd to contact my brothers. One has been trying to call me everyday, but there is still no cell service. He is expecting me to alive on Saturday evening.
Pardon my self-centered rambling on the topic. I am sure some of our members were more affected and possibly lost their homes or worse. I do hope everyone and your loved ones and pets are all okay.
We learned about the fires from a clerk at Jack-in-the Box. Upon searching for open businesses we found many closed with hand-written signs in the windows. Returning to my hotel, I learned that people were evacuated 2 miles South of my location and checking in after saving their horses. My son lives 8 miles north of town in a forested area and we were both quite concerned about the possibilities.
No cell service, no ATMS or credit card machines working anywhere in town, and no Internet either on Monday.
Roads in and out of town were closed for a few hours after my son had left to return home and as it turns out neither of us could sleep Monday night. Tuesday morning I went to wash up and found no hot water. The natural gas had been turned off all over town (and probably everywhere in several counties) because of the fires, so no hot water for showers.
On my way to my son's place (a whole other story; he just moved in and is now moving out)I noticed 3 gas stations had the pumps cordoned off, so I stopped to fill up my tank at the first one I found still open for business. Our plans had been to drive to the coast to conduct some business and gas was a necessity. But then I saw a cardboard sign saying there was WiFi at the library. So after getting my son we went in search of food again and none of the restaurants or fast food places were open, but the groceries stores were open. Cash only of course. Thank God I had enough cash with me for gas and food and so forth. And that I brought along a hotplates and some pans and plates for my son, so I am able to cook us meals. Otherwise we wouldn't be eating much.
And thankfully we are not among those thousands of folks without any power at all. This town still has electricity and the TV stations via satellite are still working, so The weather channel and CNN are my only sources of news about the fires. I'm watching now to learn more about the road closures and it looks like it's going to be hard to get out of here. I'm scheduled to leave on Saturday and I'm taking my son and his dog with me. So working on preparing for him to move out and shipping his stuff to Illinois is pretty much the order of the next 3 days.
Thankfully the fires have not reached my son's area, but with all those trees (forest) he's having a hard time sleeping. We did learn from a clerk at the grocery store that the WiFi in a pub in town was working and people were not having trouble getting on like they were at the library. So we made sure to arrive when they opened at 3 pm and I sent a message to my husband.
Then late last night the Internet started working here at the hotel, so I feel less isolated from the outside world. I still nèd to contact my brothers. One has been trying to call me everyday, but there is still no cell service. He is expecting me to alive on Saturday evening.
Pardon my self-centered rambling on the topic. I am sure some of our members were more affected and possibly lost their homes or worse. I do hope everyone and your loved ones and pets are all okay.
