Cherylndesigns

MOC9 Day 11 Journaling Challenge "Tell Me A Story"

MOC9 Day 11 Journaling Challenge "Tell Me A Story"
Cherylndesigns, Jan 11, 2021
Description:
This past August, 2020, we said farewell to Florida and moved to Oklahoma. It was a huge move and a very eventful one! We had a dog who had never been in the car for more than a few minutes, to start with. We had no idea how she would "weather" a several day's car trip. NO problem! Daisy was an absolute champ. Let me tell you about some of the other events, though. Covid was in full swing, so we ran into lots of closures. We were fortunate to be able to find dog friendly hotels, though, even if some of them were a little off the beaten path. The most "hairy thing" was literally driving through Hurricane Laura, in Mississippi! We thought we had made travel arrangements to miss Laura, but she blew in early and changed course and we drove right through her! I remember feeling our car leave the road as the wind picked it up. It was the middle of the afternoon and we could see NOTHING. We couldn't stop because we couldn't see WHERE to stop, so my husband, who is an excellent driver, just kept driving. To say that it was extremely frightening would be an understatement!
We finally drove out of the hurricane enough to see where we were and we stopped at the first dog friendly hotel that we could find. It was in a downtown area and a beautiful 5 floor hotel. It was almost completely full because people had driven up north to try to get out of the hurricane. They had a room on the 5th floor, which we grabbed. Now to find food. Previously, we had ordered from Grub Hub, but there was NO service in the whole area, so we ate from vending machines. At 4 AM, we were awakened by THE WORST sound I've ever heard - the alarms were screaming in each room and this message was also being broadcast! "Get up now! Please exit your rooms! Do not bring anything with you! Do NOT use the elevators! Come to the front entrance! You must exit the hotel immediately!" Our poor dog's ears are way more sensitive than ours and she was howling. Have you ever been awakened from a dead sleep to this? It was chaos! I tried to wake my husband and while I was waiting on him, I went out into the hallway. It was a Hyatt Regency, so I could see right down into the lobby. I saw firemen or somebody, in full gear streaming into the lobby. I went back in to make sure my husband was up and hotel employees started running all around the floors. "Go back to your rooms - it was a false alarm! We're SO sorry! Please go back to your rooms. I could see people on every floor, literally pulling their clothes on as they exited their rooms. Try to go back to sleep after this!
I remember what a sight for sore eyes it was to finally see the Oklahoma State Sign! The rest of our trip was comparatively uneventful. We did have to live in a local Best Western for almost a week, while we waited for our furniture to catch up with us. That was okay - no fire alarms, no emergencies. We were thrilled to find out that ONE place delivered food to the hotel. There was also a McDonald's within walking distance. So we were fine on food, at least.
What an adventure! We're now (almost) settled in and more of our family has arrived and 2 of the 4 homes are done, or in the process of being done. We're going to live together on 50 acres which has been our dream for almost 3 years now. SO worth the trip to get here! (634 words)

Lgrieveson_Nesting patterned paper; lgrieveson_now is the time elements; Kim Jensen_Phrames.
katell likes this.
    • mcurtt
      For the person who doesn't like to journal on a page, you succeeded! Loved reading the little things about your trek to Oklahoma.
      Jan 12, 2021
      Cherylndesigns likes this.
    • Cherylndesigns
      @mcurtt ROTF! I HATE to journal! But sometimes I just can't shut up. This was an adventure worth telling. :crazy3:happydance
      Jan 12, 2021
      mcurtt likes this.
    • Saar
      Wow, what a story!! I love how you documented your adventure.
      I love your page design and how you framed the story. Beautiful work.
      Jan 12, 2021
      Cherylndesigns likes this.
    • Cherylndesigns
      @Saar Thanks so much for your sweet comments! I knew that I would be scrapping about this someday and documented that whole trip. Driving through that hurricane was unreal!!
      Jan 12, 2021
    • bestcee
      You may hate to journal, but this is so fabulous! It captures beautifully the fear of driving through Laura, along with the craziness of the hotel adventure. All the details are so fabulous! Thanks for playing in my challenge!
      Jan 17, 2021
      Cherylndesigns likes this.
    • Cherylndesigns
      @bestcee Thanks for your sweet comments, Courtney! Yes, I do hate to journal, but when I do, I usually get carried away. When you said "tell me a story" - I KNEW I had to tell this one! Thanks for the challenge and that great prompt! I didn't think of it as "journaling".
      Jan 19, 2021
      bestcee likes this.
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  • Category:
    Month of Challenges 9
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    Cherylndesigns
    Date:
    Jan 11, 2021
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