Returning home to snow and ice

We were awake by 4:30 so we showered and checked out of the Forsyth Travelodge to continue north toward home. There was a light rain as we drove on I-75. By the time we were through Atlanta, we were ready for breakfast so we found a McDonalds near the exit and we both had sausage biscuits and hash browns although we had trouble getting the kiosk to work for us so Mary just ordered at the counter. We laughed because the drink station had five large containers of sweet tea and one small dispenser of unsweetened tea. This is clearly the South. 

Our GPS showed us that we would be home a little after noon but we figured that our arrival would be later considering stops along the way. We saw that gas was as low as $2.49 through much of Georgia and Tennessee but the average was probably $2.89. This was much better than the $3.29 that we paid in Crystal River, Florida.

Snow had already started by the time we reached Tennessee. Because we heard of heavy snowfall, ice and near zero temperatures in Central Kentucky, we stopped at a Kroger in the Knoxville area of Tennessee for a few grocery items. Because the outside temperature was in the 20s, we weren't concerned about keeping things cool in the trunk. We made a quick bathroom stop at the Kentucky Craft Center in Berea, Kentucky. The visitor center wasn't open, but the restrooms were available. We pulled into our driveway at 1 pm.

The snow and ice were so thick that we could get the car into the garage. There was a two-inch layer of snow with a two inch layer under the snow. Under the ice was another layer of snow. I used a large shovel to clear a way for the car to get into the garage.

We needed to be able to get on the road on Monday morning. My mother's friend, Ron, was to be released from Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital after receiving a pacemaker. After several unsuccessful attempts to get the car out of the driveway, I got the tractor ready.

Because of the single digit temperatures, the tractor wouldn't start. After briefly warming the battery I was able to get it to start. As usual, lining up the loader on the tractor took some time, made even harder by the cold and gloved hands. I worked on the driveway for another two hours before it was clear enough for the car to pass. I will certainly have to straighten out the gravel surface of the driveway once the snow melts in a week or so. This snow has already been on the ground for over two weeks and is expected to persist for another week. Temperatures for Monday through Wednesday are expected to be well below zero with wind chill factors as low as -11. Some schools haven't been open since December 20 because of the weather.

Once the driveway was clear enough for the car to pass, I went inside to a cup of hot cider and to stand by the gas log fire. When we tried to turn the heat up on the geothermal furnace, we noticed that the thermostat wasn't working. In the basement, I found that one of the breakers was open so the thermostat appeared to work and we turned the heat up. The house didn't appear to be warming much despite turning the heat up a few degrees. We had heard that the temperature should only be adjusted up by a few degrees at a time to avoid using the emergency resistance heat. The temperature inside the house just wouldn't go up and the air coming through the registers wasn't warm at all. After a couple of hours, I turned all three breakers for the heating system off and left them for a few minutes. When I turned them back on again, the furnace appeared to function correctly, and heat came from the vents. However, the breaker kicked again but after another reset the furnace worked throughout the night. We had Comfy Club scheduled for next week so we would be sure to ask the technician about the issue. This could have been a major problem if we hadn't been home with subzero temperatures and the furnace not working.

Once we warmed up, we watched a special on the Presidency on one of the free over-the-air channels. President Trump's inauguration is tomorrow so stations are running specials on the presidency.

We turned in at 10 pm and planned to leave for Huntington by 8 am tomorrow.

Hiking Annutteliga Hammock

We woke at 4:30 as Mark and Cindy were preparing to leave for the Tampa Airport. They were out of the house by 5 am for their flight to Eugene, OR with a stop in Phoenix.

Mary and I had cold cereal then took the dogs on a walk around "the square" in the neighborhood. As we walked we discussed the weather forecast for the coming week. A huge cold air mass is heading for most of the Eastern US including Florida. Mush of the Midwest, including Cincinnati, Georgetown and Huntington have been in deep snow and ice for over two weeks already with more in the forecast. This would bring near freezing temperatures to the Homosassa area as well as wind and thunderstorms. We decided that the best plan would be to leave for Kentucky after the dogs were fed and walked this afternoon.

Mary spent the morning cleaning, doing laundry and continuing to pack for our return home. I spent more time trying to clean the adhesive from the side of Mark's boat. I carried most of our things out to the car and into the trunk.

The neighbor from the house on stilts came over while we were loading. She had her father, Jimmy Williams, with her. He is a nice 92-year-old man who is a lifelong Florida resident and was a logger for many years. His daughter was trying to turn the water main off in anticipation of subfreezing temperatures. The saltwater and mud from the Hurricane Helene flood made the valve difficult to turn. I sprayed it with WD-40 and was able to turn it off with a crescent wrench after soaking for a few minutes.

We had a lunch of leftovers with coconut shrimp and fries from Thursday's dinner at Marguerita Grill. We also had some leftover potato soup from earlier in the week.

After scanning a map of the area, we decided to walk around an area about 30 minutes to the south that is a part of Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area that we hadn't visited. The Annutteliga Hammock area has 570 acres with 8 miles of easy trails through sandy soil. It was a beautiful day with temperatures approaching 80 degrees but there was a slight comfortable breeze. As we walked, we saw a lot of tracks but three deer were the only wildlife that we saw.

When we returned to the house, we took the dogs on a short walk on Standish and Battle Creek then put the last-minute items in the car, locked up and left by 3:30 pm. We hoped to get to Atlanta by the time we stopped for the night.

The drive north through Crystal River took longer than we expected because the Manatee Festival was going on. We were listening to playlists on my old iPod Touch to make the ride go by faster, Clouds were rolling in as predicted before the forecast storms to hit the area.

We took US 98 all the way to Chiefland then cut east to pick up I-75 north near Lake City. We stopped for dinner at an Arby's Restaurant near Lake City, Florida. The restaurant was attached to a TA gas station and was very slow but we enjoyed our sandwiches as we continued driving north.  We enjoyed the break before driving on to Forsyth, Georgia where we stayed at a Travelodge near the exit. The room was only $50 for the night and was an older motel in need of a remodel but it was clean and quiet, so we were fine with the room and the rate.