Nancy left Monday (more on the tail end of our trip later). For reasons due to scheduling, and connections, and just generally speaking airlines, her flight was as follows: Glasgow to Reykjavik, Reykjavik to Seattle (yes, Seattle), then Seattle to Tampa, then drive home to Sarasota. It would mean that she would be on the North Sea last Friday (the V&A Museum in Dundee), the Atlantic and the Pacific on Monday, then the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday morning. From my house to her house: approximately 30 hours. A marathon. Then shit started happening.
I dropped her at GLA Monday morning ☹. She texted me a couple of hours later to say, “Check the news – glitch in UK air traffic control – may not get out of Scotland today”. Evenutally her flight got away, but what about her Seattle connection? Would she have to find out what other US cities IcelandAir flies to? Or change airlines? This wasn’t just delays that could make her trip less pleasant; things were getting real because now Hurricane Idalia meant that Tampa airport could close at any time Tuesday. If she didn’t land Tuesday morning, there was a very good chance she couldn’t get home for days. Unbelievably, she made her flight out of Reykjavik. But by the time she got to Seattle. Tampa’s airport had closed for the hurricane. She managed to snag a flight to Orlando, although its airport was likely to close at some point too. And Orlando is three hours from Sarasota (that’s on a good day, sunny weather, no towns evacuating onto the Florida highways). So now it’s a race.
She texted me last night – flight landed in Orlando, a friend had driven the three hours to get her, and she was home safe and sound. Thank goodness.
But now, they wait for Idalia. At the time of posting this, Idalia is a Category 4, with storm surge flooding of 2′ to 16′ projected for Sarasota. Nancy’s house is extremely well fortified, but still.
We hope for the best for everyone in Florida today.
Yes it was a run to get to the last flight but I made it and got here before the storm. The house is well fortified and the wine cellar full! While last night was very windy and the rain came down in buckets, we came through in one piece. Today we have lots more rain and the rumble of thunder but are very lucky compared to northern Florida. What an ending to a fantastic visit with Elaine! I had so much fun and we laughed at least 10 times each day. Thank you to a great hostess and tour guide!
See you soon on this side of the pond Elaine!
So glad you, your friends, and Simon are all okay! Miss you!