Hi everyone,
I just checked in here again after two weeks. After we cancelled FLA, we decided to pack the truck up the next morning and simply road trip west with no plans.
I haven't read through everyone's posts here, but I will comment a few things. We went to SD, WY, MT, ID. I'll maybe post a separate trip report since it was a good trip and deserves a note or two, but I think this thread should continue to anchor on the events of FLA. Our trip was in fact, great, but frankly, I ran around out west also watching things unfold, sad and detached at times since I watched with horror what has happened to our favorite, non-winter, location. We frequent Captiva and have for 15 years and it's been a family spot for us. We know a lot of people there. A number of friends have lost both their homes and their businesses. Some of our favorite places may never return. We don't know what's happened to our condo rental that we've used for ever. We are waiting to hear from the owner, but I've seen fly over pictures and it doesn't look good. A friend of ours in the same condo association, lost his roof and all belongings in the unit, but he said he can rebuild. The fishing guides I work with all lost something, either business, or home, or both. The island itself has taken a hair cut as well and will take 10-15 years to look reasonably like it did a month ago. I believe this because we started going after Charley in 2004 and saw what Charley did and this is possibly worse. Basically the recovery return when my kids have kids. It's horrible. To the extent you can, please consider donating to hurricane relief.
I will post some more here as I catch up, including how the insurance claim goes since I think that's worth reporting on. Presumably I get the full check, but we'll see. I'll also go back and read other notes since page 4-5, when I left. And try to reply where applicable.
Thanks again everyone; this forum is really amazing.
I just checked in here again after two weeks. After we cancelled FLA, we decided to pack the truck up the next morning and simply road trip west with no plans.
I haven't read through everyone's posts here, but I will comment a few things. We went to SD, WY, MT, ID. I'll maybe post a separate trip report since it was a good trip and deserves a note or two, but I think this thread should continue to anchor on the events of FLA. Our trip was in fact, great, but frankly, I ran around out west also watching things unfold, sad and detached at times since I watched with horror what has happened to our favorite, non-winter, location. We frequent Captiva and have for 15 years and it's been a family spot for us. We know a lot of people there. A number of friends have lost both their homes and their businesses. Some of our favorite places may never return. We don't know what's happened to our condo rental that we've used for ever. We are waiting to hear from the owner, but I've seen fly over pictures and it doesn't look good. A friend of ours in the same condo association, lost his roof and all belongings in the unit, but he said he can rebuild. The fishing guides I work with all lost something, either business, or home, or both. The island itself has taken a hair cut as well and will take 10-15 years to look reasonably like it did a month ago. I believe this because we started going after Charley in 2004 and saw what Charley did and this is possibly worse. Basically the recovery return when my kids have kids. It's horrible. To the extent you can, please consider donating to hurricane relief.
I will post some more here as I catch up, including how the insurance claim goes since I think that's worth reporting on. Presumably I get the full check, but we'll see. I'll also go back and read other notes since page 4-5, when I left. And try to reply where applicable.
Thanks again everyone; this forum is really amazing.
