BRUTAL

[DRiccio21]

i'm stuck in Natchez, Mississippi and my flight for tomorrow morning back to Miami is cancelled due to the storm.

problem is i don't know how to get home now.

i'm looking into flying to Orlando but i'm assuming those flights will be cancelled too. Tampa flights are already cancelled.

right now i'm considering driving 20 hours from Mississippi to Miami but i'm not so sure its a great idea to drive thru the hurricane either, even if i get to the eastern part of florida and drive down.

its not as if its a one night thing until it passes Miami and then i can fly, because i fly out of New Orleans and the storm will be between Miami and New Orleans probably until Wednesday.

[shel311]

I'm down south now.

Can I have your place for the night?

[Cnasty]

Just drive, you won't be anywhere near the storm if you leave now and hit the east side.

That's if you don't want to wait

[DRiccio21]

her reunion is tonight so we can't leave until tomorrow morning the earliest. we have to return this rental car to New Orleans airport and then pick up a new one, then start the drive.

i haven't be following the storm... but i'm thinking if i leave tomorrow around noon, get to 95 by like 7 or 8 tomorrow night

man, this blows.

[dakshdar]

Do you have to be somewhere Monday (other than work)?

Is it a hassle to call work and explain what is going on? I don't think any reasonable boss wants you risking your life to get in Monday morning. Drive up to Tennessee or something and visit Nashville for a few days and come back down when the storm is over. You're a baller, you can afford it.

[Uuaww]

Seriously, just wait where you are. Get out and go on a mini vacation.

[DRiccio21]

Do you have to be somewhere Monday (other than work)?

Is it a hassle to call work and explain what is going on? I don't think any reasonable boss wants you risking your life to get in Monday morning. Drive up to Tennessee or something and visit Nashville for a few days and come back down when the storm is over. You're a baller, you can afford it.

i don't report to anyone, my bosses are my clients and they won't have a clue or they'll call my cell. i can come and go as i please... but i want to be at work. if i'm not at work, i don't get paid and right now the market is good so missing work sucks.

if it was 1 day, i'd sit and wait it out. but the storm is coming up the gulf so today and tomorrow it'll be cancelling Miami flights then monday and tuesday it'll be cancelling flights out of new orleans to miami i'm assuming since we'd fly right over the storm. i'm lookin at wednesday as the earliest i'd be able to get out... not cool.

i'm driving. got a car on priceline or 130. i'm just debating whether i go 75 which slants across the state and saves me like an hour or i go all the way east to 95 and go the longer way.

i'll probably just track the storm thru my phone and figure it out.

should be fun.

[Cnasty]

Don't go 75, that will be where people will be jumping on from the west coast to go est if they decide to.

95 will be a clear shot as its just north and south and those areas won't be affected. 75 will be right in the middle of it.

My opinion of course but plot your journey captain. Godspeed.

[DRiccio21]

Don't go 75, that will be where people will be jumping on from the west coast to go est if they decide to.

95 will be a clear shot as its just north and south and those areas won't be affected. 75 will be right in the middle of it.

My opinion of course but plot your journey captain. Godspeed.

noted.

i'll probably go 95. whats another hour on a 20 hour drive?

[dakshdar]

Take some sweet video of the hurricane.

[VeniVediV1ci]

long road trips can be fun, though i'm not sure 20 hours straight will be

Hope you have a safe trip, I will be in Mississippi in a couple weeks so hopefully the storm isn't that bad

[Nole4real]

being from gainesville (75 comes right through) and having kids there ive been monitoring it pretty closely

imo, best bet is to go 75, then take turnpike across...unless isaac makes an early turn east

you're only coming down to Wildwood, Fl (about an hour south of Gainesville and an hour north of tampa) hopping on Florida Turnpike which'll take you through Orlando and you know the drive from there

it's gonna be a bear for you either way but that hour saved may be the difference in you going bat shit crazy or not

that florida i-10 corridor is indeed BRUTAL being one of the most boring drives ive ever had....then adding the Jacksonville to Miami I-95 is which is equally monotonous is a recipe for absolute boredom

not saying 75/turnpike is a joyride..it'll be tough but it's easier than 95

i'll be going from tampa to gainesville at 10am tomorrow then back to tampa around 12-2pm

i'll text you around noon and let you know how the roads are looking since i'll be right on it

also fyi if its not too late, i think tampa and miami airports are closed but i think orlando may still be in service. i'd at least look into it

also look into flying into west palm beach or boca raton...i think north of broward county may be ok

[Cnasty]

Orlando is still open and plans to remain open so thats your best option.

I know a longshot but also an airport in Sanford if you can make the change over.

[shel311]

Freaky, my best friend just texted me saying he was in Natchez for the weekend as well.

What are the odds of that?

[texasfan4444]

Freaky, my best friend just texted me saying he was in Natchez for the weekend as well.

What are the odds of that?

is your other best friend dealer4014?\


Be safe Dave.....made that drive before and it sucks even without the storm.

[DRiccio21]

fuck.

just got home.

left Natchez at 7 am, had to switch out a rental car in New Orleans. then started the drive.

all the way from New Orleans to Orlando it was beautiful not a cloud in the sky, great drive.

as soon as we got on the turnpike it just turned BLACK. we still didnt see much rain, a few showers but nothing abnormal, i was flying make great time.... then we get into Port St Lucie area and now its dark out and the streets have no lights and it starts to just become undriveable... rain was nuts. i couldn't see out of the car. never been in a situation like that, i could only see the guy in front of mines break lights and the cars pulled over on the road. i considered pulling over into a rest stop but i missed the entrance and then i got to a break in the storm after about 10 minutes (which seemed like 10 hours) and my phone starts flashing in a way i've never seen before and simultaneously the radio does an 'emergency test' (you know the shit that never actually has an emergency after the beep.... well this one did). MULTIPLE TORNADO's YOUR AREA, seek shelter immediately. my wife is just blank staring me, i'm trying not to crash the car and my legs are shaking and its pitch black with no where for me to pull over for MILES. for 30 minutes we went thru that until it finall died down. then a few minutes later the phone flashes again with the Tornado warning and the radio does the alert again for the next county we're in. suddenly everything stopped, no rain, no wind, no nothing. i get to like West Palm and from there until Miami there wasn't a drop of rain.

we fucking made it, but i learned alot about myself in that 2 hour period where the weather was like that. i always thought i'd be calm in a crisis situation and feel comfortable in my instincts on what to do. NOPE! i was outwardly calm and collected but i nearly shit myself. i had no answers when my phone started flashign red warnings i've never seen before and there was nowhere to pull over. legs started twitching uncontrollably and i was a wreck.

ahhh, good times. fuckkkkk that.

[jsence2]

fuck.

just got home.

left Natchez at 7 am, had to switch out a rental car in New Orleans. then started the drive.

all the way from New Orleans to Orlando it was beautiful not a cloud in the sky, great drive.

as soon as we got on the turnpike it just turned BLACK. we still didnt see much rain, a few showers but nothing abnormal, i was flying make great time.... then we get into Port St Lucie area and now its dark out and the streets have no lights and it starts to just become undriveable... rain was nuts. i couldn't see out of the car. never been in a situation like that, i could only see the guy in front of mines break lights and the cars pulled over on the road. i considered pulling over into a rest stop but i missed the entrance and then i got to a break in the storm after about 10 minutes (which seemed like 10 hours) and my phone starts flashing in a way i've never seen before and simultaneously the radio does an 'emergency test' (you know the shit that never actually has an emergency after the beep.... well this one did). MULTIPLE TORNADO's YOUR AREA, seek shelter immediately. my wife is just blank staring me, i'm trying not to crash the car and my legs are shaking and its pitch black with no where for me to pull over for MILES. for 30 minutes we went thru that until it finall died down. then a few minutes later the phone flashes again with the Tornado warning and the radio does the alert again for the next county we're in. suddenly everything stopped, no rain, no wind, no nothing. i get to like West Palm and from there until Miami there wasn't a drop of rain.

we fucking made it, but i learned alot about myself in that 2 hour period where the weather was like that. i always thought i'd be calm in a crisis situation and feel comfortable in my instincts on what to do. NOPE! i was outwardly calm and collected but i nearly shit myself. i had no answers when my phone started flashign red warnings i've never seen before and there was nowhere to pull over. legs started twitching uncontrollably and i was a wreck.

ahhh, good times. fuckkkkk that.

You'd never survive in the midwest, those alerts are almost a weekly occurrence most years (not so much this year w the global warming crap)

Glad you made it back safely.

[DRiccio21]

no way man, i couldn't do it.

we have tornados and crazy storms all the time in Miami, but i'm not normally on the back end of a 17 hour drive in the pitch black driving a fucking Prius

positive part of the Prius, i spent 75 bucks in gas to drive from New Orleans to Miami. and the last few dollars was because i had to fill it up to return it.

[jsence2]

no way man, i couldn't do it.

we have tornados and crazy storms all the time in Miami, but i'm not normally on the back end of a 17 hour drive in the pitch black driving a fucking Prius

positive part of the Prius, i spent 75 bucks in gas to drive from New Orleans to Miami. and the last few dollars was because i had to fill it up to return it.

We're making a road trip next month, I think I'm gonna use miles and get one of those!

Worst driving experience I've had was when I went to Orlando in 2007, I hit the turnpike and it just unloaded rain, I was going like 15 mph and couldn't see past my hood.

I've driven in a tornado warning before, it's somewhat unnerving.....just gotta find a ditch or an underpass and hunker down.

[Nole4real]

ive driven through those conditions in florida and that shit aint fun

glad ya made it safe