5C's Que Pasa

I have been under the weather for past two days.  The stress finally got to me and I have dealing with a cold, the first in a very very long while.  Meanwhile I have finally been able to put together a photo time line of the rising water.

Way back to Friday May 5th we noted that the water was rising quickly.  Just over two weeks earlier when we got back to Canada we had beach, which is about five feet lower.

Our dog fence which is set over the declining slope of the rocks of our shoreline was showing the level of the rising lake.

The water was full of debris.

By the next morning, May 6th the water came up another step.  This is when we started to move the basement up into the house.

Much larger pieces of debris in the lake.  You can still see four fence loops here.

By Sunday, May 7th the critters were looking for higher ground.  In a few days all the earth worms were practically drowning as there was no longer any ground for them to crawl onto.

Today we started to move everything up into the house and to secure the patio furniture.

Early Monday morning, the 8th, we could only see the tops of three fence loops.

Shortly thereafter we spoke with the incident command officer at about 7AM and he advised that he would be issuing an evacuation order for us that day.  First we had to get my final vein treatment, I did have another but delayed that one till September.  As we drove I called RV park after RV park looking for a place to stay before I finally found the one site.  Shortly thereafter Colin called Freightliner and told them that the RV HAD to be ready by 3PM as we were being evacuated.

As we packed and loaded the lake kept rising.

In no time it was coming onto the patio.

Just a few hours later we had a duck floating on our patio.

The water just kept coming.

Soon it was starting to cover the lawn which it did cover within a few hours.

Meanwhile we just kept packing and loading.  Monday the 8th was turning into a very long day.

Part two coming soon.

I started the day with my three day check in with the ESS people and got four day vouchers.  Yeah, one more day free of not having to wait in line.

Followed by bloodletting for my annual physical coming up on Friday.

Next came some well deserved retail therapy.   I was in the shop for three hours and tried on almost everything.  Great place called Suzanne’s and I spent big bucks and feel wonderful.  I brought home three full bags.  At one point I wondered what Colin’s response would be re the $$$ but he loved the fashion show and my purchases.  I dislike shopping but today everything just seemed to flow.  It has been a very long time since I splurged, like over twenty years.  Nice to have some new duds that aren’t so old 😀

So now the wine is flowing and I should be thinking about dinner…easy peasy, smoked salmon with creme cheese & sweet onion on croissants.

There is so much happening that I’m not sure where to begin.  We are just moving ahead poco a poco ( bit by bit ).

~ we both visited our chiropractor yesterday and as we suspected we were both way out.  Stress, adrenaline and packing will do that.  Sadly her clinic is under water in Vernon and she treated us at her home.

~ we have had recent rain which apparently has resulted in snow on our ski slopes.  The latest from the Emergency response folks is that this will likely go on until late June as there is much snow to melt, etc.  They say that there are only 400 people on evacuation notice.  Does that mean 400 homes or actual people?  Regardless, it blows my mind away that we are part of those 400.  I miss my house and I really miss my girls.  Sorry but the emotion of it all as we start to settle in is catching up to me.

~ it is very cold here for mid May, 46F at night with at high of 56F during the day.  Our RV only has single pane windows and we really do feel the cold.  Good news is that as I am no longer wearing my compression stockings I can now wear my fleece pants.  I had to wear one of my skorts so that I could keep pulling up my stockings every few minutes.  Between my fleece and my new pink colored toe socks I was warm today.

~ after Colin had a good long chat with Mommio this morning we drove over the the Mission Greenway and did a 3KM walk.  Wonderful to be out walking again.  We could see where the creek had risen a few days ago and now has receded a bit.  Good news as that means that there is a bit of space for the level to rise safely.

~ I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on our business paperwork.  Things like paying bills and Federal taxes and sending out one lonely invoice.

~ my plan today was to post some flood photos but the day had got away from me.  I do want to do this, if only for our personal records.  Perhaps later tonight or tomorrow.  Colin has a photo shoot in the late morning and my job is to check in with ESS.  That takes several hours what with waiting and the convoluted system they  have.  No I do not want to take on the government and sort them out.  Life is too short for that.

~ one of our day/night shades had a string break on the way back from Mexico.  Unlike George we don’t have the savvy to repair it our selves but we know someone locally who can.  We dropped it off yesterday and they returned it today as well as installed it so that the tension was correct.

~ our plan this summer was to do some minor repairs and upgrades on the interior of the RV.  We will proceed as much as we can under the circumstances.

~ sadly we won’t be able to use our free 2017 Canada National Parks Pass.  We really had some plans to do so but we must abide by what Mother Nature has allotted us this season.  So if any of you would like one of our two ( yes we received two in error ) just let me know.

~ our plan tonight was to BBQ some wild salmon. However we forgot our cedar planks at the house. So we are going to try laying the salmon over foil and grill it over our mat and hope that it works. What do you think George? Hmm, guess when you are evacuated you forget to bring along your BBQ tools 👿 as well as other essentials.

~ not much else to share other than I am becoming more and more emotional.  I miss my girls and I am missing my house.  Thinking back to last May when I had my cancer scare, it extends to a very long 12 months of stress and misery.

~ I am not being negative, as we have had many wonderful times over the last year but at this very moment as I type, each word makes me very sad but I think that that is allowed.

~ next post has to be photos or you can fire me 🙄  However I don’t think that I will be posting tonight.  Dinner is almost ready and some very good wine beckons.

We dodged a bullet last night when the storm bypassed us.  However the powers that be say that it is only a matter of days or weeks before we will get the storm that will put the city over the edge.

Thank you for all the supportive comments and very special personal emails.  We had one very very long time reader who emailed us last night with an offer that has removed the stress from our lives as we maneuver forward.  The offer literally blew us away and we are so very thankful. More details as we proceed down the road.  We can now move forward with some confidence and have a plan in place for as long as it takes and it may take a very long time according to officials.

So despite the reprieve last evening we have to now worry about the snow melt and an additional 147% over the normal lake level rise. 147% !!!!!! As the lake has risen in the past from the run off we have often come to the top of our bank but 147% is tragic.  A very good chance that we will be on evacuation for many weeks to come.

I don’t  think that our lives were in danger but glad to know that we are being cared for.

Today we checked in again with ESS and got our vouchers for the next three days.  RV’s have now been deemed to be considered as billeting.  So we are getting $40.00 per day for our RV fees.  Doesn’t quite covered it but $40.00 is $40.00.  Sadly we hand our voucher into the vendor ( RV park or grocery store ) and they have to send our receipt into our Provincial Government, in this case Victoria, BC.  They don’t get paid for 6 – 8 weeks.  There are not many RV parks that are willing to go to the bother of this procedure.  While waiting in line to get in ( 90 minutes in the cold ) we met the couple in front of us.  They have 2 children, 8 and 12 and have been in 2 different hotels in the last week.  Tonight they have no place to go as all the hotels in Kelowna and the area are full.  When we left the ESS place they were still sitting there hoping for a miracle.  Last night the news reported that many local residents were willing to open their homes to folks like this BUT the government system can’t allow it as they can’t match a family to someone they do not know.  So very sad that they system is so very complicated.

Taken by a friend on our street last Monday just before Colin took the Lexus to pick up the RV.

Our home in happier times.

The snow that still needs to melt and fill the lakes.

Somehow I damaged my shoulder muscles while moving boxes from the basement to the house over the weekend and then again packing other things from the house to the RV last Monday.  I haven’t slept well since we got into the RV on Tuesday due to pain.  Today I was fortunate to get a 45 minute deep tissue massage which so far seems to have helped.

Rather than relax this afternoon it was a marathon of calls to our various insurance companies.  We officially have no flood insurance.  Our business insurance has been advised that our office and equipment have been moved into the RV with no issues re coverage.  The home insurance people aren’t too certain that our things will be covered in the RV.  Things like tools, garden hose, clothing,  jewellery, computers, personal cameras, etc.  If we take photos of everything we brought from the house into the RV, including the numbers of panties I have, we might be covered.  So Colin has spent the afternoon taking photos of everything.  Hopefully one day we might get to relax so that we have enough energy to move back into our home when the time comes.

I leave you with this link to an aerial video that was taken this afternoon.  The first few seconds are of our home area in Holiday Park Resort.  I was there and it looks even worse from the air. Click here for the birds eye view of the flooding.

The mayor has issued severe warnings.  Every newscast is advising on how to sandbag and to be ready to leave ASAP.  The forecast predicts gloom and doom.  117 provincial forest firefighters have been brought in to fill sandbags as it will take too long for the army to get here.  The only hospital we have is beginning to sandbag in preparation of the worst.  The stores are being picked over as folks begin to respond to the dire warnings.

Yet the afternoon storm has yet to materialize.  Lots of dark and gloomy clouds but thus far mere sprinkles.  Perhaps we will get lucky.  We did go to our home today and the water has indeed receded about 1/2 inch.  We have just the tiniest bit of water under the house thus far.  The patio and grass is a mess but that can be rectified.  It was so difficult to  go there but at least I did manage to get the library items that were due.  Our yard looks like a disaster zone. Forgot to mention the other day that we had just purchased about  $135.00 worth of bedding plants.  We handed them over to someone to take care of them as we were evacuated.  No idea where they are now or if we will ever see them again, can’t remember who we gave them to.  No worries but I sure wish that we could have planted them and that they were sitting on our now non existent patio.

We are meeting with the ESS ( Emergency Social Services ) again tomorrow and I intend to address the RV payment per day.  I also have made an appointment for a massage at noon as I am not sleeping well as my right shoulder area is screaming in pain.  I really over did it in packing up.  Colin actually stared working on his photoshop re the job he did yesterday.  We got five more jobs in yesterday, good news.  We also have one in Vancouver but it is based on weather.  Not sure if I will go or not as we have to check in every three days with ESS.  One day at a time.  Besides it is raining there also.

I just said to Colin a while ago to call his Mom.  Sure enough Mommio picked up the phone.  She says that her phone just got connected today.  We could hear her loud and clear.  So wonderful to finally have a long and good conversation with her.  She is so sad that she is stuck there until she dies but she loves the staff ( even though she has no privacy ) and the food.  She even got her first bath in many decades due to the special hydro lift system.  She is not herself but not as bad as she was a few weeks ago when Colin visited her.  She is lamenting about not having her own things.

Our legal address is Kelowna but we are referred to as Lake Country as we are on the cusp of the map.  Tonight we led the Global news as to how bad things are and then they moved onto Kelowna proper.

Here is a link from 2-3 days ago shot in our park, just a few streets over from us. Some very very graphic photos and video of the flood.  Less than 48 hours later we were were evacuated.  Click here.

This is an article and photos, in which the owner of our park describes how bad it is, again a few days ago.  Click here.

The wind is really picking up as I write this post.  That means high waves on the lake lapping up into the basement of our house.

In my heart I believe that tonight will be a good thing with a tiny storm or something much more negative that will take so much more energy than I have at the moment to cope with.  It is entirely up to the Universe and Mother Nature.  As for me, even wine is not enough to relax me or us for that matter.

Que Sera, Sera!