We drove all over

My friend and I took advantage of a break in the weather this afternoon.

We drove to the country and bought tenderloin, bacon, cheese, sausage, kolaches and cookies (No, not a balanced meal. Hoping for some luck at the farmers' market in the morning). We saw water standing in the ditches and fields - and overflowing the tanks (ponds). Some small creeks were bursting their banks.

"Let's check the water at home," she said.

So we drove to view our local creek in three spots. The water was flowing bank to bank, but not "overflowing." Then we crossed the local dam and noted it full as well (we will have to take a trip down to the spillway and see what is happening there).

Finally, we headed out to a long bridge high over the river channel at the "start" of the lake. In 1991/92/93 it rained so that the water lapped up to the edges of the old bridge.* Road crews kept barricades at the ready in case the water entered the roadway.**

The river/lake today was some 20 feet below the new bridge.*** There appeared to be plenty of room for more rain, if we can bear it. "I've seen it higher than this," said I. "Me too," replied my friend. And we agreed that neither one of us wants to see a flood like that again.

My friend had been talking about a camping trip scheduled at a park nearby. Many parks are already under water and closed so we decided to check. We discovered that this park is on a bluff and, though damp, is still dry enough for camping.****

A doe was out enjoying the temporary sunshine.

I'm inviting DH for a drive tomorrow to see if we can take pictures of the wildflowers along the roadway - before the traffic becomes impossible on this holiday weekend.

NOTES:

*I drove this road many times during the flood. At night I would watch the tail lights of the car ahead of me. If that car "made it across" (and only then) I would start across. Later, my oldest told me that she always held her breath.

**I don't believe they ever closed the bridge or, if so, only closed it for a short time. After the flood the many of the trees below died, drowned or suffocated by silt.

***The narrow old bridge was replaced by a new bridge built from 2002-2004 at a cost of about $20 million (!).
http://m.tdtnews.com/archive/article_9507519e-04c7-55ae-9826-3167a857d68d.html?mode=jqm

**** Better her than me.