Soggy business

We finally got out for our first round of golf.  We played at The Pearl - West course. We've played here before. It's a really nice course that is located in North Carolina.   It was cooler today with the temperature around 64F.  There was lots of water on the course, but not enough to hold us back.  Here are some pictures of what the course looked like.  Many of the other courses in this area were still closed.

Cart path on the first hole - drive carefully just in case the path is washed away.

Flooded bunker

Flooding along the sides of the cart paths

Bunker - Lawrence hit his "game ball" into this.  If he lost this ball it would negatively impact his ability to collect points on the par 4's.  Good thing he had a long ball retriever. He said that he would have gone in to get the ball if his retriever wasn't long enough.

Another view of the bunker.

When you walked out onto the course you could hear the water squishing under your shoes.  Teresa felt the effects of catching some dirt when hitting her ball.  She had mud all over herself.

See the water spray when Teresa hit the ball.  Crazy!!

It's very pretty here.

We had a nice surprise from our golf package today as well.  We each were given a $100.00 gift card to use on merchandise, golf or food and drink.  That's 400.00 to spend while we're here.

After we finished golf and returned to our condo, I went out for walk along the beach.  I saw this horseshoe crab that washed up with  one of the waves.  It was pretty interesting to see how seashells attached themselves to the shell of the crab.  I was happy to see that it went back out into the ocean.

100% Rain delay

I woke up with a start!!! It was 7:15 and we were scheduled to start our round at 7:35ish... Not so with the current weather situation.  I called down to the golf team and was told that all courses were closed today due to the bad weather.  Many courses were flooded and they wouldn't attempt to open until tomorrow or Wednesday  We rescheduled today's round at Thistle to Saturday afternoon after our round at Sandpiper in the morning. We'll be finishing the week with 36 holes.  I hope that the weather improves.  Tomorrows round was cancelled as well so we decided to take a raincheck as we didn't know when else to schedule it. We're playing in north Myrtle Beach, south Myrtle Beach and North Carolina on this trip and it was just too much juggling of our schedules.  Later in the day, we got a call from the golf specialists asking if we were interested in playing at The Pearl in North Carolina as they would be open and were taking golfers who were suppose to play at Crow Creek where we were originally booked.  We decided to give it a try knowing that the course will be really wet, but at least we'll get a round in. We'll change some of the rules for the games we have planned and Teresa and I also agreed that we wouldn't "wear white" knowing that we'll be kicking up a lot of dirt during our round.  We'll bring along a change of clothes for after the game as well.  We're all pretty excited about the upcoming round.  We've played at The Pearl before, so we know what to expect.  It's going to be fun!!

Today, I went out for a nice walk along the beach looking for seashells.  I love doing this and take the opportunity to relax and reflect on many things..  While out there,  I thought about the last time I was here with my grandchildren looking for shells. I missed them today as I know they would have had a great time.  I could hear them saying "here's one Oma" and oh look at this one. ... it's so beautiful.

Still have dark skies with rain every so often

The blue skies are starting to peek through

A man on the beach found these shark teeth.  Wow, I was so surprised.

My collection of shells found during my walk

At around noon we decided to go out and do some shopping.  We were quite surprised to find that about 60% of the stores at the Outlet Mall were closed due to "bad weather".  We then decided to go to a regular mall and found the same thing.  So, not much shopping was done.  After we got back to the Condo, Teresa and I went out walking along the beach again.  We were blessed with a beautiful rainbow.

A reminder of God's everlasting covenant

We enjoyed dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant called Abuelo's - the food was really good here and we're sure to go there again.  We finished the evening relaxing and watching a video (Aloha) .  We're looking forward to another fun day tomorrow.

Thunder, Lightning and rain

This morning we were greeted with torrential rain, thunder and lightening.  While the crack of thunder and flashes of lightening are intermittent, they happen frequently enough to remind us that there is a hurricane out there.

We went to church in the morning and enjoyed a good sermon on Genesis 19.  We heard about one other PCA church in Columbia who had been flooded out as a result of all the rains.  It was a reminder that we needed to be careful.

After church we went back to our condo and  enjoyed a nice relaxing afternoon.  We plan to eat dinner at the condo and have some steaks marinating. Yummy!!

A beautiful sunrise...too bad it didn't last long.

Lots of corrosion along the beach.

Rain delay

We were up early this morning in anticipation of the "possibility" of golfing.  We went out onto the balcony to check out the weather.  It didn't seem to be raining so we were optimistic.

After taking a quick shower and getting lunches ready, we headed off to get some breakfast at the Sea Captains house.  By the time we walked out of the front door of the Caribbean it was a torrential downpour.  The drops of water were huge.  Still optimistic, we went for breakfast and prayed that we might get some nicer weather. 

We weren't too sure what to expect as we were driving past the Surfside area where there was reported flooding.  It wasn't too bad.

When we got to the course, they told us that the radar was showing rain (up to 70%) all day and they didn't recommend golfing. The course was soaked.  I wouldn't come back for a couple of days we were advised by the Pro Shop.  Hmmm, what to do?  We have golf booked solid next week from Monday to Saturday.  We decided to double up a day on Wednesday when we're golfing in the same area.  If the weather isn't nice, we'll just the keep the raincheck for another year.

After doing a bit more grocery shopping we came back to the condo and relaxed with a coffee on the balcony.  The sun was attempting to come out, but sadly the cloud cover came back which brought rain with it.

Lol - Lawrence and I both came with the same wine label.  His wine was a Pinot Noir and mine was a Chardonnay.  How appropriate.

The name on the label - Rainstorm!!

Rain coming....

We won't let the weather get us down.

The sky got really black.

We're still having a great time.  Nothing beats the sound of the pounding surf as you sit back and relax.

Rain, rain and more rain

The drive on the 2nd day has been  uneventful.  Lots of rain which was getting progressively heavier as we neared the coast.  We chose to take our time and took a detour to Columbia.  We arrived at our Condo by 5:30.

The low clouds were really pretty to see in the mountains of West Virginia.

 

During our detour to Columbia, Teresa and I went to look at these characters outside of the Halloween store.  They were so funny.  They rocked back and forth and were mumbling to themselves.  They looked so real.

 

Caution signs for flash flooding.

We made it.  We're on the 14th floor with a beautiful view of the ocean. It was pretty hazy over the water when we got there and the light was quickly disappearing.  We are so happy to be here.

Hurricane Joaquin

After having a nice drive, we have arrived in Summersville, West Virginia and are enjoying our first cocktail.  As we relax, we have been watching the news and have been advised that Hurricane Joaquin is set to strike just off the coast of Myrtle Beach on Saturday evening.  It will make for an interesting start to our vacation.  They mentioned that on Saturday people will not be able to cross into South Carolina.  Since we are arriving tomorrow, we expect to be ok.  We have a beach front condo, so it will be interesting to see what happens.  We might get some really interesting pictures.

Rapidly changing weather conditions have officials along the Grand Strand preparing for significant rainfall and possible heavy flooding in some areas beginning Thursday and through the weekend as Hurricane Joaquin strengthens in the Atlantic.

Hurricane Joaquin will bring a lot of tropical moisture to the coast through the weekend with current forecasts indicating the Grand Strand could get anywhere from 5 to 7 inches of rain, said Josh Weiss of the National Weather Service in Wilmington, N.C.

7 to 10 inches of rain expected along the Grand Strand through the weekend.“There could be some areas that get more and some less but the important thing to note,” Weiss said, “is there could be higher totals.”

Joaquin became the third hurricane of the season as it gained strength and organization Wednesday morning developing winds of 80 mph. Over the next two to three days, it was forecasted to reach category 42 intensity but should not reach land.

Weiss said there remains a lot of uncertainty as to Joaquin’s track, and although it is expected to remain well east of the Myrtle Beach area, a shift Wednesday to the west brings a higher chance of tropical storm winds and flooding across northeast South Carolina and southeast North Carolina.
“The key is to continue to pay attention because this could become a serious flooding concern,” Weiss warned, noting that some coastal flooding has already occurred in the Garden City Beach area due to high tide.

Regardless of the track Joaquin takes, National Weather Service forecasters say a “significant rainfall event is becoming more likely.”

Read more here: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/local/article37124130.html#storylink=cpy

Myrtle Beach...here we come

It's 12:05 and we're all packed and ready to go.  We are driving as far as Summersville,  West Virginia today.  The sun is shining brightly.  It's chilly though at 54f.   Its going to be a great week.