Thursday Thoughts ~ Florida Edition

Some of you knew I went to Melbourne Beach, Florida for a few days this past Saturday.  My oldest daughter flew down with me.  The weather wasn’t quite what we thought we would get when we visited the sunshine state.  We arrived Saturday morning sometime after a torrential downpour but before the wind and rain went  completely nuts.  The weather began to go downhill Friday evening but fortunately let up enough Saturday morning about the time our plane was due to land.  This was the view out of the front window of their home Saturday afternoon….looking north.

Riding out a “no name” tropical storm on a barrier island can be an interesting experience….not for the weak at heart.

I thought I had experienced insane howling winds with storms in the past ~ I was wrong….the winds on Saturday and Sunday were unbelievable…eerie.  Sunday morning we experienced a short intermission between rain storms…there was even a period of sunshine.  My dad and I went down to the beach….you can get an idea of how intense the wind was in the photograph of my dad and the ones below him.  It was difficult taking these photographs not to mention standing on the beach.  I’m not sure what the sustained winds were at this time but they were quite strong…and gusts that were even stronger.

The palms are normally full all around ~ not as one sided as they appear in these photos..

These people were the only ones I saw on the beach.  There were others that came to see the ocean, but they didn’t venture into the water.  It is hard to imagine but the ocean was three times as rough as this when we came back to the beach  later Sunday evening, just before sunset.  The wind was blowing so hard you could barely stand…the rain and sand was stinging our faces and exposed skin….and as far as the eye could see there were monster waves, one on top of the other.  The ocean looked as if it was boiling ~ even the color  of  the water had changed to a brownish color.  I don’t believe I have ever seen the ocean that rough before.  Storm clouds were moving in and it began to rain harder as we headed home.  I didn’t get any photographs of that ocean ~ the camera wasn’t allowed out of the car during that visit.  🙂

But like all storms….it eventually passed.  Monday we experienced blue skies and sunshine.  Granted the ocean was still a bit angry….but it was calm enough that a gal could dip her toes in to test the water.  🙂

More to come….