After a looooong hiatus, I finally come to fill your empty pages with something interesting.
After today's adventure, I just HAVE to blog it.
Today (Wednesday) was supposed to have been a nice relaxing day for me. With my son gone (he's traveling with Dad), I thought I would treat myself to the spa. I only ordered a mani/pedi for today, but AFTER today, I'll be going back for more!
I got myself up early so that I could get ready to enjoy my day. I wore my newly purchased maxi dress and sported it with my favorite sandals.
It was a BEAUTIFUL day!
Not hot, not cold.
I drove with the sunroof open and enjoyed the nice breeze.
I got to my destination...The Wildflower Day Spa and really enjoyed my mani / pedi. It was so nice! They used the most amazing oils and herbs, sugar scrub, and ohhh, it was just wonderful! When it was finished, I left feeling good about myself and my nails.
Next, I wanted to treat myself more, so I went to our favorite coffee shop, Java Junkies. I got a wonderful iced coffee, which only made me feel better!
Then I picked up a few things at the grocery store, but I treated myself even more with some special cheesecake ice cream things. Ohhh they look sooo wonderful!
Then I headed back home where I would enjoy the rest of my night and eat my treats while watching a chick flick.
Or so I thought....
As I drove, I was on the phone with my husband and he informed me that the truck wouldn't start. It was so hot there (124) that the starter went out. Well, parts for a truck are WAY more expensive than a car. Add a few zeroes to your latest car repair. I've been around the block with truck repairs now, that the price tag was no shocker. I didn't even let it ruin my wonderful "Pamper Me" day.
So I continued driving home and noticed the massive dark clouds south of town. Hmmm, that's about where I live. I continued driving and ended up getting rain, but the lightening was most impressive! It wasn't until I turned off the highway onto our road that I knew the full force of the storm.
Suddenly, the rain was coming down in sheets. Lightening was flashing its fingers all around me, as if it wanted to cage me in. The thunder boomed and shook my car as I drove. But then the wind came. It was so fierce that it was blowing branches off trees and they flew above my car. The wind tried to force me off the road, the rain blinded me, the thunder and lightening threatened our little area.
Finally, I reached our driveway and pulled in, happy to be home.
But the storm wasn't finished yet. The winds were relentless and nearly knocked me off my feet. I grabbed my cheese cake treats and carried them to the house. I would get the rest when the rain and wind stopped.
My dog, Poppy, was so happy to see me as I unlocked the door. I reached in to flip on the light and there was no power. Not surprising considering the storm we had. I put away my treats and called in the power outage to our power company. Then I went to change clothes into something comfy. The maxi dress was comfy, but now I could just sit around in a big baggy t-shirt and pj pants.
Not yet....
No sooner had I taken everything off, then I saw someone in our driveway. I ran into the bathroom and the only thing I had available happened to be dirty clothes. Great. Sliding on my house shoes, I went outside to see what the guy wanted. He points behind the house and says, "There's a fire."
O - M - G.
Sure enough, there was smoke billowing from within the trees and rocks on the mountain behind the house. If anyone remembers the blog about my grandmother, you would understand that I was suddenly freaked out. Not to mention the Largest Fire of Washington State. I know I know, I'm in Idaho, but I'm in Idaho that's wedged between Washington and Montana. You can drive all three states in less than 100 miles. Whatever things affect Washington, usually effect us. We have had HORRIBLE smoke from the big fires over there.
So you might imagine that it's terrifying to see smoke.
I immediately called 911 and reported the fire.
Then I called the property management company. They, of course, had gone home for the day because I had gotten home shortly after they closed for the day.
Next, I called the owner of the property, who did not answer, so I left him a message informing him of the fire and that I had already called 911.
Then I called my husband who told me to call the fire department too.
I called the fire department. They informed me that they were taking trees off of houses and would get to the fire whenever. Hello? FIRE department. Not TREE department. FIRE department. I asked if the houses or trees that had fallen on the house were on fire. No.
Okay...Fire...tree...fire... tree.
You are a FIRE department.
I shook my head as the captain informed me that there were already three calls in on this fire behind me house.
Next, I called my neighbor. Mainly just to inform him of the fire and see if they were okay. He wasn't even in town. He decided to come back to make sure everything was okay. Then I called my other neighbor who lives way up the mountain to see if she's okay. She's fine too, and also in town.
You have to understand that out here, we all live in or on the mountain. We share the same driveway and look out for each other. That's what good ole country mountain people do. haha!
My neighbor shows up with a chain saw and shovel. We drive up the mountain along the steep winding road, looking for the fire. It's no where to be seen, but I know about where it is. So I tell my neighbor to keep driving. Finally, we see the smoke. We hopped out of the car, grabbed the shovels, and hiked down some steep terrain.
Lightening had struck a tree (no big surprise), and all the pine needles had caught fire. Luckily, the tree was wedged down in a ravine that was walled by large rocks. The flames were only about four inches high and was almost burned out.
I know, I sound like I'm freaking out over something so little, but those little flames could be HUGE in a matter of minutes. With the shovels, we cleared away any unburned wood, needles, and whatnot. Then we smothered the flames with dirt. We got the fire out and continued to throw dirt over the smoldering embers and whatever else there was. We were done.
I was inspecting the tree that was hit, and it was so strange! It wasn't burned at all! But there were two long streaks where the bark had been completely blown off! All the way from top to bottom!
Finally, we headed back down the mountain, and as soon as we got there, the fire department showed up. Two firefighters were about to hike up the CLIFF to get to the fire. We simply told them they could drive to it and gave them directions. Apparently, their boss had been hiking all over the mountain trying to find it. They drove up there just as we had, probably happy they didn't have to hike up.
Finally, I went back inside, tired, and wanting one of my cheese cake bites. But the power was still out.
Darn.
Then I noticed the fire truck coming back down the mountain. We must have done a decent job of getting the fire out, because I don't even think they were up there long enough to do anything but look at it.
So with power and fire out, I called the power company one more time and proceeded to text my husband and son that I was okay. Then the power company came and restored my electricity, which allowed me to immediately hop online and blog about my day very late at night while I reek of fire smoke.
So my relaxing day turned out to be not so relaxing, but you'll never guess what?
My beautiful manicure and pedicure made it through the entire ordeal!
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