On Friday night we had a terrible thunderstorm and many counties in NJ lost power. Thankfully, we have friends in the neighboring town that have a pool (but also no power). So an impromptu barbecue was in order. The weather was scorchingly hot but a dip in the pool made everything more tolerable.

My sister-friend shared pictures of tall ships celebration as they were passing Sandy Hook. From what I understand, a variety of countries sent their tall ships to the US to celebrate its 250th (nations).

The sunset is crazy due to the impending storm: the exact storm that made us lose power for three days.

From Friday night till Monday afternoon, when we had to leave for the airport, we were climbing walls, trying to stay cool, and just playing a waiting game. The power came back on Monday evening.

Thankfully, my husband hooked up the generator so we had electricity for the essentials: refrigerator, phones, and two fans. So at least we could get KIND of an okay night sleep. The heat was suffocating.

Oh and we did laundry – we connected the washing machine to the generator and washed clothes before the trip. But the drier did not like the generator hence drying our clean laundry outside.

I will leave you with one picture from Venice: a big, beautiful, orange cat that lives at the apartments. I mean… ROYALTY!


9 responses to “Happy 250th + heat wave + no power”

  1. Diane Avatar
    Diane

    Yay! So glad you got safely to your first destination! Venice is beautiful, I hope you have relaxing and rejuvenating time.

    How stressful to have the power go out right before your trip! We were in Harrisburg, PA for the 4th and the power went out at the restaurant we were at for about two minutes, but luckily that was all. On the way home we saw so many large branches on the road and storm debris.

    We saw the Tall Ships when they were docked in Baltimore for Sail250/Fleet Week. I loved being able to go aboard and talk to the sailors. I do wish I could have seem them sailing, though – they look amazing.

    Happy Travels! I’m looking forward to hearing your adventures!

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  2. Lisa’s Yarns Avatar

    Yikes! Losing power during an epic heat wave is BRUTAL. We lost power a summer or 2 ago when we had strong storms. We went out to my MIL’s for the day as she had not lost post and then we came back home to sleep because she didn’t really have room for us. Our basement stayed nice and cool so Phil and I slept in the guest bed and the boys slept on the floor on sleeping bags. It wasn’t great but the power came back on in the morning thank goodness!

    Happy Travels to you!!

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  3. Kari Avatar

    That pool is beautiful!

    I can’t imagine how stressed you must have felt having no power for days before your trip. I would have been so stressed too.

    That cat!! I can’t wait to read all about your adventures!

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  4. NGS Avatar
    NGS

    Oh, that is a terrible time to lose electricity. I’m so glad you all made it through with no one succumbing to heat exhaustion or heat stroke!

    That cat is GLORIOUS.

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  5. Suzanne Avatar

    Oh geez, a heat wave and a power outage is a terrible combination. I love that you made the best of it with the neighbor, a pool, and some grilling. Those tall ships are a spectacular sight, especially against that sunset.

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  6. Stephany Avatar

    A power outage during a heat wave is BRUTAL. I lost power for a week in August after Hurricane Helene and stayed at my mom’s, but left the cats at home. I was very close to bringing them with me as the apartment kept getting hotter and hotter! Blergh.

    I’m so excited to read about your time in Italy!

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  7. Common Household Mom Avatar

    Enjoy your trip!

    That heat wave was awful here, too. So sorry you lost your power — it’s doubly hard when one is preparing for a trip. Parts of Europe have been scorching hot too. We are due for more heat wave here this week — I hope you escape it and have temperate weather where you are.

    The tall ships are a dignified way to celebrate the holiday. Love those photos of them.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. rachelinwales Avatar

    Oh what a bad time to lose electricity! Sounds ROUGH – I can’t imagine being stuck in NJ summer with no aircon. Actually, I am not sure now that my grandpa’s house in New Jersey had aircon, which would make sense because my prevailing memory from visiting as a kids is being really really hot. I am glad you could wash clothes before you left – a silly question but do you always use a drier? I always used a tumble drier when I was in the US but now we barely use it in the summer and the default is definitely to line dry. I am sure it’s a culture thing though… line drying does take more work and make clothes more crispy than the tumble drier, although I think they do last longer so who knows.

    Enjou Venice!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Daria Avatar

      Terrible timing indeed! But, we all survived and there are people with much bigger problems then their ice cream running and turning into a milk shake.

      Yes as many US families, we own a drier. I feel like in the US, those two come as ONE unit. In Europe, however, there was only one place that had a drier. Other apartments had drying racks but we also used backs of chairs and door handles to hang stuff to dry. Perfectly fine. The clothes do last longer- dryers pretty much destroy the clothes.

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