Illinois Valley News

Ah, sunny San Diego, where it never rains. Um, wait. Why was I dripping wet while visiting family in Carlsbad in San Diego County“

Maybe because it rained like a son-of-a “ er, it rained a lot. Worse than a Hollywood storm. The rain and wind were like a monsoon. Not that I“ve ever been in a monsoon, but I bet the weather during our visit last week was similar to one.

There was flooding. Some homes were damaged due to strong wind. Some areas were without electricity for a time because of downed power lines. It was a mess in some areas.

For my birthday one day last week, our daughter, Vicki, took us to a Mexican restaurant in nearby Encinitas. At one point there was a tremendous racket on the roof. Turned out to be hail. Actual hail stones the size of candy corn hammered the café roof. And this happened a stone“s throw from the Pacific Ocean. In “sunny“ San Diego County.

The restaurant people brought candles to all the tables. Just in case. The storm continued unabated, but the electricity stayed on. The weather down south was most unusual. At least, for San Diego. There were stories in the newspapers about disgruntled visitors from other states. They were unhappy about getting wet while trying to visit the many area attractions.

As for our family, we managed to deal with the rain and wind. In fact, thanks to our daughter, we were able to squeeze in a trip to Disneyland. Wow, that was a trip; not only the drive up and back, but you might not believe the effect the intense wind and rain caused.

I have never seen so many people in rain gear rushing for the exits. I don“t want to say that there was a lot of rain at Disneyland, but I saw several families swimming toward the parking lot. As for us, we were on the train that circumnavigates the park when the worst of the storm hit.

We were a wee bit drenched in our open car. Wind-blown rain made staying dry impossible. Not to worry though. I turned to my wife and said, “The rain will stop in 10 minutes, and the sun will come out.“ She and Vicki looked at me as though I had three heads.

Ten minutes later, the rain stopped, and the sun came out. I refrained from snidely remarking, “See, I told you so!“ But it wasn“t easy.

Sometimes it“s tough to be right.

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