On the road..

We drove off Saint Simons Island in the rain on April Fool's Day morning. It had rained so hard all that night, with heavy thunder and lightning, that the water came under the wall and flooded the living room of the Cummings Lane cottage. An auspicious beginning...

Down GA 17 and south on I95 to FL A1A. Everything was flooded, the swamps overflowing, roads closed, rivers brown with mud and over their banks. But the roads were good and when we connected with US10 in Glen St. Mary we made good time across to Pensacola where we hunkered down for the night.

We love the travel, even the long days, but more than that we enjoy the passing contacts/conversations with people on the road. The Amish woman in full dress in the Dollar Saver Store in Crawford; Maurice the black maintenance man at the Red Roof Inn; Luis, the young Mexican who served us dinner. Their stories add the spice to the adventure. And this part of the world is all about spice.

The weather report the next morning was ominous. Strong storms and reports that the drought in the Southeast was officially over... one less thing. We crossed the "Bay-Way" into Mobile and took State Highway 90 down along the coast through Saint Elmo and into Mississippi. By the time we got to Pascagoula the sky was beginning to look very strange. High clouds with funny swirls and motions. The radio was broadcasting emergency weather alerts every hour or so.

As we crossed the bridge toward Biloxi, we could see the storm approaching from the west, dark and dangerous looking. The emergency broadcasts were coming every 15 minutes now warning that a tornado had touched down in Bay St Louis and was headed up the coast... toward Biloxi. The report warned of nickle sized hail and continuous cloud to ground lightening. It was time to take deliberate steps to protect ourselves.

We drove directly to a McDonalds and bought ice cream sundaes and coffee. Can't enjoy the show without refreshments... Next we drove toward the storm until we found a self car wash to protect the van from hail. At this piont the radio warnings were every 5 minutes. We ate our treats and watched the storm intensify. Sampson was panting, shaking all over, eyes wild. Lulu wouldn't leave Connie's lap. The rain and the wind built to where it was raining sideways and the windshield wipers were useless. All the lights went off but with the constant lightening flashes we didn't notice. And then suddenly it stopped... We never saw the twister. Reports said it went north of us.

It was frightening, but at the same time an awesome and powerful thing to see.