Wednesday, July 24, 2013

travels

It's been ten days now since I've been able to touch a cat. I haven't even really seen any either, except for about two seconds of the backend of one moving quickly out of sight and lots of pictures! If all goes well we will be home Thursday evening and reunited with all my delightful furry friends!! I can't wait!!

Meanwhile, my friend Jana has been looking after the needs of all the cats. She has graciously been sending pictures every so often, which has been wonderful. Here are a few:

photo courtesy of Jana S.

photo courtesy of Jana S.

photo courtesy of Jana S.

photo courtesy of Jana S.

photo courtesy of Jana S.
We have been tent camping on our road trip. Tent camping is fun, although sleeping on the ground is getting less comfortable the older I get! I think the earth is getting harder every year, maybe that's tied to global warming?!

Last night, we were camping in Belvidere, South Dakota. All day we had clear skies and when we set up camp the weather was very pleasant.


As you can see, the blue tent is setup next to the "Willow-car", our little VW Golf, which reminds me a lot of Willow. It's cute, small and silver, just like Willow! The little diesel engine purrs just like my Willow too!

After we were settled into the tent for the night, the campground manager came by and said a very severe thunderstorm might be coming our way. Yikes, I hopped online and read this:


The part that stood out to me was the "golf ball size hail and 70 MPH wind gusts" and the statement: "People and animals outdoors will be injured." Notice they don't say "might" be injured it said "will" - double yikes! The radar showed this:


This nasty red blob of severe weather was heading right for us! The campground manager highly recommended we pull up our tent, so we did. We upgraded from a tent site to one of their little camping cabins. I was really worried about the Willow-car, as golf ball size hail would do significant damage. We pulled the car as close to the cabin as possible in hopes it would shield it from some damage. Then it was just a matter of settling into the cabin and praying.


The lightening really lit up the sky. This is lightening over our cabin, you can see the Willow-car in the bottom right corner. In the end, the storm was slightly off to the side, so we only caught the edge of it. That meant no hail, just heavy rain and wind. About 2am, I awoke with another storm passing right over us, it socked us with more lightening, heavy winds and rain but again, thankfully no hail.


In the morning, we packed up the Willow-car and continued our trip toward home. I'm very grateful for Greg and Betty, the very helpful managers of Belvidere KOA Campground. They didn't have to warn us, but they did and they were very helpful in making sure all the campers were safe as possible for the storms.

12 comments:

  1. Whew, close call! So glad you decided to pull up and take a cabin. Many thanks to that caring camp managers!

    Pee Ess - it stormed all night on us, too. Bleh!

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  2. I miss the cats so much if I'm away..I'm constantly on the lookout for an unsuspecting feline to meet.
    Jane x

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  3. Scary weather for tent camping. Glad you were safe and are enjoying your trip. I know you miss the kitties!!

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  4. well that was a little too much excitement - but the cabin looks cute :) and love the Willow-car

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  5. I sure am glad that the storm didn't come calling at your door!

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  6. I love travelling, I really do... but I miss my cat-pack so much when I'm gone. Coming home and seeing them is almost as good as the trip itself!

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  7. I bet you got some great pictures! LOL
    I am always thinking photography.
    But, glad you are safe and sound.

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  8. Wow, good thing you were in the cabin. LOVE that picture of Buddy!

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  9. Glad the manager was nice enough to notify you, but really glad they had a cabin empty for you. And, no golf-ball hail. Love the lightning picture, too. The cats are going to be so happy to see you - after they ingore you for a while to punish you for leaving.

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  10. Your time away sounds adventurous! LOVE the photos of the kitties (how nice of your friend to send) - especially the one of the lovely cat out like a light on the window ledge!

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  11. Your babies are awaiting you both.

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  12. How nice that Jana sent you photos!

    I am sure it was a harrowing night, but that photo of the lightning is amazing! How did you catch it? Did you know it was coming or did you just shoot randomly thinking you would catch something?

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