Terrible Texas Weather!

Tornado Watch!

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

I am sitting here in my little travel trailer, which I am going to call my LTR from now on, and watching the weather on TV (can’t believe I have a direct TV signal but to me that is a good thing!) and waiting for the you know what to hit the fan.  We are under a tornado watch.  Some of the severe weather that hit Oklahoma and devastated the town of Moore and killed numerous people, including many small school children (God Bless Them), is now passing right through my area.  It is like nighttime outside and it is only 4:15pm.  Pretty scary.

As I write, the rain is falling harder on my trailer roof and the trees outside are really blowing around.  No hail so far.  The weather forecast calls for 50-60 plus winds with the heavy rain.  Fortunately for me, the temperature has dropped drastically and quickly (from the low 90’s to the low 60’s!) which reduces the possibility of a tornado forming.  However, that does not eliminate the possibility of straight line wind shears so I am aware of the danger and prepared to vacate this trailer with Dexter in my arms and head for a low lying area about 30 yards away I have spotted to get below the wind line if the trailer starts lifting off the ground.  I put in my slide to prevent uplift from the wind and I pulled my big bad truck, now referred to as my BBT, right alongside my trailer in hopes that it will block some of the wind if it gets too high.  Anyway, here we go.  It is  blowing full force now so I am going to put my full focus on the weather and what is going on so I don’t miss an opportunity that may require my action….like running like hell!  I will finish this later.  Wish us luck.

Later.  Wow….that was a wild ride.   It is 4:50pm now and I can hear a lot of thunder and a little less rain so I think the storm passed without an issue to me.  It is 64 degrees outside now vs. 92 degrees before the storm.  Again….wow!  And now suddenly my emergency radio goes off with that loud and scary sound of an alert.  It is telling me I am in the direct path of the storm so to be aware.  It does say a tornado watch is still in effect until 7pm.  Guess we are not out of danger yet so got to go again.  I am going to have to buy me some earplugs in case I ever get into this situation again.  The noise of the rain on the roof is deafening.  

Later.  Well….we made it this far.  It is around 6pm and it is still raining but not so much as before however it keeps coming and going. Right now it is really raining hard just when I think it is slacking off.  I think we will be ok.  I can tell you one thing for sure.  I am not going North through Oklahoma or North Texas to get to Montana.  I am heading West on Friday morning as fast as my truck will take me.  I will make my decision to go North through Colorado when I get to Amarillo or Lubbock or to continue West and go North through Utah and visit with my brother and go up through Salt Lake City and Idaho and Wyoming and up to Glacier.  That is a really pretty route so we will see where I end up. Both ways are about the same, give or take a few hundred miles.  It will be hotter West but less chance of a storm.

Tomorrow is Wednesday and the folks that own this property will be coming home late tonight sometime.  Tomorrow I am going to Rockwall and take lunch to my sisters, Faye and Wanda, and give them a hug good-by before I leave on  Friday morning.  I need to do a little shopping before leaving too so hopefully it will be a good day and I can get things squared away before leaving.  Today, before the storm I knew was coming, I loaded up my BFT bed with stuff I didn’t even know I had but it sure fit good in the bed of that truck.  I am actually ready to go at this point.  I did my laundry this morning and changed the bed and cleaned the rig.  A little shopping tomorrow and I will be ready to join the highway rat race.

I will see you on down the road and let you know which direction I decide to go to Glacier National Park and my Summer job and adventure.  I am really looking forward to seeing some altitude, even though it does take a while to adjust to it.  Love those cool nights.  Still not so sure about those Grizzly bears!