Broken

The second day in Springfield Illinois I spent relaxing. Most of the afternoon I laid on the bed reading a book. The bed is the most comfortable place in the coach to read or watch TV. The bed is large, has lots of pillows, and there is a lot of room for the cats to gather around. Late in the afternoon I decided to take a quick look at the weather for tomorrow’s drive. My expectation was another week of great weather. Seeing that tropical storm Barry turned towards the north stunned me. I thought the storm was heading to the west.

The cone of uncertainty, which I call the cone of death, was now headed directly towards me. Tomorrow I planned on driving to Benton Illinois and staying there for three nights. In five days the exact center of the death cone was directly on top of Benton Illinois. The chart horrified me. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. This was just not possible. I barely comprehended what I was seeing. TS Barry was heading west into Texas the last time I checked. I was really glad I had chosen the northerly route home instead of the southerly route. The southerly route would have taken me into what was then the predicted path of the storm. The tropical storm or possibly what could become a hurricane was now headed directly at me.

Seeing the projected path of the storm broke me, shattering my will and resolve. Over the last three months, I endured torrential rains, high winds gusting over 40 miles per hour, tornado warnings, snow, sleet, hail, and freezing temperatures plunging down into the twenties. Now a tropical storm was coming directly at me. The storm was not just coming directly at me. The storm projection was for the exact location where I going. Out of the entire United States, the storm was going to the same place I was going at the exact same time. I was in disbelief. I thought I can’t do this anymore. I wanted to go to my home constructed of concrete block.

I knew right away that I couldn’t stay with the current plan. I knew that I had to either head east or drive very quickly southeast. My first thought was to head east towards Louisville, cross the Appalachian Mountains, and then drive south towards Florida. That route would add around 1000 miles of driving. I looked closely at the dates and projections on the cone of death. My home was about 1100 miles away. I thought I could reach southern Tennessee on Friday. Then I could clear Atlanta on Saturday and make my way to northern Florida. I calculated I had enough time to dash around the tropical storm.

I canceled the reservation in Benton Illinois, and then called the place I had reservations in Manchester Tenn. I changed that reservation from three nights for the following week to just Friday night. Making my way to Manchester meant driving 430 miles in one day. I had never driven more than 300 miles in a day in this RV before. I figured the following Saturday I could drive another 500 miles and be in Florida safely past the storm.

I know some folks will think I panicked, and maybe I did. Maybe I was just worn out and exhausted after three months on the road by myself. But I have been in a RV during an outbreak of tornadoes in Salina Kansas in May of 2017. For the first time in my life, I heard tornado sirens blaring. Tornadoes passed two miles on each side of the campground, roaring from south to north. The people in the campground all took shelter in a small concrete block bathroom. I don’t think the bathroom would have done much good if the tornado hit the campground. The ironic thing was the campground had a Wizard of Oz theme. The street names in the RV park came from Wizard of Oz places. There was even a metal sculpture of the Tin Man.

Straight-line winds of 70+ mph howled for over an hour. Everyone’s cell phones were blaring out tornado alerts. People were tracking the path of the tornadoes on their cell phones including myself. We could see red triangles indicating the path of the tornadoes. We all knew they very close. The fierce storm scared everyone. Every few minutes someone would open the door and peer outside. We saw blinding rains blowing horizontally. Tree limbs were crashing down. After observing the same scene each time, the door was quickly shut. A group of total strangers bonded very quickly in just a few minutes. When the ordeal was over I walked back to the RV with the campground completely flooded under 4 inches of water. So yea, being in a trailer during a bad storm is really scary and life-threatening. Or as the old saying goes, “What do tornadoes and redneck divorces have in common? Someone always loses a trailer.” I never did write a travel blog post about that tornado ordeal in Kansas. I suppose I just didn’t want to think about the experience anymore.

So yea, maybe I did panic. Anyone who has ever been traumatized by a tornado will understand. I also had a tornado touch down next to my house in Florida, so I am very fearful of tornadoes. These tropical storms produce tornadoes, especially in the southeast quadrant of the storm.

I am very familiar with watching and understanding the cone of uncertainty. The cone does not show the size of the storm. The cone shows the likely path of the center of the storm. The storm is much wider than the cone. I knew from forty years of living in Florida watching these forecasts is that they are just that, forecasts. I wasn’t taking any chances with TS Barry. I was going to get as far away from the storm as fast as I could.

The next morning I rose early knowing I still had to drive out of Illinois, then through part of Kentucky, and finally into Tennessee and try to clear Nashville by noon. Nashville has undergone massive growth. I knew getting through the Nashville traffic on a Friday would be difficult. I broke camp quickly. After three months I was proficient and setting up and breaking camp. I turned the ignition key to start and the 380 HP Cummins turbocharged diesel motor roared to life. I pulled in the four slideouts, retracted the leveling jacks, released the air brakes, and with a push of a button, shifted the Allison Transmission into drive.  Looking at the cats I exclaimed, hang on kitties, whatever it takes, here we go.

Next: Like a Bat Out Of Hell

Closer – Kaae & Batz ft. Maria Holm Mortensen