Part 3 - Family Adventure Treasure Tale: Knocking on Danger's Door

Part 3 of Our Family Adventure Treasure Tale

(If you haven’t heard the beginning of this adventure tale, go back in my blog posts and listen to my podcast, Healthy Mom Crazy Life, to catch it all from the beginning!)

To stay or to go was the question.

To stay: we still remain two hours away from the city that was our destination milestone for the day, but also if we stayed, we'd be able to hunker down from any storm.

Or go: and we set out into the night facing some potentially questionable weather but yet also putting a few more hours behind us as we begin our treasure adventure…

We - or rather I, decided to go. I maneuvered my car back up onto the interstate, the windshield wipers were working in full force and had long ago scrubbed off any remnants of bug guts that had speckled my windshield. The rain was aggressive as it had ever had been, and the wind made sure it got its turn at some action as well.

We made our way about a mile down the road while carefully listening to the radio for any update on weather information. Our attention was quickly grabbed when the all too telling intermittent buzz bursts followed by a long buzz came on the station. Tornado Warning.

Like, this wasn’t even a Tornado Watch, they weren’t messing around and took it right to a warning. That changed the game. Heavy rain, lightning and thunder, were all things I was willing to take on, a tornado was something someone would never win against and I didn’t want to try.

Needless to say, the boys were downright scared out of their minds at the mention of the tornado. Lots of crying, pleas to go home, and whimpers of uncertainty took over the backseat behind me. I know we needed to turn around and head back to find shelter in Mitchell which we had departed just a few miles back. I continued to drive, scanning the side of the road for an exit, all the while keeping the radio turned up loudly so we could hear any developing weather news over the sound of the raindrops splattering onto the car.

The tornado warning was on high alert, with the weatherman repeatedly stating the severity of the situation, the necessity to seek shelter immediately in a basement or interior room, the rapidly changing weather conditions, the need to exit your car and lie in a low lying ditch if a tornado should come upon you while driving. Out of necessity, I reiterate that final point to my boys, yet also reassured them that we would be OK. They respond with more terrifying thoughts - Are we going to live? Am I going to die? Is a tornado going to get us?

I thank the Lord for the peace that he put over me as I was driving as fastslow as I could. I felt the urgency of the situation and could sense the crazy bad energy of the weather, yet I knew that everything was going to be OK. Six miles past Mitchell I finally hit my exit, but there wasn’t much help there since only a campground inhabited the exit. It was still a welcome sight, though, since it gave me the turnaround I needed to head back to the shelter of the city.

With a new level of fervor in my driving, we re-entered the interstate and began heading back to Mitchell. Six miles later we felt the happiest we could be in that moment as we saw the exit. We shot back into town and quickly found a gas station to seek refuge in. Wet from the rain, the gas station felt quite chilly with the air-conditioning on, Brett was shivering, likely from both cold and fear, but he quickly felt better when I wrapped my sweatshirt around him.

We all felt better knowing we had some support and structure surrounding us that also deadened the pounding sound of the storm. Outside, tornado sirens were blaring and inside everyone looked at each other with uncertainty. We called my husband to update him on our trip, it probably wasn’t the update he was expecting, but it brought comfort to my boys and I to hear a familiar voice on the other end of the phone. The phone call was cut short when just a minute into our conversation the gas station workers come over to tell us that we needed to leave - there was no tornado shelter in the building so we were not able to stay there. In disbelief, we quickly gather our courage back up and run out to the car; once again looking to seek shelter from the storm.

I had noticed a hotel just a block from the gas station when we had come into town, it seemed like the best, and maybe only, option we had. Just as we pulled up to the hotel it began to hail. We ran inside and breathlessly ask for a room for the night. The woman working at the desk must be really used to incredibly severe weather threats as she didn’t seem phased by the current tornado warning. She calmly asked me for my credit card and told me that she will put us on the north side of the hotel since the tornado is coming from the south. I tell her that that would be really great, thanks.

Behind us, a family with young children, a baby, and a dog came rushing in. The lady working the desk didn’t seem to be in a rush. From the TV on the wall, we can hear that the tornado warning is being extended for a longer period of time, great. She gave us our room key and again we rush outside in the torrential rains to get to our hotel room. The hotel room was a welcome sight, but the bathroom was a more welcome sight as the boys quickly piled into the shower and covered their heads with the bed comforter, they were content to stay here all night if needed.

The boys continued to speculate on impending death and I continued to reassure them that we would be OK. I suggested saying a prayer to help calm their fears and bring us comfort; the Lord is good, and the prayers helped. I kept a close watch on the TV and my phone; the radar remained brightly lit with bright red, yellows, and shades of green. The string of storms coming up wasn’t getting any shorter; the funnel-shaped tornado warning and watch projections on the TV are scattered across the map and the risk remains high.

It was maybe around 11:30 or so that night that our likelihood to experience a tornado finally went down so I had the boys move to the queen beds, but let them know there was a chance that things could change yet again during the night. It was a very restless night of sleep with boys switching beds several times throughout the night, me frequently checking the radar, and let’s not forget the loud claps of thunder that rang loudly throughout the few hours we sought some shut-eye.

All night long we remained in a Severe Thunderstorm Warning.

At 6 AM I got up and looked out the window, it was hailing again. The sidewalk in front of our hotel room was flooded, the carpet by the door was soaking wet. The boys had wanted a hotel with a pool, but I don’t think this is what they had in mind. Looking at the radar again I see that now would be a good time for us to hit the road. It had stopped hailing, in fact, it had stopped precipitating all together for the time being so we had a chance to load up the car and hit the road. I knew we would face rain for at least an hour driving west, but after that, it should be smooth sailing.

Looking at my boys who were finally sleeping peacefully I didn’t want to wake them but also knew it was time to go. They woke up surprisingly well and in good spirits, very relieved to have not died in a tornado - even saying that the night we had would make quite a memorable story for the start of our trip, I couldn’t agree more.

As we continued our trek west and saw Mitchell in the rearview mirror, I was happy to put the last 12 hours and our death-defying experience behind us and continue our Family Adventure Treasure Tale!