Scary times

1/8/24 I decided to head to a Hipcamp in MS to ride out the impending storm.  I drove out there and it was about  a mile of dirt road.  That alone made me nervous.  I spent the first night in a nice spot amongst the trees, but with the storm coming with heavy winds I didn't want to be there.  I really struggled with whether to stay at thim Hipcamp or try to get further from the center of the storm.  It seemed that nowhere was any guarantee.  I talked to Jennifer and she recommended that I stay put.  The likelihood of a tornado is low in that specific spot and I had seeked out this place (not really knowing anything) to ride out the storm.  I'm glad I stayed as Alicia and CJ were great.  They allowed me to move to their front lawn away from the trees and come into their home with Zoe through the worst parts of the storms.  Alicia set up a bed on the floor for me, and Zoe and I came back into the house about 10:45 and stayed till 6 AM.  I actually slept!  It was a super stressful day trying to figure out what to do and watching the weather reports.  We went back to the van and slept till 9:30.  

Zoe was a champ in the storm.  I'm trying to keep her from becoming afraid of storms and this weather did not help!  We were in the van early on in this evening when a storm went over us and there must have been at least 10 super close hits.  She got up onto the seat to look outside to see what was going on.  I pretended to be relaxed and keep a sing-song voice and gave her treats.  She seemed OK.  And then being able to be in the house rather in the van all night definitely helped me not be quite as stressed.  For some reason I hadn't thought of getting a hotel (dog friendly of course) and staying there.  Next time!  This time worked out, but that's what I'll plan on in the future.  Of course I worry about the van, but in reality, it's not that important in the scheme of things.  

We were in the orange area!

Where I parked the first night in the trees.  Nice spot!

Moved out in the open away from potential falling trees.  Still feels pretty vulnerable!

Tank!  What a cutie!  He helped alleviate some of my stress.

Overnight.  None of this lightning felt like it was right on top of us.

Zoe slept in that chair all night

1/9/24 - All OK next day.  Phew!  I debated on staying another night to rest up from the stress of the day before, but I got excited about getting to New Orleans (NOLA) so I decided to leave.  That was a big mistake due to the high winds.  I was driving south and the winds were out of the west and I kept getting thrown around.  I did notice that there were no RVs on the road.  I guess they knew better!  That was a harrowing drive and poor Sue had to listen to my expletives while we were on the phone.  I had to cross a really long bridge and it was not fun!  I had to slow down so everyone was flying by me.  

Hopefully these types of stressors are behind me.  I know - wishful thinking!!!