Tornado…Run

Monday we had a slow morning as it was raining.  We took a drive south to Mt Magazine State Park which is the highest point in Arkansas.  The drive up was beautiful and the lodge was really nice.  Unfortunately the visibility was 50-100 yards.  

We had lunch at the lodge and then headed into town again.  We hit the wine trail and stopped at two wineries.  Both had some decent wines.  In the first winery, Chateau Aux Arc, some storm chasers had just left.  They told the people at the winery that it was going to get sporty in the afternoon.  To us, it didn’t look like it.  

We stopped at one more winery, Wieserkehr, on the way back to the campground and asked them about the weather.  She said there was weather coming, but we should be fine.  On the short drive back, the radio stations broke into the first NWS weather warnings about tornadoes, 2.25” hail and damaging winds.  

Upon getting back, we immediately packed up the trailer to move.  I filled the water tanks and hooked up to the truck.  Katy was packing inside and had the news on.  It looked like we were going to get a direct hit as the storm moved NE.  Some camp hosts came by honking their horn and telling everyone to get to the bathrooms as the storm was getting close.  We decided to make a break for it as the storm was moving at 30mph.  

Wouldn’t you know it, the storm turned east as we were heading south and it almost caught us.  As we drove through Paris AR, the tornado sirens were going off.  We briefly pulled everything into a low spot and we’re going to ride it out.  After maybe 30 seconds we decided to run for it again and drove south.  We made it all the way down to Magazine AR and were out of harms way.  

We parked at a gas station, fed the dogs and it a pizza to go.  The attendant told Katy they were expecting sever weather in the hour (confirmed by radar) and that we could park in the brick car wash.  We decided against that too and made a run for Fort Smith.  We made a big circle and headed north to get out of the warning/watch area.  

We pulled into a Harps Grocery store well after dark and Katy asked if we could stay in the lot for the night.  They said sure so we leveled off the best we could and relaxed for the night.

Yesterday we got up rather early, picked up some groceries and hit the road.  We didn’t want to overstay our welcome.  There was also a bus in the parking lot that did not look drive able.  There were at least two people in it and one of them chose to shave in the mens room at the grocery store.  He also chose not to clean up after himself.  That’s how generosity goes away.  That is why lots of Walmarts no longer allow overnight stays.  

We took a very curvy drive down to Devils Den State Park.  There wasn’t room for us in the parking areas because we had the trailer hooked up so we just did a drive by.  It is a very beautiful area and we’re going to have to come back.  

Back on the interstate we headed north and made our way to Springdale.  We used the open drain dump station at the water treatment plant.  That was interesting…. The people were really nice and it was free.  I think it is used for septic trucks to just pull up and let loose.  After the dump station, we walked the dogs at Springdale Lake Park.  It was a nice area with a ton of walking and bike trails.  

After the park we came out to Saddlebock Brewery/Grape Creek Vineyard and set up for our stay in the area.  We had a quick bite for lunch and drove into town to explore.  Parts of the town had been hit by an F3 tornado a few weeks ago.  They are still cleaning up from it.  Lots of damage.  We briefly explored town and headed back towards Saddlebock.  

On the drive back we stopped at Sassafras Springs Winery.  We split a red and white tasting and enjoyed the property.  I also got on WiFi and updated my phone.  The wines were great, the property is amazing and it is one of our favorite wineries of the trip so far.  We may have left with a bottle or two.  

Back at the rig we hung out, played some games, made dinner and watched TV.  We were both tired from the long day on Monday.  We moved the TV to the bedroom and fell asleep with it on.  I can’t remember the last time we did that.