Stormy Weather

Surprise! We did go camping after all. Dennis unhooked the lights from the "topper" or "canopy," whatever you call it where you live, from the truck battery and jump-started it with the car. Zoom! It started right up. No problems all week. So this morning he's back at the shop with it, and hopefully they will wire it right this time. I'll have to get a photo of it for the next post for you. It looks really nice and was so much easier to camp with. Especially during the storms we had. We had much more room to just throw things in to get them out of the weather.

On Tuesday morning severe storms were predicted around noon. Whoo-boy! They were some major storms! Five inches of rain fell both at the campground 25 minutes from home and at the condo too in less than an hour. Major flooding all over Omaha and the surrounding areas. The difference? We had no hail at the campground. The condo got 2 1/2 inch hail. If we had stayed home, Dennis' truck would have been destroyed. It ruined many, many roofs, and even broke off pieces of the hardy plank siding of Mandy and Brad's house and broke their neighbors windows. I guess it was good we were in the camper! We had no leaks and the winds didn't move us at all. It did break some trees off in the campground. These were the same storms that spawned tornadoes that killed five people in Iowa. My heart goes out to them.

We were there from Monday about noon until yesterday, Thursday. It was so nice and quiet all week and then on Wednesday night lots of campers started filling up the spots with campers, vans and tents for the long holiday weekend. And dogs. Lots and lots of BIG barking dogs. We were glad to come home. You know we love dogs. All kinds of dogs. But not dogs that people allow to bark constantly for hours at a time.

The drawback though? I had no internet to comment on your posts with. Normally my hotspot on my phone will work and I can use the laptop to comment, but it didn't work this time. My phone won't let me comment at all. I did read all of your posts, just couldn't comment. I've tried to touch base with all of you this morning. Since we have no other camping adventures planned until we leave for Spokane late next month, I should be able to keep in touch now.

Susan q. asked what the pattern was on my last post for the donation blanket. It was the "Every Which-way Blanket" which is free on Ravelry and I added a few rows at the top and bottom to make it a little longer for the wheelchair.  I also do a lot of granny squares for the donation blankets. There are so many options when you make grannies.

Moving on to last night when we woke up at 1:30 a.m. with the tornado sirens going off. Five simitaneous tornado warnings were up for the Omaha area. One was right over where we were camping yesterday. We were fine here in the condo, but the two biggest storms went about 1 mile north of us and approximately 2 miles south before moving into Iowa.  What in the tarnation is happening this year? It's been pretty quiet since we move back to the midwest three years ago until now. THIS is the reason I agreed to move west when Dennis was offered his job by a headhunter 31 years ago! We had spent most of the spring/early summer in the tornado shelter. Last night we had straightline winds of 94 mph in our immediate neighborhood! It was crazy. Lots and lots of rain again. We've had more rain in the last 3 weeks than in the past two years combined!

But...we're home. Safe and sound so far and no more storms predicted until Sunday. Whoo-hoo!

More news! This happened yesterday! Piper graduated from Elementary to Middle School. Just how did this happen?

How did she go from this...

to this in just a few short days?   Ha! It does seem like just a few days doesn't it?

Papa is on his way right now to pick her and sweet Lizzie up to spend the day with us and this ruffian below. Zoey, not Papa is the ruffian! :-) Zoey is a great camper. She loves to watch out the windows and play in her pen that we have for her. She just watched the world go by and uses us for her personal ladders when needed. Please ignore Papa's unbuttoned shirt. This was just before the storms rolled in Tuesday and it was getting pretty hot. Look at that deceptive blue sky. That sure didn't last long!

I did start this during the storms on Tuesday. It will be another wheelchair blanket. I like the colors. The different creams, grays and pinkish squares are from the same skein of yarn. The lavender is a solid skein. I'll get the ball bands and give you the names next time when it's finished.

And I better finish this off before our girls arrive. They'll keep me busy all day long. I pray that you'll have a peaceful and safe holiday weekend. No storms either. Pray for the peace of the middle east. My heart breaks for them.

Blessings and love,

Betsy