Storms and Weddings

The threat of tornados is not fun. Especially in the middle of the night. Most of the campground residents were out watching the sky over the mountains around us. We were told that a tornado would most likely come up the Wears Valley route (our campground is ON Wears Valley Rd) rather than over the mountain, but we couldn’t see down the valley very well. There were a couple huge gusts of wind until 8 pm and then it started getting dark. The weather center kept us informed all evening of the splinter cells that may be even more dangerous than the solid line. They promised us that the tornado warnings would be over by 12:30 am. We couldn’t keep our eyes open, but they sure opened when we started rocking from the wind and the rain turned into hail. Gary laughed when I put the blankets over my head praying for the hail to be small and brief. Fortunately it was, and we finally got to sleep again around 1 am. Scary.

Morning dawned with heavy clouds, but little chance of rain. We slowly got moving and got out around 11:30 to look around. There was no visible damage in our area – we didn’t even lose power! But we heard of so much destruction all around us. Our hearts go out to all those who suffered losses, especially loved ones. A reminder that things really can change in a minute.

We checked out the Christmas Place. It’s a huge complex devoted to Christmas in every conceivable way: music, decorations, jewelry, toys and even upside down trees. The music put us in the Christmas mood and it was fun remembering past Christmases as we browsed all the displays.

We ate lunch at the Blue Moose Burger and Wings restaurant.
Friends Donna and Ron told us that if we got a Blue Moose key chain, we could get free appetizers. The Poker Chips were their favorite. They are breaded and deep fried dill pickle chips. Our waitress brought us two key chains and said we could get apps at half price. We tried the chips and this is what they looked like.
Gary loved them! There were enough to take home along with half my burger and some of Gary’s wings. Our rating: thumbs up!

Friday was a work day. Whew, 8 ½ hours is a long time to be on your feet. We really enjoy meeting people and we also enjoy our job. Gary was on the register most of the day and I cooked sausages and cleaned tables. Sounds easy, I know, but it’s the standing that we’re not used to. We get to do it all again tomorrow from 12 to 8. Cha ching!

We watched the Royal Wedding a little while getting ready this morning. What a beautiful bride and groom. We hope they’ll be as happy as… us! Too bad they’ll never experience the RV life!