The kids, Marc, Chris, Susie and Teri left yesterday. We hated to see them go. They really out did themselves this year and fixed wonderful meal after meal. Tooooo much food but it was all soooooo good! We had wonderful weather up until Thurs morning when a HUGE wind came through and destroyed Marc’s tiki tent. Oh well it was fun while it lasted. Other than that things went as planned and you could not have asked for a more enjoyable, peaceful time.
The last night the boys bought me a couple Buds and frosted up some mugs and the three of us went out to the dock and watched the sunset. Can you say “it don’t get any better than this”! As a side note … there was a group of people having a party at the Sneaky-Tiki. They arrived on a party barge. When they got ready to leave they left one of their party … she was not happy! She was sitting on the end of the dock phoning and texting trying to get them to come back. They finally did and they continued their party.
On the kids’ last night Mike and Shannon arrived. They had hoped to get here around 5 or 6 PM but it ended up being closer to 11:30 … so everyone was in bed. I waited up and gave them their keys. I had picked them up from the office earlier in the day. Just a quick hello and they were off to their Tiki-Hut and I was off to bed.
Hope fixed dinner for us Fri night, BBQ ribs and mac-n-cheese. To make it healthy we also had a salad. Everyone had plenty and Hope took the leftovers to the staff at the Sneaky-Tiki. Teri and Susie had started doing that early in the week and Hope continued … the kids at the bar really appreciated it since they don’t serve food at the “S-T”. After dinner we took a ride in Shannon’s car over to the Elks lodge. We wanted to watch the sunset from the back porch. The lodge was packed and everyone was having a good time. The sunset did not disappoint!
Back to Bella-Rae to enjoy the rest of the evening and visit with Mike and Shannon. Such a pleasant time but soon it was time for bed. There was a storm warning alert for the next morning so Hope and I pulled the room and awnings in to prevent any chance of wind damage. During the night the rain and wind rocked the bus back and forth … which is not an unpleasant experience until you think of the fact that the bus weighs almost 40,000 lbs. Around 5 AM I woke up worried about the kayaks. I left them tied up on the rocks near the water. So I got up and put some warmer clothes on and stumbled across the beach to where the boats were. They seemed OK but I moved them behind a picnic table just to be sure. I also picked up a lot of loose items like shoes and wheel covers and life jackets and anything else that might blow away.
When I made my way back into the bus I had to explain to Hope what I was doing outside because, of course, I woke all the dogs up. Anyway … back in bed we napped and comforted the puppies as the thunder and rain picked up again. BOOM BOOM BOOM and then around 7 the sun started coming up and things got quiet. I got up and fixed coffee and moved the kitchen slide back out so we would have more room …. MISTAKE! I checked the weather radar and the storm was NOT over. As it turned out a RED cell developed right over the beach where we were parked. First came the wind … at least 30-40 mph gusts … then the rain … it was raining sideways. By this time I figured I had jumped the gun on letting the slide out and pulled it back in again. Just in time because it started hailing like crazy … marble sized chunks of ice were pelting the bus … it is hard to explain how loud it was. Of course the puppies were having a fit. Hope and I sat with them on the floor trying to calm them down and hoping the hail would not do any damage. It seems like it lasted for an hour … I am sure it was only 5-10 mins. Finally it was over … just a gentle breeze and a little rain. We called Mike and Shannon to check on them … Shannon was fine and Mike had gone to the man building to the bathroom so he hardly hear a thing 😉
Now we are sitting in the quiet waiting for the last of the storm to pass so we can re-open our bus … although Hope says the radar shows another YELLOW cell on the way … more later.
We have had a most wonderful experience from the beginning of our trip. Stop by Hodges vineyard and winery. Enjoyed the peaceful setting there and of course the wine. Then we stayed at The Woods RV resort in Montgomery and waited for the kids to join us. We’ve had a most restful time thus far. Teri and Susie out did their self withe the meals they prepared. Chris and Marc also helped. We are right now sitting and enjoying the rain because there isn’t anything else we can do. Will be heading to Peg Leg Pete’s around 11:30 with Mike and Shannon. Robin will be joining us there. Looking forward to having lunch with everyone.