Hi Everyone. Well, after 15 years the RV-Dreams Community Forum is coming to an end. Since it began in August 2005, we've had 58 Million page views, 124,000 posts, and we've spent about $15,000 to keep this valuable resource for RVers free and open. But since we are now off the road and have settled down for the next chapter of our lives, we are taking the Forum down effective June 30, 2021. It has been a tough decision, but it is now time.
We want to thank all of our members for their participation and input over the years, and we want to especially thank those that have acted as Moderators for us during our amazing journey living and traveling in our RV and growing the RV-Dreams Family. We will be forever proud to have been founders of this Forum and to have been supported by such a wonderful community. Thank you all!!
Man! We were all set for a fantastic weekend . . . all campsites were booked - barbeque and blues set for Sat & Sun . . . ready to have a blast.
Instead, we're watching the Missouri River levels climb and climb. Will crest on Friday night - the lower campground will be under water. Bummer!
Guess it's just another lesson in life . . . no need to stress - just go with the flow. Can't help but go with the flow now - you should see the river FLOWING and FLOWING and FLOWING!
The campground owner has bigger concerns - his corn crop that he's trying to protect. Man vs nature usually doesn't come out on man's side.
Anyway, we are safe and ready to bug out if the river forecast gets any worse.
Many a Memorial Day weekend, and more, has already been ruined by this wild tornadic spring weather.
I keep thinking about all the losses in Tuscaloosa, Joplin, and elsewhere, and I'm just thankful that I'm still alive. I can't even begin to imagine what these victims are going through. It may not be at the top of the news any more, but their ordeal is still ongoing.
I saw a video of the Tuscaloosa tornado made by some college students outside their apartment. Fortunately for them the tornado was moving away, but in the background I could hear someone saying over and over "This is so cool". What an idiot. Property was being destroyed and lives were being lost.
We just became full timers from the Joplin area and have a lot of friends there. (We're in RI for the moment.) We were frantic Sunday evening trying to get ahold of everyone and make sure they were ok - thankfully, they all are.
One young newlywed couple (1 year in June) lost everything. She wasn't home; she was in TX visiting with her mother and grandmother. He put up a video of what's left of their apartment and explained in the video that he was laying on the couch watching the storm form and was so fascinated by it that he didn't budge when the sirens went off. By the time he knew he was in danger, there wasn't time for him to get downstairs from their 3rd floor apartment. He grabbed pillows and lay flat in their bathtub as the roof was being ripped off over his head. He said he was trying to cling to that bathtub with his whole body! Their apartment was directly behind the Walmart that was destroyed.
Another couple told me that the next morning, Monday, they were out in their yard and noticed those greenish ugly clouds over their heads and the beginnings of another funnel forming. They ran to their car and drove off, hoping to out run it. WHAT?!!! They're from back here in New England and, even though we'd been telling them repeatedly what to and not to do if a tornado came, she thought they should try to drive to a shelter like you would before a hurricane.
I grew up in SW Iowa in tornado country. You see clouds like that and you 'duck & cover' as fast as you can. You do not languish on your couch watching and you do not try to out run it in your car. There's no guarantee when it will actually touch down and which direction it will actually go. The young man learned the hard way to waste no time getting to a safe place. And the couple, whose hair was standing on end by the time I finished ranting over the telephone, now know to get to a nearby safe place quickly (they had to do that 4 times Monday & Tuesday).
Sorry, still venting here. Everyone stay safe this weekend!
-- Edited by Mike and Gloria on Friday 27th of May 2011 12:26:11 PM
We were in Arkansas for some of that bad weather. I feel for all those folks and wish them well as they rebuild. Back in the upper midwest now and helping the kids with water in basements and higher water coming. After getting over 100" of snow this winter I am sure it is to be expected. They seem to just be happy the snow is gone and warming up. I think it is a little chilly myself. ha!
