Spring Break Part I

I love spring break. I think it was one of the best things ever invented. It is very sad to say that next year will be my last one and then I will enter the world of only a weeks vacation all year. This I believe will be one of the hardest adjustments to entering the work force. So to savor the tradition my friend Meghan and I decided to do an good old fashioned road trip for our 10 day get away. And what is more traditional than heading south to good old sunny Florida? But as we would soon discover our road trip was to be no more ordinary than we were.

Beginning by making a stop in Atlanta our first night we found our selves in the middle of a tornado. You may think that I am exaggerating but I assure you I am not. We were in search of parking at a coffee shop when Meghan's mom called and said there was really bad weather coming our way, we did not take this very seriously as it wasn't even raining outside. But as we continued to circle the block we noticed some lighting and in frustration of no parking spots we decided to head back to the place we were staying. No sooner did we get on the interstate than the wind picked up and it began to pour golf ball sized water drops. In a matter of about two min. the sky turned completely dark and as I looked up it looked like the Wizard of OZ. Things were just floating in the sky as if they were feathers. The clouds were funneling. Dirt and debree were hitting our car. We saw a green interstate sign whiz past us as if it were weightless. Now traveling very slowly almost at a stop we went under an over pass and as we did the electricity went out.

Now being from Iowa I am familiar with tornadoes. Ideally you should stop the car, get out and lay flat in a ditch. Well what do you do if you are on an over pass and there is no place to get out or off? Our answer pray, out loud, over and over.

Almost as suddenly as it came it seem to leave with only normal amounts of rain the traffic again picked up and we continued to the house where we were staying. A few miles down the road we noticed a hole in Meghan's back windshield. Something during the storm shattered the glass and every time we opened or closed a door or went over a bump the hole got bigger and bigger. By the next day when the "Glass Doctor" came to replace it was about a foot tall and about 2 feet long. Luckily we were able to get it fixed the next day and it didn't delay our travel plans.

We have much to be thankful for as in watching news coverage we were only about 2-4 blocks away from where the tornado touched down causing damage at the CNN building, the Georgia Dome, and the Centennial Park.

This is just the first of many stories to come. Stay tuned for more exciting road trip adventures!

Love from Liberty,

Peggy