Our ultimate destination is Destin, FL but we’re here at Seminole State Park to spend the New Years weekend since the state parks in Destin are booked until after the first of the year. Gwynne, our wonderful daughter-in-law, was the first person to recommend we visit Destin, FL. She told us how beautiful Destin is with it’s fine white sandy beaches and emerald colored water. So, we thought we’d head there and see it for ourselves.
When we arrived here at Seminole State Park, we realized we were in for a few days of major storms here and at Destin! We were only planning to camp here 2 nights but extended it to 4 nights because we’re camped on high ground and we don’t want to be traveling to Destin during the storms. These are predicted to be very strong storms. We did a food inventory to make sure we’d be okay for the additional 2 days in the woods. We’ll be short on trash bags and the only veggies we have are green beans so that’s what we’ll have for 3 of the 4 days!
EXPLORING SEMINOLE STATE PARK
Seminole State Park is a layover spot for us, not a destination but we find it fun to explore no matter where we are located. We explored the trails in the park by bike one day. The next day, after getting cabin fever, we walked the length of the park experimenting with a new camera Terry had purchased. It’s amazing what you “see” when you take the time to look closer at a bird or animal.
Top left-Stuck in the RV with bananas...Terry makes Banana Pudding, served warm, of course!
Bottom left-When the blue tub is full of dirty dishes, it's time to wash but this is ridiculous!
Top right-The view outside our window as one of the storms passes through.
Bottom right-Peggy is craving toast and this is how we make it...very slowly.
Some of the "wildlife" we discovered as we rode bikes and hiked around the campground. Swings and rocking chairs are common in Georgia state parks.
We are biding our time waiting for the storms to come through. The campground is completely full for New Years Eve. It's families with kids and the kids are all excited to be allowed to stay up outside until midnight, even when it's lightly raining. Many of the sites have lights still on way past midnight. We've been hearing fireworks in the distance all evening.
BIG STORM-TORNADO WARNING-SEEK SHELTER
It’s Monday afternoon, January 2nd and the worst of the storms are coming through in a few hours. Most of the campers have left except about 9 of us. The RV is ready for the storm. The awning is rolled up. The door mat is put away and the windshield cover is off. Terry filled up the water tank and we’ve taken our showers. It’s a BIG storm. We can see it on the NOAA app coming across the southern states.
It’s Monday evening, January 2nd and the storm is coming through. We’re under a Tornado Watch and Flash Flood Watch. We’ve packed up the laptop, iPads, meds, cash and 2 small chairs in case we have to leave the RV. We’ve charged everything up. We’re listening to the emergency radio with a map out to try and find the locations in trouble. We don’t know the area so we feel lost. The restroom/laundry room is made of stone so we’re thinking we could go there if we need to seek shelter.
It’s 9:27 pm and the emergency radio says “Seek shelter now!” A tornado has touched down NE of Donalsonville, GA near us. We left the RV and went to the restroom/laundry room. We watch the storm from the laundry room. So far, we have not seen the 50-60 mph winds the radio talks about. Thank God! We’re in a forest with trees everywhere. Winds that high would be very scary here. Lightening makes visibility as if it is daytime. The rain is coming down so hard we can barely hear the radio. Power is out now.
Left top-the stone restroom/laundry room we used as a shelter.
Right top-the storm radar. The blue dot is where we are and the red is the intensity of the storm.
Left 2-Terry taking down the awning, stowing away all loose items.
Left 3-The view from the shelter at 9:45 pm as lightening lights up the sky.
Left 4-"Coolio" our Dollar General Christmas decoration brightening our night after the power went out.
Right 2-Waiting out the storm in the laundry room with the emergency radio behind us.
It’s around 10 pm and the Tornado Warning has been cancelled. It’s a Tornado Watch now. We’re going back to the RV but we’ll leave everything packed up, keep the radio on and watch the radar on the NOAA iPhone app. There’s still some really bad weather headed our way in the next several hours.
It’s midnight. The really bad cells went just to either side of us. There’s one last bad cell coming towards us. We’re going to lie down, leaving the radio on. We figure we’ll hear that horrible RAW RAW RAW sound the emergency radio puts out when there’s a warning.
It’s Tuesday, January 3rd...We fell asleep last night. The cell bypassed us, going just north of us. Power is still out. There’s no water, toilets don’t flush, can’t rinse at the dump station– all probably because a pump has no power. We’re heading to Destin, FL today. Terry’s looked at the areas that have been hit and where the areal flooding has occurred. Our route will avoid those areas as much as possible.
NOTE TO SELF: Filling up the water tank before the storm was a really good idea…accidentally!
Camping: Seminole State Park, Donalsville, GA
Electricity, water, nice showers, dump station, Verizon 1-2 LTE/3G