Weather
In the previous blog Kathleen placed us where we are and what we are up to but she failed to mention the weather.
Like those that could, we hung back in the Southwest because the weather north seemed rather unsettled and cold. In watching the weather it appeared that it was warming and so off we went. I admit, I did make the trip North a little faster than would have been necessary but so much of the area we needed to cross is known as tornado alley and I really didn’t want to park under one.
Our weather problems started with our second night in Des Moines when throughout the night (5 times) our NOAA weather alert radio went off to warn us of approaching severe thunder storms and hail. It did get nasty but the hail stayed small enough not to do any damage to us.
We got lucky to have a sunny day to continue on to the Northeast area of Iowa and the small community of Elkader. The Deer Run RV Park would be our home for a few days while we then drove a few miles to visit my mom who is now in an assisted living facility in Garnavillo, Iowa (the town that Kathleen and I both graduated high school from).
That was the last sun shine we would see as the last couple of days have been constant rain, thunder, lightening, and anything else you can imagine. We are camped along the Turkey River here in Elkader and it is at the top of its banks and continuing to rise. During the night the towns siren went off for about 10 minutes and we were concerned enough to try and find out what was going on. There were vehicles running around shining lights here and there. I put my robe on and went out to flag one down to inquire and was told that the local fire fighters had been called out to sand bag just below us as the river had breached the dyke. He assured us we were on high enough ground that we should be OK for the time being. This morning the road leading in to the town and this camp ground is closed as the water had been over the road during the night. Apparently the sand bags did their thing as the water is no longer over the road, but the road remains closed to all but local traffic.
We were going to move today but will remain put as the pending weather is looking even more ominous. The temperatures are scheduled to drop some 20 degree’s in the next couple of hours as the rain/snow will intensify when the front passes. The forecast for all of next week look to be wet and cold.
Wonder how long it would take this retired truck driver to make it back to at least Yuma, Arizona?
