Soul Food - until!

I was going to write about the Soul Food of San Antonio. I was going to chat about the River Walk - 2.5 miles of water, waterfalls, flowers, people, shops and cafes. Wow. It was Fiesta Weekend and thousands of people lined the streets for the Mariachi Parade and filled the Riverwalk with lively chatter and colourful hats and flower headbands. I was going to write about that until.......

I was going to write about our Soul Food visit (that was the sermon title) to Travis Park United Methodist church - happy music, good words (!), enthusiastic Celebration band and singers- they even had Rip a-toe-tapping!! I was going to write more about that until......

Until.......Rip and I survived a tornado. I mean really. We were heading west towards Big Bend National Park and the sky got darker and more purple and the rains began. Suddenly all the cars and trucks in front and behind us pulled off the highway. I mean they pulled off, not slowly onto the shoulder, but right off the highway as if they meant business on scruffy land where you would never think to go. They pulled over and huddled beside large rocks, as close as they could get.

We followed. We knew someone knew something important. We turned on the radio. An announcer was giving instructions for safety - go to the basement of your house if you have one. If you don't get on the floor under a bed - cover your head. If you are in a vehicle, pull over. Take cover. Finally the announcer said that a tornado had been spotted at Interstate 10 and exit 290, heading east.

We were 1/2 mile from I-10 and 290 heading west. Coming our way. The air was cool and clammy and weird. The sky was dark purple, but there was a warm, haunting light on the rocks next to the dark black of the highway pavement.

The rain drops became as large as fists; then the hail started, large as golf balls. Some trucks positioned themselves backwards from how they had been travelling - to protect their windshield. We waited.

We moved when others moved; stopping many times under roadway bridges; going from winds to rain to hail; lighter, heavier, heavier still. In some places it looked like a snowstorm at the side of the road. The hail ping-ed, ping-ed, ping-ed on our RipsJoy windows and metal.

It was some miles before we felt safe again. Rip said I looked like a "deer in the headlights". He pretended all was well - but afterwards said how scared he was to someone at our campsite. So Mars and Venus of us!

We had survived a tornado. The locals say they never get used to it. We arrived at Fort Stockton, Texas and found a campsite, some Soul Food and a bottle of wine. We will get to Big Bend Ntl. Park another day - :) until then!