The heat was oppressive and the attendance reflected
that….only about 15 vehicles showed up by the time we left around 8:30. When we left we cruised north for home and
the closer we got to Stafford the more lightning we saw. As we turned off I-95 onto Garrisonville Rd.
the sky just lit up….it was awesome and frightening at the same time. It was much more than normal heat
lightning….something violent was coming our way. We got the truck in the garage and I was
getting the bugs off of it and unloading the cooler when the wind started
howling…. I closed one of the garage doors and looked around the back of the
garage and the lightning and wind was rapidly approaching! It got darker and nosier even though it was already
night time, about 10 PM. Then the rain
& wind started pummeling the trees….stripping leaves and acorns off. I closed the garage up and went inside….a few
minutes later the power went off….and would not come back on for 8 hours! We have two oak trees and the acorns coming
off sounded like hail when it hit our skylight and aluminum window
awnings. The neighbors would tell us
later that one of our trees in the front yard was blowing over from side to side;
they knew it would be broken off or ripped out of the ground! Neither happened fortunately for us but the
devastation was massive in the area and state.
The Governor has issued a “State of Emergency” and three days later the
power is still off in many places! The
storm was called a Derecho storm, like a horizontal tornado….I never heard of
anything like that. The next day,
Saturday, the power was off at many food places and gasoline dispensing
stores. And by Sunday the gas stations that
had power and were open were running out of gasoline! Long lines like the gas extortion of the 70’s
were replaying in my mind as I waited in a line for 45 min to buy 5 gallons of
gas for our generator. The weather
guessers were saying we might be visited by storms again each night for a few
days!
Sunday we had planned an event in Amissville, VA for the
last six months and we had to try to follow through. Those of us that had power cranked up and
cruised to the event at Narmada Winery.
We had planned a vehicle display to complement the weekend event at the
Winery that day. We had invited 20
vehicles but many were calling to cancel because they were dealing with the
effects of the storm. Six vehicles
showed up and we made the best of it for our charity, Fisher House. The heat was too much for one couple so they left for home and their A/C....smart move! THE Princess and
the ‘other’ Princess started sampling the wine slushies inside the winery…. she
said it was nice inside and she wanted to stay longer! An Irish/Cherokee is not
easily negotiated with when slushied to the max. She said the wine was just like her truck,
purple. It’s a good thing she had a
driver….
It was stiflingly hot but we set up and started interacting
with the spectators and in the process collected $100 in donations for Fisher
House. But more importantly we raised
awareness to the concerns of our warriors.
It’s what we do! We decided to
call the event early….Did I mention that it was really hot. We presented one of the owners of the Winery
with an appreciation plaque and packed up for home. Given the effects of the storm it was
extraordinary that anyone could get out….trees were down everywhere and people
without power numbered above 100K. But we
pressed on and followed through with what we could….it’s what we do!
Be sure to check out the rest of the pictures at;
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