Retreat from Hurricane Gordon

Two days ago, Brent asked me, "When is it hurricane season here?"

I did a quick Google search to confirm, "Late August through September... so like, now." We kind of nervously smiled at each other and repeated aloud our policy: We won't mess with Mother Nature when we have a home we can move.

We woke the next day after a sleepless night of swatting some 30-40 mosquitoes who had made their way into the trailer, and started packing snacks for our swamp cruise. Then, I checked my messages. My step-mom had sent a quick message about a tropical storm heading our way. I confirmed the warning and path of the storm, and we were on the phone calling the people in Lafitte who run the swamp tour, the park rangers, and even the local sheriff to get their perspectives. No one seemed worried and in St. Bernard, where we were, the ranger said there is a new sea wall that would keep out flooding, but he did say we were likely to lose power for a few days.

The decision was easy-- we left New Orleans three days early and drove northeast.

How misleading the weather when it's blue skies and sunny, knowing there is a tropical storm on it's way!

Our plan was to get up toward Montgomery, Alabama, though we were open to heading due east, straight through to northern Florida. We had plenty of driving to do and figured we'd pinpoint our destination along the way. The hours pressed on and needing a break from the drive, we stopped along the Gulf in Mississippi. We parked across the street from the beach at Buffett Beach, of all random places (must have been some act of fate on my mom's birthday!). The girls and dogs played in the sand and we waved at joggers and people in golf carts making their way along the sidewalk.

It was like any other day! I peered out over the water, wondering how it would look in just a few hours and then back at the homes along the shore and wondered how they would do in the storm.

We loaded up and got back on the road, and as the storm warning graduated to hurricane warning, we were crossing through Biloxi, which was beautiful!! I watched sailboats and speedboats play in the rivers around us, contradicting thoughts racing through my mind about the impending storm.

Blue skies and white, fluffy clouds sat overhead as we crossed into Alabama, and we blasted "Sweet Home Alabama" as a requisite welcome to the state. A few dark gray clouds lingered above the white clouds, but hardly an indication of what is to come.

By the time we reached Mobile, Alabama, the skies were darkening to the east. We were tired and we knew the actual storm wasn't scheduled to hit until the next day, but the skies were menacing to say the least. We got out to take pictures over the water (it really is a beautiful area!!), and Brent and I put our heads together to figure what to do. We'd seen people two blocks away all dressed up and getting out of their cars to go into obviously popular restaurants. To our right were two men fishing off the turnout where we'd parked. But, then, this was coming in over the water from the south (below)!

Staring down the incoming storm was a sight we could hardly wrap our heads around, and it contradicted what we were seeing around us. Maybe this was just normal??

We'd been driving all day and it was already nearly 8:00pm, and before we could decide how far to keep driving, a wind pushed at us from across the water and big balls of rain smacked down on us. Brent and I shared a quick peck of a kiss on the cheek and quickly retreated to our respective vehicles. When we pulled out onto the highway again, the rain was coming down so hard, we couldn't see out our windshields. I could only just make out that we were on a bridge/interchange with water on either side of us, but I squinted to see the lines on the road.

It was the first time I'd worried since the fires and smoke we drove days to get out of this time last year in the Northwest. I had to talk myself back to reason, watching locals race past us on the highway as if this was normal. Lightening lit the entire sky from behind the dark clouds to our left, but I pictured the storm's path in my head and kept in mind the time frame we'd been reading about this storm. This wasn't THE hurricane-- it was the front side of the weather system ahead of its center. As I reminded myself of this, the rain lightened significantly and remained a "normal" rain as we drove through wooded highways back to the 65.

We eventually drove back onto the 65, a four lane highway. It was nearing 9:00pm and Evelyn was asking, "Are we there, yet?" I apologized because I knew it had been a long day, but I told her we didn't know where "there" was, yet! The rain had stopped where we were, though, and though we were headed in the direction of Montgomery, we were getting weary. I spotted a sign for Wind Creek Casino as we drove along just as Brent did. We were calling each other at the same time to consider stopping.

What a relief it was to arrive here! The RV park is on high ground, there's a building nearby we could retreat to if needed, and it was easy to get to. We checked the map and saw that we were still in the "Advisory" zone, but outside of the path of the storm.

We slept well last night, and the sun is shining today. We know the rains are coming, and I'm picturing all the beautiful areas we drove through yesterday, knowing a hurricane is heading right for them, but I'm grateful we followed our gut and left New Orleans. I'm sad not to have done the two things I wanted to there, but swamp tours and steamboats will wait. For now, our family is safe from the storm.

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Retreat from Hurricane Gordon

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