Tourism and Tornadoes: is this StressLess Camping?
We are exploring roadside attractions and experienced a tornado warning
We are continuing our slow but steady trip from Texas to Indiana. We are taking the time to see all the fun and silly nonsense we normally would speed right past. We are loving this slow way of traveling!
A few more days down the road
My last entry was from West Memphis KOA in Arkansas. We had considered going further that day, but decided to stop and rest. That’s part of the reason we are not planning more than an hour ahead on this trip - if we had a reservation we would have had to get to that pre-determined destination instead of stopping when we were ready to stop.
Weather or not we like springtime
That night we also had to run the air conditioner, mostly to combat the humidity. We’ll get to our current location by the end of this post. For now I’ll tell you that we are running the fireplace to combat the cool of the evening.
I guess that’s what to expect while traveling in the midwest in springtime. Heat, humidity, cold, rain… and tornadoes. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Carry me back to Tennessee
We stopped in Brownsville, Tennessee for a museum extravaganza. We recommend a visit to the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center. The greeter explained that it is five museums in one, though each is basically one room.
Inside the main building, we saw the Hatchie Scenic River Museum, highlighting the longest free-flowing tributary of the lower Mississippi. Known as the last “wild” river, its course is the only one left that has never been altered by man. We learned about fish, snapping turtles, birds, and mammals native to the forested floodplain. Naturally, I spent a lot of time in this room.
Next up was the West Tennessee Music Museum. I had no idea that so many musical artists had come from this region! The layout reminded me of a science fair; each artist had a “poster” segment with photos, stories, and memorabilia.
Tony spent a good deal of time checking out the farm implements in the West Tennessee Cotton Museum. I enjoyed the collection of white oak baskets. Agriculture is still the primary industry of this part of the country.
Outside, I took a tour of the home of “Sleepy” John Estes. A two-room wood building, it is now looking very dated. It is small, but so is our travel trailer and we do just fine!
In the old Flagg Grove School one-room schoolhouse, Tina Turner’s books and outfits are prominently displayed. Anna Mae Bullock’s (Tina’s name as a child) former school was moved to the current location from Nutbush, Tennessee.
We learned about this museum from Harvest Hosts, and had planned to overnight here but decided to stop earlier that day.
But wait, there’s more!
In downtown Brownsville, we gawked at The Mindfield. This one-acre 13-story-tall metal sculpture is described by creator Billy Tripp as representing his emotions and personal growth. Tripp keeps adding to his masterpiece, which is made of anything metal that he can salvage…and paint gray.
Mooching a dock
From Brownsville, we made our way to moochdock with my cousin in northwestern Tennessee. Our timing wasn’t the best, as my aunt had gone on a waterfall trip with a friend, and Dan’s wife Kim got in late from a trip to the city. We had a nice chat with Dan, and got a tour of the new house he just built. As usual, it is beautiful. If you ever want a house built in NW Tennessee, let me know and I’ll connect you with him!
Short trips are the theme
The next day, we didn’t get very far. We were doing our “everything on the Roadside app” and we stopped in Paducah, Kentucky. In the next town, Calvert City, was Hillbilly Gardens, which we really wanted to explore. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of parking there, so with the travel trailer we were sort of out of luck. On the other hand, there was a KOA nearby with space for two nights. Yay! We made our way there, and spent the night so we could visit Apple Valley Hillbilly Garden and Toyland the next day.
Oh boy, what a happy couple of tourists we were the next day! The owners of the facility gave us a punderful tour. It’s as much “pun city” as it is “yard art” and we absolutely loved every minute of it! Toyland was a wonderland of every toy I ever heard of - and a whole bunch I never heard of!
Stormwatch
When we checked in to the KOA, she asked us if we knew a storm was coming the next night. We sort of had an idea, but only sort of. As it turned out, I was really happy we didn’t try to travel on Wednesday. As it turned out, we spent a few hours with the rest of the less-than-happy campers, waiting out a tornado warning. Knowing it was coming, I had packed a GO bag and had it waiting by the door. I had snacks, games, lanterns, and blankets. I had visited the basement earlier in the day and knew it was chilly down there.
We had eaten dinner, washed up, and were putting the finishing touches on the week’s podcast when we heard the sirens. We layered up, gathered our bags and chairs, and headed to the basement.
A couple of locals, and a woman who works in disaster relief, were among our new friends. With a weather radio and some “experts” to keep up appraised of the situation, we chatted with other campers, pet the doggies, and hoped we still had a camper to return to. We could actually see the Mini Lite from the window and sliding door, so we knew it was still there.
At one point, Tony went close to the door to take video. Suddenly, the woman closed the door and said it was so still that the tornado was right over us, and we just had to hope it didn’t touch down. It didn’t. Phew.
I didn’t learn about that conversation until the next day, which was probably a good thing.
When the watch expired, we gathered up some of our things to head back to our sites. We left our chairs and blankets, in case we needed to return that night. We didn’t. Phew.
We went to bed, but I kept watching the Clime app until the tornado watch expired at midnight.
To be continued
That was a couple days ago, but I’m getting tired. Tomorrow I’ll work on more of the story. None of it is as punny, nor as nerve-wracking, as what I just wrote. So don’t worry!
We only have another day or two of this fun, non-planning plan, before we reach our destination. I hope the weather doesn’t drown our fun over the next couple of days.
Have you ever?
Have you experienced a tornado warning, or other natural disaster?
