Yesterday, Sunday, June 2nd, did not go as we had planned. We spent the morning relaxing for a little while. Then we did some chores around the motorcoach. We needed to do some grocery shopping and pick up some RV mechanical supplies at Camping World.
We left around 11:00 a.m. We didn’t take our shih tzu with us because she wouldn’t be allowed in the grocery store. She does just fine in the RV alone; we leave the radio on for her to help “cover up” any outside sounds and give her a scrumptious dog bone treat when we walk out the door.
The grocery store and Camping World were about a total of 30 minutes away (one way) from our RV park. The sky was blue, but there were some clouds gathering to the northwest of our RV park. We didn’t think too much about it as we left.
About 5 miles or so up the road Jack said that the clouds were really getting dark. I checked the radar on my two weather apps. They showed a storm coming, but it looked like it was going in a northeast direction and away from us. We debated about turning around and going home. While we were trying to decide, I was keeping an eye on the radar. We had already gotten a couple of weather alerts for our area from the apps.
We were noticing that the clouds really looked ominous and were traveling toward us. I checked the radar again and at the same time that I got another weather alert. The radar now showed that the storm had changed course and was heading to the southeast, right for us. We turned around and headed back to the RV.
It hadn’t even started raining yet, but it was really dark outside. We were inside the RV and just kind of watching out the windows when we noticed a little bit of rain. Then we heard the tiniest sounds on the roof of the RV. The sounds got louder and louder – HAIL! At first the hail was small, but, as we watched, it got bigger and bigger, and louder and louder. Poor Zoey was shaking like crazy, so I picked her up and held her the whole time.
When the hail got as big as a baseball, I told Jack he needed to run outside and pick one of those giant ones up to keep in the freezer for the insurance company (we probably don’t need it). I had looked at the clock about the time the hail started and noted the time. It was 1:46 p.m., and it didn’t stop until 2:04! Almost 20 minutes of various sizes of hail! I took a video out of the front windshield.
When the hail finally stopped, Jack went outside to check the damage. The RV was ok. There might be a couple of dents in the fiberglass but you barely notice them. The worst damage was to one of the tarps over a slideout. It has a couple of holes.
The car wasn’t as fortunate. It is pretty “dinged” up. Oh, well.
It’s hard to see the dents in the pictures, but you can easily see them in person.
Later that evening I noticed this outside the RV windshield. Nature’s fury and beauty all in less than twelve hours.
We are all safe and didn’t have as much damage as a lot of other people in the RV park, so we feel very lucky. However, I can tell you one thing: I DO NOT want to experience another hail storm in an RV ever again!
So, for now ….. “On the Road Again!”
Betty
Retirement......LOVE IT! 