Never Change Your Plans for the Weather!

What an exciting last day at The Great Outdoors! We had our first tornado warning since being on the road. At about 2:30 this afternoon we got an alert on Rick's cell phone from the National Weather Service that there was a tornado warning in our area effective immediately and for the next half hour. We quickly gathered up Kona, my purse, the weather radio, and a couple of portable folding chairs (What was I thinking?), and ran down to the bath house, which is a little more substantial that our RV. There was no time to do anything else! We expected that many people would be there, but there was only one other couple with their dog waiting out the storm. About 15 minutes of high wind, rain and hail, but no tornados that we know of. By 3:30 we were back in the RV with nothing but light rain and occasional thunder outside.  We'll have some picking up to do after the rain stops, but nothing serious around here.

I've thought before that we really should have an emergency backpack ready to go for occasions just like this when you have no time to think about what to bring. I did have one ready when we were in South Dakota last summer, but since then we haven't been in areas that have emergency situations that require such quick responses. Maybe now I'll make one up again so that we have more than folding chairs to get us through the storm. Geez.

Yesterday we had a great last day at the beach with some new friends.  It looked like it might be a cloudy and rainy day, but we decided to go anyway. (One of our mottos is: "Never Change Your Plans for the Weather," but emergency weather alerts don't count.) We picked up Cindy and Nick at their RV across the park and all piled into Ms. Subaru. Kona and their dog Lucy had to stay home, as there are no dogs allowed on the beach in this part of Florida. : (

I suggested a first stop at the Sunrise Bread Company in downtown Titusville, one of the coolest places in town. Sunrise is a perfect bakery/coffee shop that makes a wide selection of breads and other delights, including some whole grain varieties. We wanted lunch, but because they don't serve any they sent us to a place across the street - Kloiber's Cobbler Eatery - that uses Sunrise's breads.  So, we had a light breakfast snack at Sunrise, and ordered a picnic lunch from Kloiber's. That turned out to be a very yummy decision.  I'd highly recommend their Firecracker sandwich.

We parked almost all the way at the north end of Playa Linda Beach, part of the Canaveral National Seashore on Merritt Island. We didn't park at the very end, because it's a nude beach, and we weren't exactly looking for that experience.  We walked for a loooong way, and did actually get to the nude beach, then turned around and walked back.  

Cindy and Nick from Gig Harbor, WA

Even though it was an intermittently cloudy day, it was very warm, and not too windy, so we were comfortable enough to have our picnic lunch on the beach after the walk. Nick even had a swim. We sat on the sand and talked for a long time, and finally thought we'd better head home to our doggies. 

Rick and Lenore

The storm is picking up again right now, but our weather radio is not reporting any more tornado warnings, so we're staying put. Tomorrow we leave The Great Outdoors. We'll miss our new friends, the nature trail, the free yoga and tai chi classes, the Sunrise Bread Company, and Merritt Island, but maybe we'll come back here someday. It's been a great two months.

Our next stop is Crystal River, over on the west coast of Florida, and then Cedar Key.  We're heading north!