Storms

We made it to St. Louis today. It was still pretty windy this afternoon when we left-not quite as bad as yesterday, but still pretty windy. Still, we decided to give it a try figuring that if the wind was too bad we'd just turn around and go back to Chatham. As it turns out, I think I had more trouble with the wind blowing around our ultralight car than Jeremy had with the trailer. We made it to St. Louis well ahead of the rain thankfully.

After Jeremy finished work we had dinner and then, since the rain had still held off, decided to make a quick trip out to Union Station. It's only a few blocks away and the campground owner gave us a coupon for a free hour of parking there, so we gave it a shot. Ian had a great time. We looked at some of the old train memorabilia, and spent awhile outside where they have a really nice setup of a little artificial lake in the old train yard, complete with fish, a bridge, and a seafood restaurant. I took some pictures of the kids on the old train tracks and I think they turned out pretty well.

Unfortunately, before I could get the pictures off the camera, the tornado sirens went off. Poor Rinnah had been asleep and looked completely baffled as to why we'd wake her up only to take her outside in the pouring rain. I had just been reassuring Ian that the constant lighting and loud thunderclaps was almost over and nothing to worry about when the sirens went off. So we packed up the kids, draped their blankets over their heads, and trekked across the lot to the showerhouse. It's not too far and it's a brick building with no windows, so it's a good spot. We actually scouted it out when we arrived since we knew big storms were expected. There was even another couple over there with their dog, which provided a little entertainment for Ian. After about a half hour they canceled the warning and we took the kids back to bed. Of course it's taking some time to get resettled.

Hopefully the worst is over and we won't have to repeat that in the middle of the night. We're looking forward to getting together with friends tomorrow.