Day 24: Tornado Warning!
Posted by the girls on Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Happy American Birthday Michelle!
We got up, knew it would be another rainy day, but decided we would try to make a little ground before the rain came. We had heard there was a church in Sebree, KY, only 25 miles away, that lots of cyclists stay at. We also heard that the church provides dinner, showers, and a place to sleep. It only took us a couple of hours despite the strong winds to make into the little town of Sebree. We were greeted by Violet and her 2-year-old grandson, Trace. They took us into the church where we met Bob, Violet's husband and the pastor of the church. They took us to the downstairs area that is pretty much reserved for cyclists to stay in this time of year. They told us we were the first overnight guests of the season out of the few hundred they get each year. We had a chance to look through their old guest books and photos. It was amazing to hear about some of the cyclists they've had stay here since the late 70s.
Anyways, after we settled in, Violet made us some sandwiches for lunch and we played with Trace for a little while. After lunch, we were all a bit tired so we took a short nap before showering. Not long after, we heard a strange humming sound. A tornado warning!! Rebekah was upstairs using the internet, while Emily and Michelle were downstairs lounging when about 30 "town folk" came in to take shelter. They all lived in trailers nearby, so the church was the closest place to get out of the storm. They seemed a bit confused as to who we were and just kind of looked at us once in a while. They didn't stay long, maybe and hour or so, but they assured us they'd be back later, as more tornado warnings were expected.
We were invited to dinner at Bob and Violet's house. It was a delicious home cooked meal, the corn bread being our favorite. They even made Michelle a cake for her birthday and we got to sing once more. They told us all kinds of stories about cyclists they've had stay from people on unicycles, penny farthings, 4-man bikes, and couples riding around the world for over 4 years. It was really interesting.
It wasn't too long after we headed back downstairs that we heard the tornado sirens go off again. In came our 30 new friends and this time they weren't so shy. This one man talked our ears off, asking us a million questions at once, while the others sat around waiting for our responses. The one problem was that none of us could understand a word of what anyone was saying. It was impossible to hold back the laughter. Michelle got stuck looking at a stack of about 50 photos of a woman's great-grand children, while Rebekah was trying to respond to the gibberish-speaking man's questions, and Emily was nodding to a woman as she listed all the states she could think of and asking if we had been to them.
By 10.30pm the warning was over, with no sign of a tornado near us. The town folk headed back to their trailers so we could finally get some sleep.
We got up, knew it would be another rainy day, but decided we would try to make a little ground before the rain came. We had heard there was a church in Sebree, KY, only 25 miles away, that lots of cyclists stay at. We also heard that the church provides dinner, showers, and a place to sleep. It only took us a couple of hours despite the strong winds to make into the little town of Sebree. We were greeted by Violet and her 2-year-old grandson, Trace. They took us into the church where we met Bob, Violet's husband and the pastor of the church. They took us to the downstairs area that is pretty much reserved for cyclists to stay in this time of year. They told us we were the first overnight guests of the season out of the few hundred they get each year. We had a chance to look through their old guest books and photos. It was amazing to hear about some of the cyclists they've had stay here since the late 70s.
Anyways, after we settled in, Violet made us some sandwiches for lunch and we played with Trace for a little while. After lunch, we were all a bit tired so we took a short nap before showering. Not long after, we heard a strange humming sound. A tornado warning!! Rebekah was upstairs using the internet, while Emily and Michelle were downstairs lounging when about 30 "town folk" came in to take shelter. They all lived in trailers nearby, so the church was the closest place to get out of the storm. They seemed a bit confused as to who we were and just kind of looked at us once in a while. They didn't stay long, maybe and hour or so, but they assured us they'd be back later, as more tornado warnings were expected.
We were invited to dinner at Bob and Violet's house. It was a delicious home cooked meal, the corn bread being our favorite. They even made Michelle a cake for her birthday and we got to sing once more. They told us all kinds of stories about cyclists they've had stay from people on unicycles, penny farthings, 4-man bikes, and couples riding around the world for over 4 years. It was really interesting.
It wasn't too long after we headed back downstairs that we heard the tornado sirens go off again. In came our 30 new friends and this time they weren't so shy. This one man talked our ears off, asking us a million questions at once, while the others sat around waiting for our responses. The one problem was that none of us could understand a word of what anyone was saying. It was impossible to hold back the laughter. Michelle got stuck looking at a stack of about 50 photos of a woman's great-grand children, while Rebekah was trying to respond to the gibberish-speaking man's questions, and Emily was nodding to a woman as she listed all the states she could think of and asking if we had been to them.
By 10.30pm the warning was over, with no sign of a tornado near us. The town folk headed back to their trailers so we could finally get some sleep.
