Hurricane Davis

Storm rolling in

I love storms. <---- True statement.  I love watching the sky darken, hearing the thunder, and listening to the rain coming down.  Know what's not the same?  Sitting in a storm on the beach, under a canopy. Storms on the coast are not the equivalent of sitting on my porch in the Ozarks.  Coastal storms are like that redneck guy you see going down the road in a truck so large you know he's over compensating showing off.  Yeah, that.  

What started off as a few raindrops, and a little thunder, turned into nature's temper tantrum.  Katlyn is asking every two minutes if she can go back into the water ... while lightning streaks across the sky.  Yeah ... no.  If anyone opens their mouth, sand flies in at an alarming rate.  However, at this point, going back inside means attempting to carry 99 things (WHY do we carry so much crap to the beach?) with us and trying to take the canopy down so it doesn't blow away. Do we stay?  Do we go?  Is it almost over?  Is this the end?  (not so much that) Oh yeah, at this point we are HOLDING DOWN the canopy from underneath it.  Up and down the beach, people are huddled under their canopies or rushing back to their townhouses overladen with whatever they can grab.  Decisions, decisions.

We gave up and started hauling our crap necessary beach essentials back. In the end, the canopy broke anyway, and we all looked like drowned rats. At one point, the wind was blowing so hard that the float Caleb was carrying blew away towards the water.  Wes, obviously in some sort of hurricane shock, yells over the wind for him to get it because he can't just litter.  We've all had quite a few laughs at that one because the ocean was filled with stuff that had blown away during the storm. We never did find that float.

Cozy Beach Home Pre-Hurricane Davis

We made it back inside, all desperate to be warm and remove sand from every orifice of our bodies.  I discovered, to my dismay, that my skin was actually blue.  Yes, I was cold.  No, I was not hypothermic.  My favorite swim suit cover up is a lovely blue and purple tie-dyed pattern.  You do the math.  I looked like a smurf. 

 





And our first full day in Gulf Shores will be a memory worthy of retelling in years to come.  In the moment, it was less-than-funny.  We spent our second day shopping, so yesterday was far less exciting.  The kids swam,  read, and Wes sat inside in the air conditioning watching Amazon Prime.  Nothing quite as exciting as the first day, but I'd say the second day was a success.

Nighttime Swim