Drying Out Day

Yesterday evening, we heard our first tornado siren. Everyone seem to come out of their RVs and tents, stand around, and talk about what to do. When the siren ended, life returned to normal.

Early this morning we were hammered by a thunderstorm, probably our wettest experience yet. The Red River of the North rose 2 feet, everything was wet including us. Our tent did not keep out the heavy downpour, although it caved onto our bodies, it sprang back into shape afterwards. Others were not so lucky. There were six tents pitched along the river. On the way to the bathroom during a momentary lull in the storm, I saw three cars filled with former tent occupants and one tent flattened into the muddy clay. Several trees came down in the park, this one fell into the river, the other doesn't look too sturdy either. There were reports this morning the wind gusted to 70 mph and there was grapefruit-sized hail in Bismarck. Being in a tent with thunder and lightening all around is terrifying, but now I think I'll add falling trees and hail to my list of fears.So, instead of riding today, we're drying out. The windscreen for our stove was no where to be found. Dick tried to find a replacement today, but was unsuccessful. I'm not sure how MacGyver is going to solve this problem. Meanwhile we made two trips to the nearest coffee place to soothe our souls and get online (the Lindenwood Campground connection is excellent at keeping everyone OFF line).