I had hoped to start a 4-month road trip on May 4th, but Mother Nature had other ideas. On Wednesday, April 28th, a record breaking storm tore through the D’Hanis /Hondo area of Texas. 6″ hail, 100 mph winds, and even a tornado or two. That evening, I was seeing severe thunderstorm watches, then severe thunderstorm warnings with tennis ball-sized hail. About the time that I was planning to head out to the clubhouse for shelter, my brother and sister-in-law pulled up in their truck and said they were going to park by the clubhouse to see what the storm would do. I ran out and got in the truck. By the time we drove around the corner, the wind and rain started up very quickly and we decided to take shelter. It was impossible to see and hard to stay upright as we ran for the clubhouse. Within minutes, the hail started. It sounded to cannonballs on the roof and all the windows on the north side of the building were shattered, driving huge (way bigger than tennis balls) and broken glass 20 feet into the building. We all took shelter in the hallway and lady’s room (where there are no windows) to wait it out.

When the storm stopped, we ventured out and found that our vehicles and RVs were war-torn. Windows shattered, siding ripped off, roofs ripped off, and some RV’s were knocked off their supports. We changed clothes into dry ones, grabbed pillows, and prepared to spend the night in the clubhouse, sleeping sitting at tables. A “super-cell” storm came through a few hours later, doing even more damage with torrential rain and straight-line winds.

The next morning, view was shocking. Trees were stripped of foliage and branches, there was broken glass and debris everywhere. We were all in shock, with nowhere to go and no idea what to do next. The power was out, but with Bill & Sue’s coffee pot and my propane stove, we were able to make coffee. It was a little thing, but having even a shred of normalcy helped.

Inside – one of 2 large windows