Alex and the 2012 North American Derecho

I survived....in case you can't stand the suspense.

On Friday morning I started the day knowing it was going to be relaxing. I decided to spend two days getting through the last 12 hours of driving. I also got up and planned on my hotel arrival instead of doing it once I got out there on the road. I booked a hotel in Charleston, WV and decided to stop and see Churchill Downs as I passed through Louisville, KY.

After breakfast I drove to Louisville and found Churchill Downs which is pristine and beautiful, but again...sitting in a run down, bad neighborhood.



I got out of the car after parking under a big shade tree, the heat was oppressive.
I trudged to gate 1. They have a Kentucky Derby Museum so I decided to take a tour.



Outside is a large bronze of Barbaro. This is life size and massive, very impressive.
When I got inside the museum they told me I could not buy a ticket as they closed the museum early today for cleaning because they were having an event. The gentleman then told me I could help myself to the restroom and the gift shop. ( How did he know?)

Inside the gift shop I decided to buy a cup. I had been collecting them from various places on my trip. I took the cup to the counter to pay and expressed my disappointment at not being able to see the museum. I told the ladies I was just passing through so I couldn't come back tomorrow. So the one woman grabbed my arm and pulled me through a back room into the museum. She told me to enjoy myself. So there I was walking through The Kentucky Derby museum all by myself except for some people vacuuming and cleaning displays. FREE!

I honestly didn't take the time I would take if I had paid. But it's not a big museum anyway.



Silks.






I'll Have Another.



Kentucky Derby wear.



Starting gates.



Twin Spires.

After the museum I decided to pay the three dollars to enter the race track before the races and take some pictures.



Finish line.



Paddock.



Path to the track from the paddock.



Pat Day statue.



First horse to win the Derby, Aristides.

After that I went back to the hot, hot road.

I drove for about an hour and encounter a strange wind that sort of felt like a thunderstorm but produced no rain. Leaves were being blown over the road and my car occasionally swerved a little from the force of the wind. I continued driving when I saw this cloud-like dust swirl on the road in front of me. It looked like a large brown swirl of dirt and it was definitely turning, but slowly. Some cars pulled over and some cars went into the dust and disappeared, as I could not see to the other side. It completely covered the highway. I pulled over for a minute or two and decided to risk it.

I pulled slowly into the brown swirl and popped out on the other side. No harm done. I wasn't in Oz and there was no wicked witch so I continued. I drove on combating this weird wind. I could sometimes see dark clouds and lightening far off in front of me, but no rain.

I got to West Virginia, and continued to drive knowing I had a hotel booked and letting my gas run down. The sun went down, things got dark and I saw signs that told me I should be in Charleston, but I did not see any lights. I looked for the exit, got off and saw no hotel, again the road signs illuminated by my headlights said it should be there, but it wasn't. My eyes adjusted to the dark and I realized the hotel was there it just had no power. I pulled up to the front and a security guard told me I could not stay there as they could not insure my safety. I drove off into the darkness. No GPS, no map, a quarter tank of gas. Lost in the Appalachian mountains!! I was able to call my daughter who did give me the best map advice she could. I knew if I followed 64 east it would eventually intersect with 81 north. I did find a gas station with a generator. My hands shook as I pressed the buttons to get the pump to work and I was very relieved when I finally had a full tank of gas.

I had no options. Thank God for my insomnia. I knew I would never get sleepy. I drove through the darkness. I cried. I saw no lights. Only headlights. There were trees down on the highway, so I was only able to travel at maybe 50 to 55 mph. I passed road signs that said hotels should be there but there was nothing but darkness. I drove for about 5 hours into the darkness. At Woodstock, VA I finally saw lights and about 3 hotels, a gas station and a McDonalds. I went into the Holiday Inn Express the woman shaking her head NO as I approached the counter. she then pulled out a list of hotels to the north and south, she asked me which way I wanted to try and I said NORTH. She pointed out the hotel she had last called with rooms. We called it, the woman had two rooms. I drove north and found the hotel off exit 313. The clerked booked me into room 313, for anyone who thinks that is weird, I stepped on the elevator pushed three, the doors shut and the lights went out.

My heart sank, I said out loud, "Noooooooooo!" but after a minute they came back on. It took about two minutes for the elevator to move again. Got to my room, sank into bed. It was about 3:30 am. It took about an hour for the buzzing from the adrenaline to slow down enough for my meds to kick in and I fell asleep.

I made it home the next day.