Friday, August 13
We were ready to leave the 'Quality Inn' - lol - and drove around Nashville a bit more and then on to Memphis - a 3 1/2 hour drive - or so we thought!
About half way through the drive the sky began to darken and the storm began to change from sprinkles to rain. Soon it was all thunder, lightning and road visibility became more and more limited! I seriously cannot describe what the next hour or two or three was like......except I was terrified.
I knew we couldn't pull over - or we could be hit from behind with zero visibility and we couldn't exit because the roads leaving the highway were steep and winding and you couldn't see them AT ALL! I was driving, JJ was navigating and it kept getting worse! Several times we saw the lightning strikes beside and on the road and we had to yell to each other over the sounds of the storm.
I followed a big truck which was well lit for sometime but realized he was washing up more water on us making it even more difficult to see what was ahead. We were so worried about all of those news stories we have seen about the 30 or 40 car pile ups and it was not hard to imagine how that can actually happen! The best thing is everyone put on their hazard lights so we blinked our way through the squalls and torrential rains. Every so often there was a brief slow down - almost a break in the storm - but then it would be even worse a few minutes later.
When we finally got to our hotel - Hampton Inn and Suites-Wolfchase Galleria - JJ swam in to check in and I just sat behind the wheel and sobbed. It was such a relief to be safe and I had been holding it together so long I just lost it!
It felt so good to be safe and dry and we took full advantage of the lovely accommodations. Needless to say we missed sightseeing in Memphis - perhaps another time?
(I actually feel upset reliving this experience - it is something none of us will ever forget!) Thank God it ended well for us and we didn't hear about anyone else!!!
Note: The floods in Waverly, Tennessee Saturday causing the death of at least 20 people were very close to the area we were driving through! Our hearts and prayers go out to all those affected in this horrible tragedy!
Gabi
