a three hour tour

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale

a tale of a fateful trip,

that started from this tropic port,

aboard this tiny ship.

The mate was a mighty sailin' man,

the Skipper brave and sure,

five passengers set sail that day,

for a three hour tour,

a three hour tour.

12:30 pm

12 boys and 3 leaders board a tiny ship small church bus to drive to Dallas (estimated travel time, 3 hours). Trip itinerary includes touring the National Scout Museum, rock climbing, an overnight stay and a Dallas Rangers baseball game the following day. Depart from the non-tropic port of Shreveport. Gilligan at the wheel, the Skipper and Mary Ann on navigational duties.

1:30 pm, Longview TX

Gilligan, Skipper and Mary Ann hear an odd flapping noise and pull the Minnow over to see what's happening under the hood. Broken serpentine belt. Church bus insurance company does not respond to calls on the weekend. Finally find a mechanic who will bring the part to the bus and repair it. Move boys across the street to Taco Bell and settle in for the duration.

5:15 pm

After several trips to and from the parts shop, the bus is fixed. Museum visit is now void, but rock climbing is still on when we arrive in Dallas in 2 hours.

The weather started getting rough,

the tiny ship was tossed.

If not for the courage of the fearless crew

the Minnow would be lost.

The Minnow would be lost.

(from this point forward, all posts should be read with tornado alert sirens imagined in the background, because that was our soundtrack for the next 4+ hours)

5:30 pm, Lindale TX

Tornado warnings nudge us off the road for a dinner stop at Cracker Barrel. Actual verified tornadoes on the ground 40 miles to the west, blocking our passage to Dallas.

6:30 pm

Dinner eaten, and tornadoes north of the interstate. Back on the road. 

7:15 pm, Van TX

Back off the road. Our personal NOAA weatherman advised that new tornadoes were continuing to form 10 miles to the west of us. Gather boys into a gas station restaurant. Gilligan reconfigures a plan to bypass the line of storms by driving us south then up to Dallas, making the ETA for climbing wall after 10pm

8:00 pm

NOAA weatherman tells us to leave immediately and drive east as fast as we can. When NOAA man says go, you GO! 

8:15 pm

Decision is made to abort the mission and return to Shreveport for the night. Tornado warnings follow us east until we are past Longview, TX. We arrive back at the church around 10:30 pm, with plans to leave 10 hours later for the baseball game.

And we did. It was a beautiful sunny (if very windy) day, and the three-hour drive took only three hours. As we passed each place we had stopped the night before, I knew we were about to see some devastating damage that occurred along the interstate at the Canton Dodge dealership. 

Interstate traffic slowed to a crawl at the site, as each car drove slowly past, trying to take in the complete and utter devastation of the site. I didn't take any pictures; pictures can't do it justice. I did lift these from some other sites, though.

(image from http://www.thedrive.com)

(image from http://www.dallasnews.com)

The second image is the one I find more haunting, although I'm not sure why. I don't think I'll ever forget the skeleton of this building with its entrails pulled out.