Hunkered Down

This is one of those days they don't tell you about in fulltiming school.

If you look at a radar map of the Great State of Missouri today it's covered in shades of green, yellow and orange. Here in the southwest corner, we're under a Flash Flood Warning, which makes sense because it's been raining non-stop for the last 22 hours. It's supposed to keep raining for the next 22, too. And, we're not talking wimpy sprinkles here. No, this if full-out drenching rain. Yep, it has poured all day.

Thankfully, this is one of the things we practiced while we were still weekending. Last Halloween weekend we packed the cats, dvds, books and chili fixin's and spent a rainy weekend in the moose. And, in February, we spent another rainy weekend in a campground that turned our site into a small lake. That was all great fun, of course. But, we're here to tell you, that was wimpy Northern California rain! Here in the Ozarks, we're talking about rain that gives you something to talk about.

We haven't left the cozy confines of our rolling home today. Well, unless you count Paul flying out the door in the rain this morning to check on our slide topper.

Paul was preparing breakfast and the cats and I were (what else?) watching it rain. In the blink of an eye, the wind kicked up. Suddenly, autumn leaves were falling to the ground...with branches attached. As the wind howled from Bullwinkle's stern, it whipped the canvas topper on our full wall slide into a frenzy. I started to ask Paul when it would be time to pull the thing in. I got as far as the word "time" in that last sentence and he yelled, "NOW!"

In what Paul estimates were 50 mph gale forces blowing, we set into motion in a routine that would have made the Keystone Cops look like mere amateurs. We cleared throw rugs and a chair out of the way of the "big ass slide", as it is affectionately known. Paul fired up the moose, I headed for the slide control panel and the wise kitties in our house headed for cover. The slide came in with the ease, but the topper was still whipping in the wet gale force wind. Something was wrong.

Like a brave knight off to battle, Paul charged out the door into the severe storm. Just as he made his way around to the street side of our coach, I heard a loud POP. Only one of two things could have happened. Either the spring tension rod had finally managed to pull in the soggy topper, or the topper was gone. In weather like this, either was possible.

I said a quick prayer that it was the former and not the latter. Then I watched from the bedroom window as my knight stood in the pouring rain and blowing wind to quickly survey the situation. As quickly as he left he dashed back into the coach. He was absolutely soaked. But, he was happy to report, the slide topper looked fine. Amen to that!

After breakfast the rain continued, but the winds subsided. We fired up the moose again and Paul headed outside to watch as I extended the "BAS" once more. Thankfully, everything worked as designed and the slide topper appeared to still be in one piece.

With the morning excitement behind us, we went about the business of hunkering down on a super soggy day. We worked on the computer, made a phone call or two, read a bit and napped. It was all very relaxing.

Like I said, the wet stuff is supposed to keep falling until sometime tomorrow. Then, guess where it's headed? Where we're headed! Tomorrow all of these storms are supposed to blanket the Great State of Arkansas. So, we've decided to delay our departure until sometime Saturday. We don't need to be driving in this stuff.

Plus, we could really use a little time to dry out!