TRAVEL WITH THE BAYFIELD BUNCH:))

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

TORNADO WARNINGS!! WIND, RAIN & HAIL….ANOTHER CLOSE CALL!!

TOOK THIS PHOTO MOMENTS BEFORE BEING CAUGHT IN A RAIN SQUALL
Figured I would try working on changing-up my morning routine a bit and see if I could get myself onto another track other than my hours long repetitive computer routine each and every morning. It is no easy feat to break with the long standing morning blog reading habit that I have had for the past 5 years but feel it is time to attempt a few changes.

The weatherman on Tuesday called for severe weather in our area Wednesday but other than some moderate rain and wind in the morning all was quiet. Instead of a predicted cold front arriving the weather turned in the opposite direction &amp; became hot &amp; humid. (I wrote that paragraph earlier in the day)

Never made it up to Goderich this morning and instead, Kelly, myself and the Pheebs headed off to visit my Uncle Harry at the Care Facility in Mitchell, Ontario. We have not put the cone back on the Pheebster so we took her along to keep an eye on her. Uncle Harry seemed a bit better than the last couple of times we saw him and he was happy to see Pheebe again.

On the way home we heard there was a 'Tornado Watch' out for our area. That didn't surprise me because of how the humidity had quickly built up during the day and the fact there was a mass of colder air up in Northwest Ontario moving our way. With all the trees around our place we have no view of the sky so we kept a close eye on our computer's 'real time' radar site monitoring any storm cells heading our way across Lake Huron. I wonder how many area people remember we have the DOUGLAS POINT NUCLEAR POWER GENERATING STATION just a short 50 something miles straight north of us sitting right on the shores of Lake Huron. I wonder what a direct hit on that facility by a tornado would do……………hmmmm, not good!!
Our weather trouble quickly became serious around 6 o’clock tonight when the sky’s darkened &amp; thunder rolled in. Weather map showed storm cells out over the lake quickly heading our way. Jumped in the Jeep and headed for a vantage point on the cliffs above the lake in Bayfield hoping for some spectacular storm clouds approaching. But, aside from one photo before the sky's darkened, the clouds quickly turned a dark gray and I was caught in a rain squall. Only time I have ever got my cameras wet and I was only about a hundred yards from the Jeep. By the time I got back home about 5 minutes later the rain was pretty heavy. Kelly was monitoring the television weather channel and on our screen the Tornado ‘watch had gone to a ‘warning’ and we could see heavy storm cells moving in all around us. I zipped outside and moved my Motorcycle over, grabbed a hold of the utility trailer and pulled it out into the driveway. Quickly drove the Jeep into the carport. I was worried about hail!!

THESE WERE THE WARNING BANNERS BEING FLASHED AT THE BOTTOM OF OUR TV SCREEN
The only place we have to go in case of an emergency is the basement of our Park’s clubhouse just up the street but we elected to sit tight. News flashes were coming in fast to the weather channel with a funnel cloud spotted about 20 miles north of us. Goderich looked like it could be in trouble again. People in Sarnia/Port Huron were being warned to get inside!! Right now at 7:41 p.m. hail has just started but checking the ‘real time’ weather site I see this cell should just about be passed us. Kelly said we just lost the internet but amazingly, we have not lost our power. 7:45 &amp; the light hail shower has stopped and sky’s have brightened. Checking weather map again I see we are in the clear unless another storm cell comes in off the lake. Internet is OK again but we just heard all the power is out in Bayfield. Sky has turned a scary yellow but weather site is not showing any more storm cells near us.

Whewwwwww, that was a close one……………but, it was an exciting close one. We’ll monitor the local news now &amp; see if indeed there were any tornados on the ground or any damage done anywhere. The towns of Clinton, Seaforth, Mitchell &amp; the city of Stratford are now in the storm’s path as I type this.

9 P.M. Figured with a yellow sky there might be a nice sunset so zipped back into Bayfield for some more photos. I will have a few of those for Thursday night’s post.

THE LAST PARAGRAPH: I am one of those people who likes storms and always find them exciting. I used to love going out years ago in the old 35mm days and try to photograph lightning. If I ever get any of my thousands of slides into a digital format I will have to dig out a few of my lightning pics. But then again, I like most things that are different…..except computer software &amp; program changes of course. We are still struggling with our email address books and for any of the folks on my ‘Jokes Folks’ list that haven’t received any ‘Jokes’ lately, that is why……………………..

JUST MADE IT IN TIME FOR A FEW SUNSET PICS WHICH I WILL INCLUDE IN THURSDAY’S POST
GROANER’S CORNER:
OLD HIKERS never die, they just trail away
OLD HIPPIES never die, they just smell that way
OLD HOCKEY PLAYERS never die, they just achieve their final goal
OLD HUNTERS never die, they just stay LOADED
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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

Until one has loved an Animal, their soul remains un-awakened.

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The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

THE BLOG WOULDN’T PUBLISH

Having trouble publishing the blog tonight due to following ‘Error Message.’

The server reported an error with the following web address:

http://www.blogger.com/feeds/10886995/posts/default

400 Bad Request

I will try again in the morning………………………………

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

PHEEBE HAD A COUPLE OLD FRIENDS DROP BY THIS AFTERNOON:))

AN EXAMPLE OF HOW CLOUDS CAN MAKE A PHOTO (NIKON D40 AT 300MM)

I do have a few more Tornado damage pics so will include them in this post. Local Facebookers are saying they felt the East Coast Earthquake today that took place in Virginia but we didn't feel anything here at the Bayfield Bunch. Just as we didn't know a Tornado was going on just 12 miles away a couple days ago. Could it be we lead a sheltered life.

A BRAND NEW BARN ONLY A FEW DAYS OLD HAD JUST BEEN ERECTED HERE NORTH OF CLINTON ONTARIO…THE TORNADO TORE THE WALLS & ROOF TO PIECES TOSSING THE LUMBER AROUND LIKE MATCH STICKS WITH THE ROOF LANDING IN A BEAN FIELD ACROSS THE HIGHWAY (NIKON D90)
Pheebe had visitors this afternoon when former owner Crystal dropped in with her nearly 2 year old cute little daughter Adella. Crystal and Adella were needing a Pheebe fix. Lots of hugs & slurpy smooches between little Adella and Pheebe. The Motormouse really took to Adella as well so there were lots of wagging tails this afternoon. The Pheebster was so excited she was racing around the yard outside about a 120 miles an hour. We had to get her slowed down because the Vet says she is to take it easy with her stitches until at least the end of the week.

LEARNING TO SHARE THE TOYS ………………….
Tornados are not new to the people of Ontario, but they indeed are rare. I remember a tornado as a kid that tore some barn roofs off west of the small village I lived in and I remember another one in the mid 80's that I think killed some people near Barrie, Ontario. A really bad Tornado in 1997 near Woodstock Ontario killed people and did a huge amount of damage as it traveled cross country ripping up farms, small towns & the City of Woodstock. I have pictures of that rural damage but they are all on 35mm Slide film.

DAMAGE TO THE GRAIN ELEVATORS IN THE GODERICH HARBOUR
While taking the Sifto Salt Mine photos Monday morning I was aware of a Helicopter circling and at times hovering over the town Goderich. Figured it was probably a news chopper. Cracked off a couple shots with my 300mm lens and it wasn't until I was home later and had the pics in my Picasa Photo Editor that I noticed it indeed was a CTV News helicopter. Following is an aerial view of Goderich's tornado damage and I am assuming it was taken by that same helicopter. AERIAL VIEW OF TORNADO DAMAGE. While walking back to the Jeep through the forest that helicopter went over so low at tree top level that I could smell it's exhaust. Figured it landed at the Goderich Airport about half a mile away to re-fuel before flying back to Toronto.

Have not heard of any donation programs being set up for the town of Goderich. I will probably slip up there in the morning because both malls are open at the East & South ends of town. Might see if I can slide around a few back streets to have a look at things & maybe grab a few pics. The downtown core is still sealed off & not even store owners or bank employees etc are being allowed in to view their own business's.

I think the last 3 nights sleeping unsoundly in my recliner keeping an eye out for the Pheebs in Kelly's recliner, has caught up with me. Spent most of today trying to stay awake. We haven't had that awful plastic cone on Pheebs head since Monday night after supper and she has not been biting, licking or scratching at her stitches. Maybe tonight I will try getting a good night sleep in my bed for a change. Oh the things we do do for our very much most best little Pals:))

FINAL APPROACH LANDING GEAR DOWN
Weatherman is calling for severe weather rolling into our neighbourhood overnight. Thunderstorms, rain & high winds bringing in a cold front. Not a good thing for the poor folks in Goderich who are struggling to get their homes, business's and lives back together.

THE LAST PARAGRAPH: It will soon be time to get the RV lists out of my drawer for another year. You know, those seemingly endless lists of things that have to be checked out on the RV and all those many items that have to be loaded prior to a trip. Always an exciting time for me because it is the early beginnings of another 5 or 6 month journey to our second home in the great American Southwest. Getting those lists out puts the first stamp of reality on, ‘yep, were a gonna do it again this year’. Don’t know about next year or the year after that, but this year is a go……YAHOOIE LOUIE

LOOKING EAST ALONG THE MAITLAND RIVER WHICH FLOWS PAST GODERICH ONTARIO OFF TO THE RIGHT
GROANER'S CORNER:(( We got married for better or worse…..He couldn’t do better and I couldn’t do any worse!!