Picking up from Part One of my eight day trip, what was ahead of me involved a lot more than I could have imagined.
First off, I had originally planned an informal get-together with several friends I haven't seen in years. I thought dinner would be a great idea and I decided on Applebee's in Sturbridge, MA. While I was experiencing time travel, my cell phone reception was minimal. When I left, my phone started going crazy with seven voicemail messages all from the friends I was going to meet up with stating that they couldn't make it. Many couldn't leave their area because of what happened when the first tornado came ripping across central Massachusetts and they all advised me to get out of the Sturbridge area before the next tornado hit. I got these messages just about ten minutes away from the restaurant and something told me it was safe to press on anyway. As I arrived at about 6:40pm, I decided to pick up a few last minute needed things at Wal-Mart at the other end of the plaza. I park my car, walk into the store and have a very odd feeling come over me. This little voice inside me said, "Get out!" So, after walking about one hundred feet into the store, I turned around and walked out to my car. As I get in, I felt very unsafe but knew everything was going to be ok. I move the car up to the other end of the parking lot closer to the main road right next to Applebee's. I sat in my car for a few minutes, as my cell phone battery was almost drained and people were still calling me to tell me to get out of there and to assure my safety. After it looking like I may have just one or two people joining me for dinner, I proceed inside to Applebee's.
I sat on the bench just as I walked in the door, having a good clear eye on my car. As they were cleaning a table next to the window where I can keep an eye on my car, I spoke with a few more on the phone. As I'm looking outside, people begin to stare at the sky and point. All I could do was think, "Oh shit!" As they began to make a mad dash for Applebee's and the other places in the plaza, I was on the phone with a friend. My camera was in the car and since I was on the phone, I couldn't take pictures. I began to wonder what exactly was going to happen, as I was informed that the first tornado ripped buildings apart, flew cars hundreds of feet off the road, and even took the lives of many. Not knowing what was going to happen, still being on the phone, I watched the tornado spiral across the Wal-Mart end of the parking lot, EXACTLY where my car was parked just about twenty minutes prior! As I watched the debris fly around everything, the restaurant staff rushed out and told everyone we needed to get into the back of the kitchen for safety. As we all crammed into the back, everyone began talking. If you know my sense of humor, I try to add something to laugh about to everything. As I told them all I was from Maine, the immediate response was, "Why are you here?" I told them I was in transit to a car show, and like any other "business person," proceeded my handing out business cards as I spoke about my Texas Highway Patrol Mustang, where I was going, and what I was doing. Even in a devastating time, there is always time to talk about Mustangs and car-related things!
As we were released from the rather greasy, smelly, and sort of disgusting kitchen, I told the guy at the front that I'd be back in soon, as I just have to check on my car first before I sit and eat. His reply to me was that corporate called them and told them to close down. Oh how happy I was. I head out to the car and find my SSP covered with random things from trees and just a few twigs. Now you are all probably thinking, "Oh my, he must be pissed!" Honestly, since there were only brush scratches and just a few very small dings (which I didn't find until I was polishing the car at the car show two days later), I didn't really care. There was no significant damage done, I could still proceed to the car show and go on with my weekend, and I thought that this made one odd twist to my trip. After I took the twigs and other debris off by hand, I'll admit, I was actually laughing! Little did I know that it would even get funnier!
So here I am with a "clean" car and an empty stomach. I tell my friend Eric that before I head out to his house to visit, I was going to quickly grab something to eat. I pull out onto Rt. 20 and head towards fast-food and some restaurants. I have to admit, I've never been to a ghost town, but this sure as heck looked like one. Just feet from where I was minutes prior, they had lost power and had people out in the parking lots leaving with their cars. There were still a lot of people, but just driving, as everything was just about boarded up shut. This is when I also remembered that I needed gas. Only one gas station had a generator, so there was a long line of cars to get into the gas station. They even had a person directing cars in so that no one cut each other. As the person saw me trying to get in, he quickly signaled to me to come right up, so I did. I didn't know what he was going to say, so I just went along with it. I pull up to him and he signals me to use the only empty pump. I get out, get my gas, and head on out as fast as I can. Because there were police, fire trucks, and ambulances everywhere, I don't know whether he saw my spotlights and thought I needed to get in and out fast or whether he thought it was just cool. To stick with tradition, while I was pumping my gas, several conversations were started at the pump about the car.
Having to quickly cross the street to get back on the road because all the street lights were out and everyone was going wild, I hurry onto I-84 and proceed south to the Roy Rogers, hoping that they would be open because everything else in the area had closed. I was astonished to see the exit signs thrown off to the sides of the highway, whole trees that were obviously moved from the highway into the break-down lane, and debris still all over the road. On arrival to my destination, I learned that Roy Rogers was indeed the only open place to get food. After I got done eating, I got a call from my friend who I was going to visit and he advised me of the horrible thunderstorms that were coming my way. To take cover, I pulled into the Pilot truck stop where I may have met a few for the Cruise to Carlisle, as I already got cancellations for the trip due to weather. I'm inside walking around to kill time and the women at the counter advised me that they were closing. I was thinking to myself that this is great. Everything is closing, it is unsafe to drive, and I'm pretty much stranded here. She told me that even six hotels in the area closed! So, I decided to be "one with the car" and spend the night sleeping in it parked aside the truckers at around 8:40pm or so. The thunder, lightning, and the severity of the storm didn't let up 'til after midnight. By then, I was already catching some sleep on and off.
Even as I sat waiting to fall asleep, I just had to laugh. God was definitely on my side, as I completed my day with no major problems, but by golly, it already turned into what some would think is a nightmare! Me, I just had to laugh about my experience in it. After time traveling in the Back to the Future DeLorean, this could have taken one of the coolest days of my life and ruined it. I think I was still on such an emotional high though, that in a weird way, was the icing on the cake!
Thanks again to all who called me to make sure I was safe this night! To all who were impacted by these tornadoes, I hope things are only improving for you! My apologies for lack of pictures, but when you are driving and concentrating on getting out of the area, it's kind of hard to take photos!