Soooo the weather man is not always wrong....

So.... I guess that severe weather alert for the Puget Sound on Saturday wasn't really that wrong after all.

First of all there are no photos to show you... Even if I had remembered my camera, I wouldn't  have probably gotten to the taking of the pictures on Saturday.

It all started out fairly well.  I picked up my friend Holly in Tacoma at about 7:15 on Saturday morning.  It was grey out and had rained earlier but it wasn't raining at the time.  We headed over the Narrows Bridge and out to Port Orchard, with me of course having terrible directions, but we managed to find the right spot with the help of about 3 maps and the GPS on her fancy Iphone.

So we set up and put extra plastic underneath the roof of the tent because at Farm Chicks (you all remember that fiasco)  the tent leaked.  So we get it all set up and unload the mountain of stuff from the Pilot and make it all look nice and pretty....  And the morning went well, it was rainy but there were quite a few people that braved the weather and it was fun sitting and chatting with Holly.  She got a grown up job and therefore it's not quite as easy for us connect as it use to be.

Then.... the wind started picking up...  We had 40lb sand bags on each leg of the tent, so we thought we were pretty good.  But you could hear a gust of wind coming through the trees and all the vendors would stand and hold on to their tents. 

The lady right next to me tied her tent together with two other tents, I think in the hopes that 3 tents would be easier to keep together than one...  Well... not so much.

Holly and I hear the wind and then yelling and we look out and one tent is in the air on top of another tent and the metal is all mangled.  She said she was holding on to her tent and it actually picked her up off the ground!  She thought she had broken her hand, but wasn't sure.  My tent had even moved at least a foot even with the weights.

So we started packing it in like crazy.  There were big trees blown down right about 25 yards away from us and it was a little nerve racking to say the least.  I just threw stuff in any box any which way and then remembered that I had to get it crammed all back in the car.  Luckily we got it all in. 

I feel really bad for Cynthia who was running the show and really bad that it was partly a charity event and I'm sure that they didn't get at all what they hoped out of it.  She felt bad, but there was nothing she could do, obviously.

So Holly and I stopped for a late lunch at a Mexican restaurant then we headed over to the Antique Mall to check it out for a little bit.

I dropped her off and headed home, I then fell asleep at about 7:30 that night.  I think Jason was worried I was sick, but I was just exhausted.  The thought of unpacking the car made me even more tired, so I did that on Sunday afternoon.  I think I've got everything sorted out now.

Thanks Holly for coming with me and braving the crazy weather!!  I was so happy she was with me, even tough I'm sure she wished she was at home in bed reading a book or something you do when it's miserable outside, instead of being out in it with a crazy friend!

Comments

[kat-in-texas]

Jill, how terrible!!! Hope nothing was ruined through all of that! Was it a tornado? Do y'all live near Puget Sound? Isn't that where Bill Gates lives? How cool!

Next year come sell "Betty" at the State Fair of Texas.....our weather is just as unpredictable in the fall too! But they'll give you a "Texas-sized tent". ha.ha.

[Holly]

Oh, I've got pictures! I just e-mailed them to you. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera/phone out during the tornado. Actually, that's probably a good things, since I was wetting my pants laughing as we held on for dear life but kept encouraging people to "have a look around!" You are hilarious.