Post by gm4ever on Apr 26, 2011 18:13:14 GMT -5
Hi all, got the story of the day for you, just got off the phone and this was post-worthy.
First off, what weather! As of right now it's 99 degrees in Austin and 68 degrees in Dallas....just 180 miles to the north. That's pretty funky!!
Now the story. My Uncle's brother-in-law passed away on Saturday in Northeast Arkansas (Jonesboro) where all my family is from. He was in his late 60's and had heart issues for a long time. My parents grew up with him, what can I say, it's Arkansas and the entire family came out of the same town, everyone knows everyone else.
ANYWAY my Dad, my Mom, and my Grandmother decided to go to the funeral, which was today. They left yesterday at 11am from here in Austin. They had a choice of vehicles. My 90-year-old grandmother has an '07 Toyota Avalon with only 12K miles on it. Last fall I gave my Mom my wife's old '03 Suburban, which, if you know me, despite the age and miles still looks new and runs fun, but it does have just under 170K miles on it. And while taken care of, is not new.
My Dad HATES Toyotas, so damn the high miles and $4 gas at 16mpg, lets be comfortable! They loaded up and took the Burb.
Dad just called. Funeral went fine today, and my grandmother, who lives here in Austin now as well, got to visit with all her old friends and family in Jonesboro one last time. She'd thought she'd never go up there again, so despite the reason for the trip she's had a good day.
Now to the point of the entire post, he told me about the drive up yesterday. It's about 560 miles up there. They left Austin in hot sunshine...90 degress at 11am. It clouded up in Dallas, where you turn to the east and head toward Texarkana. No rain, but the closer to Arkansas they got, the darker the clouds got, and it dropped into the 70's.
Once into Arkansas the sky was BLACK to the north, but all they got was sprinkles. They made it to Little Rock and stopped for dinner at a Colton's Steakhouse on the south side of town. Had a nice dinner, came out, and on the far hills across the highway was a tornado, big as day. They all got in the Burb and Dad said he got on I-40 going east at about 80mph. The wind was blowing, thunder and lightning to the north but it was not raining yet. They were on the front edge of the storm, which was also moving to the east.
Dad turned on the radio and all the weather alerts were going nuts. There were multiple tornados on the ground to the west of town, but moving in the same direction they were at 45mph....Dad, doing 80, was able to stay out front of the storms.
Now it gets fun. They loop around the southeast side of Little Rock by the airport and have to turn north to head up towards Newport and then on to Jonesboro, about three hours from Little Rock. This puts them heading directly into the storms. Does that stop my father....noooooo!!! My other Uncle, who lives in Newport, which is about two hours north of Little Rock, is calling on the cell phone ever 5-mins, telling them where the storms are. My Grandmother and mother are taklking to him and scared. They relay the news to my father. My father, an Arkansas native, refuses to stop.
They head north directly into the storms. In BeeBe they can hear the tornado sirens blaring, even out on the highway. My Uncle calls to tell them there is a tornado in Beebe and the radio is telling everyone in that area to take shelter. My Dad says he knows, they're in it, and tells Mom to hang up.
He said just north of BeeBe the rain comes down so hard he can barely see, and the wind is whipping the Suburban all over the road. The folks on the radio are really going nuts, there are multiple tornados all over the state. Dad keeps going, heading on northbound toward Newport. My Uncle calls again and tells Dad there is another tornado just north of Newport. Dad tells my Mom to tell him that that's good, they are not there yet, so it'll be gone when they do get there. :roll:
From Newport to Jonesboro is about an hour's drive. It's flat farmland up there, rice fields mostly, and Dad said in many places water was flooded totally over the road.
They made it, got in at 10:30pm. Our good old 167K mile Suburban ran without a hitch, and Dad said he sure was glad they'd brought it and not the Avalon. He said they saw no hail...thankfully.
The weather there today was in the 60's and overcast, which was fine for the funeral.
They are driving back home to Texas tomorrow. More strong storms are in the forecast up there for tonight and tomorrow.
Will pass on the next story tomorrow night...
What fun!
-Mike
Like A Rock!
First off, what weather! As of right now it's 99 degrees in Austin and 68 degrees in Dallas....just 180 miles to the north. That's pretty funky!!
Now the story. My Uncle's brother-in-law passed away on Saturday in Northeast Arkansas (Jonesboro) where all my family is from. He was in his late 60's and had heart issues for a long time. My parents grew up with him, what can I say, it's Arkansas and the entire family came out of the same town, everyone knows everyone else.
ANYWAY my Dad, my Mom, and my Grandmother decided to go to the funeral, which was today. They left yesterday at 11am from here in Austin. They had a choice of vehicles. My 90-year-old grandmother has an '07 Toyota Avalon with only 12K miles on it. Last fall I gave my Mom my wife's old '03 Suburban, which, if you know me, despite the age and miles still looks new and runs fun, but it does have just under 170K miles on it. And while taken care of, is not new.
My Dad HATES Toyotas, so damn the high miles and $4 gas at 16mpg, lets be comfortable! They loaded up and took the Burb.
Dad just called. Funeral went fine today, and my grandmother, who lives here in Austin now as well, got to visit with all her old friends and family in Jonesboro one last time. She'd thought she'd never go up there again, so despite the reason for the trip she's had a good day.
Now to the point of the entire post, he told me about the drive up yesterday. It's about 560 miles up there. They left Austin in hot sunshine...90 degress at 11am. It clouded up in Dallas, where you turn to the east and head toward Texarkana. No rain, but the closer to Arkansas they got, the darker the clouds got, and it dropped into the 70's.
Once into Arkansas the sky was BLACK to the north, but all they got was sprinkles. They made it to Little Rock and stopped for dinner at a Colton's Steakhouse on the south side of town. Had a nice dinner, came out, and on the far hills across the highway was a tornado, big as day. They all got in the Burb and Dad said he got on I-40 going east at about 80mph. The wind was blowing, thunder and lightning to the north but it was not raining yet. They were on the front edge of the storm, which was also moving to the east.
Dad turned on the radio and all the weather alerts were going nuts. There were multiple tornados on the ground to the west of town, but moving in the same direction they were at 45mph....Dad, doing 80, was able to stay out front of the storms.
Now it gets fun. They loop around the southeast side of Little Rock by the airport and have to turn north to head up towards Newport and then on to Jonesboro, about three hours from Little Rock. This puts them heading directly into the storms. Does that stop my father....noooooo!!! My other Uncle, who lives in Newport, which is about two hours north of Little Rock, is calling on the cell phone ever 5-mins, telling them where the storms are. My Grandmother and mother are taklking to him and scared. They relay the news to my father. My father, an Arkansas native, refuses to stop.
They head north directly into the storms. In BeeBe they can hear the tornado sirens blaring, even out on the highway. My Uncle calls to tell them there is a tornado in Beebe and the radio is telling everyone in that area to take shelter. My Dad says he knows, they're in it, and tells Mom to hang up.
He said just north of BeeBe the rain comes down so hard he can barely see, and the wind is whipping the Suburban all over the road. The folks on the radio are really going nuts, there are multiple tornados all over the state. Dad keeps going, heading on northbound toward Newport. My Uncle calls again and tells Dad there is another tornado just north of Newport. Dad tells my Mom to tell him that that's good, they are not there yet, so it'll be gone when they do get there. :roll:
From Newport to Jonesboro is about an hour's drive. It's flat farmland up there, rice fields mostly, and Dad said in many places water was flooded totally over the road.
They made it, got in at 10:30pm. Our good old 167K mile Suburban ran without a hitch, and Dad said he sure was glad they'd brought it and not the Avalon. He said they saw no hail...thankfully.
The weather there today was in the 60's and overcast, which was fine for the funeral.
They are driving back home to Texas tomorrow. More strong storms are in the forecast up there for tonight and tomorrow.
Will pass on the next story tomorrow night...
What fun!
-Mike
Like A Rock!
