February 23 – 25, 2016
Day 14

I am a happy camper!   I like  Gulf Shores State Park in Orange Beach, Alabama.  It’s pretty and there’s a lot to see and do here.

Gulf Shores State Park Campground is the best of the best as far as campgrounds go.  Full hook up, large paved sites, ($40 a night).

There are too many amenities to list within the park and campground.

This year a pleasant surprise  at check in,  free passes to the  Gulf Shores Fishing Pier and $3 discount on one day fishing licenses.

This trip we have run into a few clinches.  At check in someone asked the clerk if they were evacuating the park.   HMMMM, I ask myself, “Why”  It’s been overcast and very foggy most of the way here.  There was some wind and heavy rain going through Mobile, but nothing horrible.  I actually like being in the RV in the rain.  The pitter patter of the rain on the rooftop is very soothing.  So the clerk says “No evacuation,  watch the weather and you might want to head for one of the storm shelters, if it gets bad.”  Storm Shelter aka any concrete building in the park.

It’s nice outside, warm, a light breeze.  We walk E T,  have dinner and David is surfing TV channels for something to watch.  All of a sudden we hear the thunder.  Then the sky lights up like daybreak with lightning flashes and the downpour begins.   It happened in a matter of minutes.  The downpour was so heavy that we couldn’t hear TV or each other talking.  The RV stated rocking.   The TV channels started flashing tornado watches.  There are two tornado’s forming a few miles off the Gulf Shores coast, heading for Orange Beach.  That’s right where we are,  David says “Do you want to head for the BUNKER?”  I’m already hooking E T’s harness on and grabbing my raincoat.  I step out of the camper into water up over my ankles.  The rain is coming down so hard that we are instantly drenched.  The wind is blowing me backward.  Fortunately, the Storm Shelter/Bunker aka Ladies Rest Room is less than a hundred feet from our camper.   In we go and it’s packed!  Men, Women, no dogs … there is a no pet in any park building rule.  So I explained that E T is a therapy dog in training.  She became the calming effect that many needed.  They became the calming effect she needed.

Many of the campers were tracking the storm on their cell phones.  We spent a scary hour or so gathered in the “bunker”.  The tornado’s dissipated.  The wind and rain alternated between mild and strong all night long.  We watched the weather until we felt comfortable enough that the threat had passed to go to  sleep.

So we weathered the storm with no incident.  Oh! and I did check the pet rules.  There are exceptions to the no pets in park buildings rule 🙂