Riding the Storm Out

First off, let’s start with an appropriate soundtrack for this post.

Yesterday I zigged east and spent the day at America’s Stonehenge (that’ll be a post in itself). then spent the night at a nearby Cracker Barrel. I woke up to cloudy skies but gusty winds, signs that I was at the edge of Henri. It was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm before hitting the mainland, but is still packing a punch. I mean, Jim Cantore is reporting from Rhode Island, so you know some serious stuff is going down.

I checked the latest storm track, and it was time to make my move to Cabella’s in Hudson, Massachusetts. That’s right below the B in Boston on this map, squarely in the center of the hook that the storm path should be taking. Winds are strong, enough to straighten out the flags, but far from hurricane force. Gusts shake the van a bit occasionally, but it’s not bad. Similarly, it’s raining steadily and sometimes heavy, but nothing worse than storms I’ve already dealt with.

I’m not trying to downplay the severity of the storm. There’s a storm surge, flooding, and a vast swath of New England that will be getting a direct hit. Because my home has wheels, though, I was able to strategically place myself in a position that should only get a glancing blow, which appears to be what I’m experiencing right now. If it stays like this, I’ll be just fine. I will, however, continue to watch the storm track and will move if necessary. This is why I canceled my Boondockers Welcome reservation. I can up and move anytime I need to and stay out of the storm’s way. I also suspect that Cabella’s and anywhere else that allows travelers to park for a night may be a little more lenient than usual when it comes to travelers riding the storm out.

This experience is both boring, and the bad kind of exciting, all at once. It’s exciting in the “this is a genuine emergency, what do I do?” kind of way. But it’s also boring, because once I’m parked, there isn’t a whole lot to do while the storm rages outside. Lister is being particularly clingy, and I’m not letting him outside. It’s wet, and we’re in the middle of a parking lot, which isn’t particularly safe even though there’s virtually no traffic right now.

At this point, I’m just waiting for it to be over so I can get on with life. It’s looking like Tuesday’s track day will still be happening unless things change. Then I can get my bike tires and start heading west. Maybe I’ll spend some time today figuring out where I want to visit in New York and Pennsylvania up until IMS Outdoors starting September 10. That stop will require a slow roll for the next two weeks so I don’t overshoot Carlisle. I might as well do some exploring before then, something I haven’t been doing since my return to New England over a month ago. I’m ready for some adventure, and not the dodging a hurricane kind.