---SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT---

..STRONG WIND GUSTS NEAR LAKE SUPERIOR CONTINUE THIS MORNING-

USE CAUTION...ESPECIALLY IF NEAR THE LAKE SUPERIOR SHORELINE THIS MORNING.

Lake Superior-notice the start of the rainbow

That was our weather yesterday, last night, and this morning.  Wind gusts were up to 65 mph, with a steady wind between 40 and 50 mph. The seas on Lake Superior went from calm to 20 feet, in a matter of hours.   It was a new and different experience for us, feeling a wind, inside the trailer, at 60 mph.  Usually when we have a wind of 60 mph we are on the highway.  This wind was never ending.   Trees were swaying and the trailer was rocking.  All night.  Paul insists that it's similar to sleeping in the bed of a pick up truck while driving down an old country road.   I can tell you that we did not sleep well last night.  Several campers up and left, some in the middle of the night.  The tenters were first to bail, then the pop up campers, but even some people in 5th wheels left during the night.  We didn't leave, but, we did think about it, and we did pull our two largest slides in,  to protect the awning material, and to keep the rocking to a minimum.  We thought for sure the antenna was toast, but apparently it survived.   .  

       In the morning, there were branches all over the place, the wind was still blowing, and the rain was still falling.  We are really used to that kind of wind when a storm front, or squall line comes through, not for an extended period of 20 hours.   We drove around in the morning looking at waves and beaches before leaving for our next destination- St. Ignace, which is on Lake Michigan, not Lake Superior.  When we got here, we found out that they had a hell of a night too, and the campground lost 3 trees (one of which landed on a trailer).

        Last night really reminded us both of boating- sitting on a mooring, waiting for a storm to pass.  We both remembered one of our worst storms on the boat.  We were in a small cove, tied to a mooring ball, when a major thunderstorm came through.  Lightning was everywhere, and the sailboat next to us was hit.  Waves went from non-existent to 3-4 feet in minutes- even inside the cove.  Other boats lost control and started to crash into each other.  We rode it out, with the kids, watching and listening to the mess all around us.  We heard 4 Maydays on our radio that night- one was from a child, whose dad had fallen in the water  trying to get their boat off some rocks,  and one Mayday was from a woman who had no idea where she was, but had lost all power on the boat.  The Harbormaster called her on the radio, and we watched lightening strike near his boat as he tried to reach her.   We thought about leaving the safety of our mooring to go help, but we knew that  once we left, we could have easily been one of the ones seeking help.  After that night, Paul bought a  new marine radio  that could send out an automatic Mayday in conjunction with our GPS that would automatically give the position of the boat.

       So, we are tired tonight, and hope to sleep well.