Podcast 302: Chasing storms chasing us
What do you do if the weather gets scary? Many RVers were caught in the significant storms throughout the midwest, including us, so this week we’ve got some tips for staying safe while RVing when the weather gets angry.
While we’re avoiding these storms, our guest Emily looks for storms and the weather we run from - she’s fascinating!
Plus we visit the mother of all punsters at the Hillbilly Gardens where they have a toilet Stonehenge, a lawn mower version of the Cadillac ranch and so much more.
Other places to hear the podcast
Mentioned on this episode
The weather radio we have: https://amzn.to/4jjlS5k
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA: https://www.noaa.gov
Apple Valley Hillbilly Garden and Toyland: https://applevalleyhillbillygardenandtoyland.com
If you’re confused about solar, battery power or just want to upgrade your RV we have found the solutions from ABC Upfitters are both reliable and exceptional.
We have a podcast episode and video where you can learn more here.
Automated transcript of StressLess Camping RV podcast episode 302
Peggy Barthel
What do you do if the weather gets scary?
Tony Barthel
Many RVers were caught in the significant storms throughout the Midwest, including us. So this week we've got some tips for staying safe while RVing when the weather gets angry.
Peggy Barthel
While we're avoiding these storms, our guest Emily looks for storms and the weather we run from. She is fascinating.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Plus we visit the mother of all punsters at the Hillbilly Gardens where they have a toilet Stonehenge called Thronehenge, a lawnmower version of the Cadillac Ranch.
Peggy Barthel
And so, so much more.
Tony Barthel
You gotta see this place.
Peggy Barthel
We have this week's podcast along with notes and stories that go with this episode.
Peggy Barthel
Deals, deep discounts, helpful tips and more at our home on the web@stresslesscamping.com and.
Tony Barthel
Of course, so you don't miss out, don't forget to, like, share and subscribe. And boy, do we appreciate you being with us on this fun adventure.
Peggy Barthel
Thanks for joining us for episode 302. He's Tony.
Tony Barthel
Oh, yeah. And she's Peggy.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. We're two RV industry veterans who travel part time in a mini light, looking to share big adventures and help you with great tips, tricks and discounts.
Tony Barthel
Last few days, we were in Tennessee.
Peggy Barthel
Well, we were in Tennessee. We were in Kentucky where the tornadoes were right along with those tornadoes. And then we moved our way north up into Indiana where we currently sit.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Where it's predicted to be in the.
Peggy Barthel
20S overnight, so at least there's no tornadoes. But it's very cold.
Tony Barthel
Oh, don't say that. Yeah, it's cold and that's okay. So this week with all of this, there's a lady that we talk with online who chases storms and she's a full time RVer.
Tony Barthel
And we thought, oh, what better time to invite Emily to join us. But before that, we have few tips for you about this whole storm thing. And the first of those is know where you are.
Peggy Barthel
Yes.
Tony Barthel
Right.
Tony Barthel
So I, I know Peggy isn't as fond of this app as I am, but I use this app called where am I? And remember last week we said lessons learned from students in our classes. That's why I found it. And it's all it does is one thing. Basically you say, where am I?
Tony Barthel
And it says, you're 780 foot of elevation. I'm in Elkhart County.
Peggy Barthel
It actually has the address of where you are. Yeah, it has the address, the coordinates, the altitude, the county, the state, and the country. In case you really can't see.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. In case you're like, what country am I in?
Peggy Barthel
I just Woke up from a three day bender.
Tony Barthel
Where am I anyway? So then I use this app to set this radio.
Tony Barthel
So I use where am I to set our weather radio and the weather radio for the first time ever I saw on the warning the red lights light up.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah.
Tony Barthel
Oh look at that. And there's also lights for watch and advisory. This weather radio, I think they're all similar in a lot of respects.
Tony Barthel
It sounds an alarm that could wake the dead.
Peggy Barthel
Yes.
Tony Barthel
When there's, you know, when things are coming that are bad, it'll run on batteries. This, this one in particular, three double A's and we rechargeables just cuz we do. Am I going to poke you with the antenna?
Tony Barthel
It'll warn you. You can set it. What it warns you about? It does this. Now here is the forecast.
Tony Barthel
Rest of today, mostly cloudy. A slight chance of snow showers late this morning. Then a chance of snow showers with.
Peggy Barthel
A slight snow showers.
Tony Barthel
Showers this afternoon breezy with highs in the lower 40s wet anyway, so you can have it say the weather to you and, and all of that.
Tony Barthel
But I like the warning and it does also it has a AC adapter so.
Peggy Barthel
And a battery backup obviously.
Tony Barthel
And a battery backup charged as much as possible and anyway I think these are worth. We'll put a link to that unit in the show notes. I.
Tony Barthel
I think it's worth having.
Peggy Barthel
Okay, so I'm a little confused. Did you just do our gadget report at the beginning of the episode?
Tony Barthel
I guess I did. I've got it all backwards.
Tony Barthel
I'm twisted tornado.
Peggy Barthel
Apparently he's reading the notes from the bottom up.
Tony Barthel
Yeah, well, hey, bottoms up. Today is national Beer day, so yeah, bottoms up.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah, I guess so why don't we go back on script?
Tony Barthel
Okay, let's do that.
Peggy Barthel
We have been, you know, making our way northward and some of the nights we. Well, you know, especially when there was a tornado, we were happy to be in a place where we knew there was a shelter. But not every night did we stay in a campground.
Tony Barthel
Oh gosh, no.
Peggy Barthel
Because like to stay off grid and do some boondocking and stay at really interesting harvest host place and we can do all that. Why?
Tony Barthel
Well, because of our master Volt power system from ABC Outfitters. And one of the questions that I've heard a lot is okay, so you've got two or three days of stinky weather and it's cloud like today. You know this system, I think a lot of people say oh you have a great solar system.
Tony Barthel
We do. But what happens on a day like this, where we are getting, you know, not much sun and all of that. And our furnace is running more than normal. Well, we have a thing called a DC to DC charger. And what ABC Outfitters did is they rigged our truck with this DC to DC charger, which I believe they say is about the equivalent of a thousand watts of solar running optimally.
Tony Barthel
So when we're driving down the road, we can plug our truck into the trailer. It's more than the seven pin. It's a, what's called an Anderson connector and it's fat wires on either end. And our truck has a very beefy alternator. But we plug the truck into the trailer and it can charge our battery system.
Tony Barthel
We also, there was one day where we were stationary and I plugged the truck into the trailer and just idled the truck for, I don't know, 40 minutes, whatever it was. So I no longer bring a generator with me, right? Well, I do.
Peggy Barthel
It's just in the hood of the truck.
Tony Barthel
6.4 liter V8.
Tony Barthel
So anyway, that's another option. And one of the things that really illustrates when you contact ABC upfitters, they will work with you to tailor a system that matches your camping style. And now they have very affordable drop in battery systems for you.
Peggy Barthel
Patty.
Tony Barthel
Yeah, they have like our friend Patrick, they have a not so systems that they can build.
Tony Barthel
So really it's more. You tell them, all right, this is what we can do. And they will build a system for you. But also know that let's say you camp more and you're like, well, this system isn't meeting all my needs. They can go back later and upgrade it.
Tony Barthel
And so if that's the kind of reliable, customizable system that appeals to you, you can call our friends at ABCF Fitters at 574-333-3225.
Peggy Barthel
Say it with me. 574-333-3225, or you can check them out at ABC Upfitters.
Tony Barthel
Mm. Well, this week we spoke with Emily Wolf about chasing storms.
Tony Barthel
And that's what she does.
Peggy Barthel
That's what she does. That's what we don't do.
Tony Barthel
No, we want to be the opposite Emily.
Peggy Barthel
So.
Peggy Barthel
But something. Here's my, my main takeaway. We may not like to be in a storm, but occasionally it's gonna happen and we should just get a little bit more educated. And that's what we did. By talking to Emily, we become more educated so that at least when things happen, when the proverbial stuff hits the proverbial fan, we at least know what to do to keep ourselves safe.
Peggy Barthel
So let's hear from Emily. Today we're very excited to be joined by Emily Wolf from have youe Been? And, you know, if you've been following Tony and my travels, you know that we've been running away from storms, but Emily actually is the opposite. Emily chases those storms. And so we wanted to ask her kind of some maybe safety tips if you want to be a chaser or safety tips if you want to be a runner.
Peggy Barthel
So, Emily, thank you so much for joining us today and taking some time out of your day, and we really appreciate that you are here with us.
Emily Wolff
Well, thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Tony Barthel
So I have to ask, you're an RVer, of course, which is one of the reasons you've joined us. But most of us, when we hear the tornado siren or any, you know, we see, oh, the weather is going to be lousy.
Tony Barthel
We are like, okay, how do we get to where the weather is better? But you are just the opposite. So what, what got you interested in following these severe weather circumstances?
Emily Wolff
Yeah, you know, I got interested in meteorology back when I was in seventh grade, and I've always had an interest for tornadoes, and so did my husband. And back during COVID in 2020, that's when we started chasing.
Emily Wolff
We just wanted a new adventure. We wanted to see what we could find, see what would happen. And I'm a photographer, so it's always fun to get weather shots. And we just got became hooked and we absolutely love it. So we, we chase tornadoes and we chase lightning storms.
Peggy Barthel
Okay.
Tony Barthel
Wow. So chasing tornadoes, have you ever been in a circumstance where you're kind of.
Emily Wolff
Like, oh, you know, it's funny, actually, a couple years ago, we got stuck at the. In the tail end of a tornado, and that was the most interesting experience I think I've ever had.
Emily Wolff
Especially it was. It was just me and my husband, and we were in the interstate, and all of a sudden it was right in front of us. And this huge branch had to be at least six feet, started coming towards us, and it stopped right in front of the suv. And that's when the tornado stopped. And it was.
Emily Wolff
It was an EF0. So it wasn't as strong as a lot of the other ones lately, but it was a. It was a very amazing and thrilling experience.
Peggy Barthel
Wow. Wow.
Tony Barthel
And how long have you been doing that? You had mentioned Covid, but how long have you been chasing these storms?
Emily Wolff
So since 2020. So five years.
Peggy Barthel
That was it.
Peggy Barthel
Okay.
Tony Barthel
Okay.
Peggy Barthel
So I think before we go too much farther. Can you explain that? EF0 and that, you know, like, scoring.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah, the scoring to us.
Emily Wolff
So tornadoes are going to be ranked based on. It's a little tricky. And this is what throws a lot of people off is it's the wind speed when it's on the ground. So the.
Emily Wolff
The wind speed at the ground of the tornado. So as the tornado is moving on the ground, it depends on how much with that wind speed and how much damage it can cause.
Peggy Barthel
Okay.
Emily Wolff
So a lot of people will be like, oh, the wind speed, you know, or it's. It's so huge, it had to be at least an E4.
Emily Wolff
And then they get very surprised when it's like an E2 or an E3. And that is because the wind speed at the ground of the tornado was.
Peggy Barthel
Not strong enough because it's a combination of the wind. It's not just the wind speed. It's the wind speed at the ground.
Peggy Barthel
So it can be different at different, I guess, parts. Different heights of the tornado, Correct?
Emily Wolff
Yep.
Tony Barthel
All right, who's out there with a speed measuring device saying, hang on, I think this is an E4, but I'm about to kiss my behind goodbye.
Emily Wolff
So a lot of times.
Emily Wolff
So like, the extreme chasers, when. And they. A lot of times work for either the national weather Service or Accuweather or MyRadar, and they will have the special equipment and that they'll drop it. So when a tornado goes through, they're able to get, like, the readings and everything and see, like, what the pressure was, the wind speed. But also a lot of times what will happen is after a tornado happens, usually the next day, weather surveyors would go out and they were able to see, based on the damage that was caused by the tornado, what the rating was.
Tony Barthel
Huh. Interesting.
Peggy Barthel
And so E0 to E4, is that the full scale or was that halfway up? E5.
Emily Wolff
Yeah, it's E0123455.
Peggy Barthel
Okay. So we were actually in Kentucky when we. Apparently, I didn't hear this at the time, but apparently a tornado was right above us. Things were really calm, and I knew that didn't mean it was over. I just knew that things were calm, and that kind of isn't a good sign.
Peggy Barthel
But then later, Tony said the woman who, like, was familiar with tornadoes that was with us said, it's right above us. Let's hope it doesn't touch down. So I didn't realize how, like, I thought. I don't know what I thought. Like, it just was farther away.
Peggy Barthel
I Know that calm means you're in the middle. Right. But I think I didn't want to believe. I didn't want to understand at the time. So they're.
Peggy Barthel
So they don't. Like, they're not always on the ground. If this is right. They spin around up there in the sky, and then once in a while, they dip down for a drink of destruction.
Emily Wolff
That's a good way of putting it. So basically what happens is you'll get a wall cloud, and those are those clouds that are going to be lower, and then the funnel cloud forms from the wall cloud. So you had a funnel cloud right over you. So. And then when it's a touchdown, that's the tornado, if that makes sense.
Peggy Barthel
Okay. All right. So it's not a tornado till it's, like, down there messing us up.
Emily Wolff
Yep.
Peggy Barthel
Okay.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. This lady was. I guess she worked for the Red. It's just coincidence that she was staying at the RV park we were at, and she had her Red Cross outfit on and all that. And she.
Tony Barthel
At the end, she went out and she's like, oh, look at how the grass is laid down. The tornado was pretty. Or, you know, whatever was pretty much here. And all I could think about, honestly was not for my own personal safety or anything other than having to call Rockwood and say, you'll never believe this, but we just destroyed another trailer. That.
Tony Barthel
That was what was in my mind.
Peggy Barthel
Emily, I don't know if you're familiar, but in 2022, we had two Rockwoods get totaled from different not our. Not our fault circumstances.
Emily Wolff
Right.
Peggy Barthel
But we are, like, every time we get the tiniest scratch, we're like, oh, no.
Peggy Barthel
Rockwood's gonna beat us up for ruining another trailer.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. So, yeah, I'm not thinking of my own safety. I'm thinking, okay, how do I call Rockwood and say, you're not gonna believe this, but we just totaled another mini light.
Peggy Barthel
We didn't have.
Tony Barthel
All was well, we survived. We're still here.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. So I have appreciated that you have been posting on the. Actually, I have to give a shout out to the RV Miles group, because that's the one that you.
Peggy Barthel
We're gonna talk you into joining our group, too, so you can help us. But in the RV Miles group, you've been posting kind of, you know, daily. Like, if you're in this area, this is what. This is the danger you're in. And I know that you're sharing Ryan hall, y'all.
Peggy Barthel
Right. I know that that's one of the ones that you. That you follow weather wise and a lot of RVers really like Ryan hall, y'all YouTube channel and, and then just general weather channels. And is that like, is that just something such a fascination that you just kind of, you look at those all the time or I mean, not all the time. There aren't always tornadoes, but thankfully with.
Emily Wolff
Everything that is happening today and everything, all the cuts that have happened with the National Weather Service and everything I share usually those links because those are the, the extreme chasers and extreme chaser groups like Ryan hall and his team are going to be giving you the most accurate information. A lot of times what happens is you'll see like, oh, there's a tornado warning, there's severe thunderstorm warning. If there is not a chaser or spotter on that storm, a lot of times the radar will pick up if it's a, if there's like a EF0 or an EOF1 on the ground unless somebody is on that tornado and reporting it. So that a lot of times. Why I will share those links because I don't want anybody to, to not.
Emily Wolff
I, I don't want anybody to be in the way of a tornado and nobody knows it's. It's there.
Peggy Barthel
So have you been. So, you know, we. Unfortunately, every time you shared one of those maps, I realized that we were not only in the path of a tornado warning, but also the storm.
Peggy Barthel
It's been a long term, like it's been a week that there's been just rain and storms and stuff. And the route that that storm has taken is exactly the route that we have been driving for the past week.
Tony Barthel
She's not kidding.
Peggy Barthel
I am not kidding. Every time you post one, I'm like, oh man, we have no choice but to go right back into the eye of that.
Peggy Barthel
Right. So I'm glad that the tornado part was only like that one one day. And then, you know, we've been dealing with a lot of rain, which we hate, coming from the desert Southwest.
Emily Wolff
Yeah, yeah.
Peggy Barthel
But, you know, at least I'm not in fear.
Tony Barthel
Don't forget that it's getting to the low 20s now here in Indiana.
Peggy Barthel
Right.
Tony Barthel
And there's also rain predicted which will make the roads extra fun to drive on.
Tony Barthel
I love pulling a trailer when the road is slick.
Peggy Barthel
So from the standpoint of chasing a tornado, you, I'm sure you get right into the danger zone when you can. But you weren't in Paducah, Kentucky last Tuesday, right?
Emily Wolff
Correct. I'm in Massachusetts right now.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. So you just kind of watch from Afar and keep apprised and know what's going on, but then when. And it's not like you can plan like, hey, next month there's gonna be a tornado in Kentucky. Let's move down there for the month. So how often do you get to be right there in the action?
Emily Wolff
The last time we were right in the action, Right in action. It's. It's been a while. So it was when we were in Savannah. So last winter, we were in Savannah for six months.
Emily Wolff
And we've actually been in Massachusetts now for almost a year, which is a lot longer than I have wanted to be here. So we're hoping this summer we'll get back into an area where we can do a lot of tornado chasing. And, you know, everybody used to say, okay, tornado alley, it's going to be Oklahoma, Texas. And that has totally shifted east now. And that's.
Peggy Barthel
That was another question I had. A lot of people were saying that, like, somebody that was in the shelter with us in Kentucky grew up in Oklahoma, and they're like, we thought we were moving out of the zone, and the zone just kind of moved with us.
Emily Wolff
It's, you know, it's absolutely crazy. And especially the storm the other day, I had never seen anything like that before when we did our spotter training for the South Carolina, Georgia area. Like, they even said they could not believe that how far east tornado alley has moved. So it's just. It's just crazy how that's all happened, especially in the last few years.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. So do you think that it's just going to keep moving east and eventually.
Tony Barthel
Just maybe it'll blow over the ocean.
Peggy Barthel
United States, and we won't have tornadoes anymore?
Tony Barthel
Then Emily will become a boater.
Emily Wolff
You know, with the way the water temperatures have been in the Gulf, that's one of the reasons why it. It has been worse, at least in my opinion, more towards the east. Because when you have all that water, all the warm water and all that energy in the Gulf and it's, you know, moving up into, you know, like the Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and then that keeps going northeast. That's one of the reasons why there has been so many more issues for that part of the country. So I personally don't see it calming down anytime soon.
Peggy Barthel
I think I heard you say a minute ago, spotter training.
Emily Wolff
Yep.
Peggy Barthel
So is this a profession, a really organized hobby? I always just kind of figured it was a few random people in the United States who are crazy enough to get close to a tornado. So.
Emily Wolff
So there's spotters and then there's chasers. Right. So I'm a storm chaser with my husband. Spotters are usually those people who are at their own house or at their own RV or they don't chase the storms but when they have a storm coming in and they if basically you can take a class with your local chapter of the NOAA and they teach you everything in a two hour period, sometimes three hours. So two to three hour period of how to a report.
Emily Wolff
Also they teach you every part of the storm so they'll teach you about tornadoes, wind speed, lightning, hail and they teach you what you need to look for. So then when you become a spotter, when you finish that, let's say you have a storm headed your way and you all of a sudden have hail falling, you can report that. And that is a lot of times if the radar isn't picking it up, how they're able to tell when a storm goes from not severe to severe, if that makes sense.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. So is a tornado like temperature dependent or can there be tornadoes on 80 degree days and also different days that are hail or is there always rain or you know, are they, is there a large variety?
Tony Barthel
Can you tell? We grew up in.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. We lived in California.
Tony Barthel
We have no idea experience with tornadoes as we watch wizard of Oz.
Peggy Barthel
Wizard of Oz, Yeah.
Emily Wolff
So tornadoes basically happen depending on how much energy is going to be in the atmosphere. That's the big thing with tornadoes. You can have tornadoes and hardly have any rain or hail. Usually though, when you have a tornado you're going to have larger hail.
Emily Wolff
So I have seen hail drop as big as like tennis balls which is absolutely crazy. But it happens. You can have tornadoes without rain. A lot of the times though, what will happen when there's a lot of moisture with these storms is the tornadoes will be rain wrapped. So you'll see like a whole bunch of rain dropping but you won't be able to see the tornado if that makes sense.
Tony Barthel
So my previous experience with all this was as I said, in the Southwest we get those dust devils. I always said, oh look, it's a, you know, it's a desert tornado. Are they related? And I mean it's spinny air, but.
Emily Wolff
No, a lot of times like the, the dust devils are usually okay with wind speed and everything.
Emily Wolff
Then like you'll get like the water spouts. So tornadoes that form over water are going to be the water spouts. And then even with you know, the wildfires, if you have a wildfire that is so strong and it's not, it Happens more so in the ones that are hardly contained and are not as strong. So like the ones with California was that a couple months ago they will form these fire tornadoes. So it is all basically dependent on how much energy is going to be in the atmosphere.
Tony Barthel
Okay, wow.
Peggy Barthel
So we kind of have had them because we lived through a lot of fires, but luckily we didn't know.
Tony Barthel
Are there sharknadoes?
Peggy Barthel
Oh, as your professional opinion.
Emily Wolff
Oh man.
Peggy Barthel
Is that a water spout that picks up a shark? We did hear actually.
Emily Wolff
Oh yeah.
Peggy Barthel
When we were in, in Kentucky, they were talking about tornadoes that have like over a pond or a lake or something that have like sucked the lake.
Tony Barthel
Dry or at least sucked up a bunch.
Peggy Barthel
And then it rains fish.
Tony Barthel
I mean, and then, yeah, part of the cleanup is cleaning up the fish so they don't stink.
Emily Wolff
Yeah, right. You know, I think the biggest thing, and this is why I, you know, especially in that group, why I report, hey, if you guys are in this area, get to know your safety zone. A lot of times, a lot of times people will not realize that hey, there is a storm coming or else they'll be like, it's just a storm.
Emily Wolff
We've had storms before, it's not going to be that bad. Or people here, you know, it's just an EF0, so it's only got 90 mile per hour winds. And then the whole with, with the hurricanes, they're like, oh, it's only gonna be a zero. It's only gonna be a one or two or three. What people need to realize when people give a prediction for a storm, they are telling you what the basically the best case scenario is going to be.
Emily Wolff
So like, let's say you are rving down in Florida and there is a hurricane coming up from the Gulf because that did happen last year a couple times. And they're like, it's forecasted to be like a category one or two and people are like, oh, that's not bad. Yada yada. What people need to understand and especially for, in my opinion, those who are in RVs, is that when they say that that's going to be the best case scenario. But what you don't realize is it's, there's a chance it's going to get to a category four or a category five or there's going to be stronger tornadoes.
Emily Wolff
If it's just a tornado storm or there's, oh, there's not going to be that much rain, they say 2 to 5 inches, but chances are it's going to be a lot worse. I would hate for anybody out there, especially if you're RVing, and I hate to say especially RV, because I don't want to favor that. Is that when people start telling you, hey, this is what these models are looking like, you should get prepared now if possible, is that once these storms.
Tony Barthel
Hit.
Emily Wolff
It is going to be very hard for, for you to get out of.
Emily Wolff
Right. When we are in our RV and we see that there is a storm that's going to be coming, we know to take that seriously, especially if it's like a week or two out, that we need to pay attention to that in case it does get bad enough that we need to get our RV out of there. Because as these storms are getting more powerful, it will be a lot harder for people to get out of the way. Does that make sense?
Peggy Barthel
Yeah.
Peggy Barthel
And also like the. Sure, a tornado might only last a few minutes, whatever. Oh, that wasn't so bad. But then the power outages and the, the flooding, you know, we're still under flood warnings like I said, all the way from Kentucky up to Indiana.
Emily Wolff
Yeah.
Peggy Barthel
Because there's still rain and. Okay, so the tornado is done blowing, but that doesn't mean that the, the, the storm is done. And we, we happened to visit a roadside attraction that morning before the tornado and when we talked to him just a couple of days ago, the wind blew their.
Tony Barthel
It literally pulled their electrical box off the side of the house.
Peggy Barthel
So they were without.
Tony Barthel
I mean, it's not funny.
Peggy Barthel
It's not funny, but it's like, you know, yeah, okay. It blew for a minute. We all sat in the basement eating Oreos and now it's all done. Well, not for everybody.
Peggy Barthel
It's not all done.
Emily Wolff
Right.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. The cleanup was, we were driving around and the number of downed trees. So.
Tony Barthel
Hey, tornadoes, get rid of all the trees in campgrounds. Thanks.
Peggy Barthel
Penny's not a big fan of trees because they blow down and hit your trailer.
Tony Barthel
Yeah.
Emily Wolff
You know, I get it, I get it.
Tony Barthel
I like trees. I just don't want them in campground. I love trees.
Emily Wolff
We are going into a major. This year is going to be horrible for storms.
Emily Wolff
We're already seeing that. You know, tornado season used to only really last from April to June to June, July, and it's now becoming a more year round round issue. And that's why I always say to RVers especially, especially if you're going to be in one area long, long enough, at least a month to three months. Take the spotter classes, become a weather spotter. And that way you know what to look for to help keep you and your family and your rigs all safe, you know.
Tony Barthel
And where do you find out about those? The classes?
Emily Wolff
Yeah, that's going to be all on the NOAA website. They have offices all over the country. And you can find those weather spotter classes on your local NOAA website.
Peggy Barthel
Okay.
Tony Barthel
We have an app that we use from NOAA that's our weather. Our favorite weather app, called Climb. Called Climb.
Emily Wolff
Okay.
Peggy Barthel
So I'll find those. I'll find those classes and I'll put some links on the show notes.
Tony Barthel
Look.
Peggy Barthel
Oh, boy, look at all that rain.
Emily Wolff
I know. It's. We, we've had two or three days of on and off rain here in Massachusetts. And I am ready for it to be over, that's for sure.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah, we are.
Peggy Barthel
Like we said, we're not really big, big fans of rain. Like, I know that it's very important to have it, but why do we have to have it? When I'm awake, Right.
Tony Barthel
I know that I need to get a shot from the dock for, you know, whatever. Doesn't mean I have to like it.
Tony Barthel
Just like rain.
Emily Wolff
Yep, yep. Totally understand. Totally get it.
Tony Barthel
Emily, it's been great talking to you.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah.
Tony Barthel
We would like to know where you're traveling, so we don't go there. Not that we don't want to meet you in person, but, you know, because.
Peggy Barthel
We know you're looking for those storms and we want to get away from them. I think, though, that really this has been really helpful because I understand things more.
Peggy Barthel
And honestly, taking that course, that spotter course, doesn't mean I'm going to go out and try to find them, but it means when something comes to me, I'll be a little bit more confident knowing what to look for, what to expect, when to panic, you know, because I will, but. Right.
Emily Wolff
Awesome. No, this has been great. And I, you know, more people need to understand weather. The other thing I did want to say is you don't have to become a chaser to be able to report the weather. If you have never chased a tornado before, if you have no meteorology experience before, then I definitely recommend, do not chase a storm.
Emily Wolff
Just be a spotter. And if you see extreme chase or re. Timber in your area, that's when you know that you got major weather coming your way.
Tony Barthel
Okay.
Peggy Barthel
So some, some people are going to want to be like Emily and her family and go, you know, when they can go where they might, you know, get to chase.
Peggy Barthel
Some of us, though, just having this amount of knowledge and knowing that, you know, this is. Could go on until June or July. So we want to go back to the west. We want to go back and not come back here because we, you know, if you're informed, then, you know, when, you know, we said, oh, sure, we'll just run off to Indiana in April, no problem, no big deal. Not giving any thought to the fact that there might be, you know, weather issues.
Peggy Barthel
And so if you're more informed, at least you can make those decisions and not say, why did we let ourselves get into something we didn't expect?
Emily Wolff
Right. Definitely.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. It's always good to be more informed.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. Yeah.
Emily Wolff
Oh, and the movie that for some reason my Brian would not think of earlier was Twister. So in the movie Twister, when they had like those. Those sensors.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah.
Emily Wolff
And that's one of the reasons. That's one of the reasons why the extreme chasers will taste. Chase the tornado, especially if they work for like a cute weather or the noaa so they can get those. Those readings from inside of the tornado.
Peggy Barthel
Right.
Emily Wolff
Yep.
Peggy Barthel
Leave that job to the real professionals.
Emily Wolff
Yes.
Speaker 4
Yeah.
Peggy Barthel
Well, again, thank you so much for taking time. I feel a little better about understanding things. I know that will not take an assignment in, in March in Kentucky anytime soon again. Yeah, but. But again, now we know now my go bag has been packed and with unfortunately, the snacks that we wanted in the truck yesterday.
Peggy Barthel
I was like, where are the beef sticks? And then I'm like, oh, yeah, they're in the go bag getting ready for an evacuation. That was good.
Tony Barthel
I mean, I was really impressed with the job you did with that. Well, Emily, thank you again for your time.
Tony Barthel
And we do hope we catch you on the road at some point.
Peggy Barthel
During non tornado season.
Speaker 4
Yeah.
Emily Wolff
Yes. Non tornado and hurricane season.
Peggy Barthel
Yes, yes, exactly.
Tony Barthel
All right, safe travels and thank you again.
Emily Wolff
Of course. Thank you for having me. This has been fun.
Emily Wolff
And if you ever have any more weather questions, feel free to let me know.
Tony Barthel
Sounds great. Hopefully you got something good from Emily. Our experience when we were in Tennessee. Was it Tennessee?
Peggy Barthel
Kentucky.
Tony Barthel
Okay. Okay. Our experience when we were in Kentucky, we did not get any fried chicken, first of all, which is a big bummer.
Peggy Barthel
We didn't.
Tony Barthel
But we're at this campground and they said, if you hear the tornado sirens, come to this shelter.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah.
Tony Barthel
And we did. We heard the sirens. We're like, ah, phooey.
Tony Barthel
Peggy packed a go bag. And you have an article about that, right?
Peggy Barthel
I do. I hope so. I think so.
Peggy Barthel
But we, I knew since early after. Actually we knew the day we checked in. The day before they said, do you know that weather's coming? You know, and are you okay with being here? And we said, we'd rather be here where we already know what to do than to be on the road somewhere and then try to figure out where to take shelter in the middle of nowhere.
Tony Barthel
Oh, yeah.
Peggy Barthel
So, yeah, So I had kind of all afternoon to really give it some thought. We have a go bag, but honestly, we don't always keep it very well organized or packed. And so I made sure that it had what we thought we would need for, you know, she said sometimes up to 10 hours. So I thought, well, we're gonna get hungry in 10 hours and we're gonna get sleepy.
Peggy Barthel
So I put some snacks in there. I put some. And I had gone down to the basement to see where it was. That was where we sheltered, and it was really chilly. So I put some sweaters and I got our little throw blankets.
Tony Barthel
Yeah, it had been shorts weather before that.
Peggy Barthel
And so, you know, I got. And she said, bring chairs, because there aren't really any places to sit in this just empty, unfinished basement. So we had our chairs ready to go. We had our go bag.
Peggy Barthel
We had everything ready. They told us it could happen anywhere between 3pm and 10pm we might. Or 11pm that we might hear the siren. So we worked furiously to get the podcast ready and got that all done. And literally, like, had sort of, like, just finished getting all that office stuff done and having our dinner.
Peggy Barthel
We washed our dishes, but we didn't take our after dinner vitamins. Like, that's the timing. And then all of a sudden, both of our phones, the weather radio, the sirens in the, you know, in the neighborhood, everything started telling us to get down to that basement. So we did.
Tony Barthel
So we did.
Tony Barthel
And there was. Fortunately, I think we talked about this with Emily, too. There was a lady just happened to stay at the campground who was a Red Cross volunteer, or I think she.
Peggy Barthel
Works for Red Cross, and she is more of a logistician, the logistics of, you know, what happens after a disaster. But, you know, everybody who works there, if they need immediate cleanup or assistance or first response, you know, I think everyone on the team is part of.
Tony Barthel
That team, and I believe she had a real understanding of tornadoes. So at one point. So we had this sliding glass door in the base that accessed the basement. And the sliding glass door was open. She's standing there and looking, and.
Tony Barthel
And she's like, oh, this, oh, that. All of a sudden she's like, oh, slams the door and comes to the back of it.
Peggy Barthel
Over to the part of the.
Tony Barthel
Away from the glass right now. Nobody go near the glass.
Tony Barthel
And I'm like, oh, well, that's not good.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. So apparently a. Well, what we learned from Emily, it wasn't a tornado, because it didn't touch down on us, but a funnel cloud, a store. Anyway, it was above us.
Peggy Barthel
A twisty air was above us, but it didn't. We were lucky that it just stayed in the air and it didn't come down.
Emily Wolff
Yeah.
Tony Barthel
Yeah, we're still here. Anyway, preparation, as always, you know, preparation is good.
Peggy Barthel
It's gonna be a while before I let that go bag get so unpacked and unprepared again.
Tony Barthel
Well, especially since we talk about it in some of our workshops.
Peggy Barthel
And, you know, I think I have a new, new appreciation for go bags. You know, it used to be, like, my mindset was the only reason. The reason.
Peggy Barthel
The reason you need a go bag is in the middle of the night, your RV catches fire, and you have to escape, which is legitimate. It's legitimate, but it's not the only reason that you need a go bag. Right. And so this go bag was more. We may be spending 10 hours away from the trailer, but, of course, I did not let my mind say if there's no trailer to go back to, because then I'd want to pack everything in one bag, Right?
Peggy Barthel
Everything we might ever want out of this trailer. If the trailer was to get lifted up and left in a tree somewhere.
Tony Barthel
Oh, my gosh.
Peggy Barthel
I didn't let myself think that way. And because everything except lives are replaceable, right?
Tony Barthel
That's true.
Peggy Barthel
I took the things that I figured we'd want during an extended period of time in a chilly basement.
Tony Barthel
Yep. Well, on a more positive note, while we were there, we visited Apple Valley, Hillbilly Garden, and Toyland.
Peggy Barthel
Yes, indeed.
Tony Barthel
So we have a new segment that we want to have on the podcast called Goofy usa, because, as you know, we travel through for the ridiculous roadside attractions. Funny Americana, you know, things like that. So, you know, some people are like, oh, I want to go all the national parks, or, oh, I want to go hiking. And for us, it's like, how stupid is that on the side of the road? Because we want to see it.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah, we don't hike. We don't. In fact, someone just asked for some advice the other day, and I was like, well, you can see this giant statue, and you can. Can see that. Blah, blah, blah.
Peggy Barthel
And she's like, yeah, but I like to hike with my dog. And I'm like, you're Asking the wrong person.
Tony Barthel
Nope, not us. This Apple Valley, Hillbilly Garden and Toyland. First of all, I guess it was a property this dude inherited and he started to put kind of yard art and the neighbors didn't like it.
Tony Barthel
So then he decided, well, it's going to become an art installation. But the core of this is this man is the king of puns. I don't go anywhere close to as punny as this gentleman is.
Peggy Barthel
Now maybe, you know, he's had a lot of time to practice and come up with a different pun. But I swear every, I guess, installation in that yard, every work of art had a really great story and or a ridiculous pun to go along with it.
Tony Barthel
And in the yard, he had buried lawnmowers like the Cadillac Ranch. He had a toilet. Stonehenge Throne Hinge. Thronehenge. There was a trailer decked out like a spaceship.
Tony Barthel
There's working things, there's fountains. He has this huge pile of cans and he called it Kanzis.
Peggy Barthel
But over in the northern part of it, it was Canada.
Tony Barthel
I mean, it just went on and on like this and it was. I just loved it.
Peggy Barthel
It was fantastic. It was so much fun. And the owner and his wife, I think they take turns doing tours. But he wasn't really busy, so his wife started the tour and then he joined in. So we got like double pun.
Peggy Barthel
Well, it was the same pun. It just sometimes they told them a little bit differently.
Tony Barthel
Yeah, it's just on and on. And if you're ever in Paducah, Kansas, do go to this where Paducah, Kentucky.
Peggy Barthel
And it's actually technically in Calvert City, which is very, very close to Paducah.
Peggy Barthel
But I mean, even the Calvert City. The KOA in Calvert City is called the Paducah Koa. So. But anyway, it is. Don't take your RV there because there's no place to park.
Tony Barthel
No, no, don't take your RV to Hillbilly Garden. There's plenty.
Peggy Barthel
Definitely take it to Paducah KOA. They are awesome there.
Tony Barthel
Yeah, they really are.
Tony Barthel
The other thing that's in this place is a house, I guess, and the entire house. Well, it's a big room, a building.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah.
Tony Barthel
Full of toys. I mean, almost anything you can imagine.
Peggy Barthel
Things I had no idea were ever toys. Like, I saw action figures of like the Gunsmoke characters, you know, from the TV show. Right. And I know they're. And they were like Barbie size, but they were Gunsmoke characters.
Peggy Barthel
There was. I mean, there was a whole collection.
Tony Barthel
Of Pee Wee Herman stuff. There were Batmans. There was an entire upper shelf that surrounded the room that was Star wars stuff.
Peggy Barthel
Every toy like ever invented. And like literally some of them like brought back memories. And some of them were like, I don't know what that is. And some of them were like, I had no idea that this was ever a toy. Yeah, it was such.
Peggy Barthel
I could have spent hours in there. We just didn't have it because the wind was already starting to blow. And we knew that we had to get home and prepare.
Tony Barthel
But we had stayed an extra day just to see this. It was totally worth it.
Peggy Barthel
It was totally worth it.
Tony Barthel
And it's donation. But he even has, I guess when his grandfather. Grandfather had the property, they had a little gas station. Like honestly, not really bigger than this trailer.
Peggy Barthel
I think. Not as big as this trailer.
Tony Barthel
I think you're right.
Peggy Barthel
But yeah, it was a gas station. It was a little kind of a small convenience general store.
Peggy Barthel
It was a four seat diner.
Tony Barthel
Yeah.
Peggy Barthel
Where they made kitchen. They made a chicken dinner. And everybody.
Peggy Barthel
That's what you got. You didn't get a menu, you got a chicken dinner.
Tony Barthel
Correct.
Peggy Barthel
But it was just every inch of that property was a fascinating story. And it was something that we could have spent so much more time hanging out.
Peggy Barthel
And we, you know, it's a place I would go back to because I know that even though they walked us around and told us about every little thing, I didn't catch it all. I didn't see everything. I'd wander off and look at something and Tony would laugh and I'd be, darn it, I missed a pun.
Tony Barthel
Yeah, it was. It was really true.
Tony Barthel
Roadside Americana.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah, absolutely.
Tony Barthel
It was truly goofy usa.
Peggy Barthel
Well, okay, so we've done a heck of a lot of traveling. We have a giant pile of laundry to do and some of the things we're not completely prepared for.
Peggy Barthel
So that's gonna be our episode for today.
Tony Barthel
That's right.
Peggy Barthel
All those other things you're waiting for, you're waiting desperately to hear a new question of the week.
Tony Barthel
I don't know about that.
Peggy Barthel
Go and answer last week's again.
Tony Barthel
Yeah, well, it's still. It's still there.
Peggy Barthel
There aren't that many answers and I really want answers to this question.
Tony Barthel
It's basically about Goofy usa. It's roadside Americana.
Tony Barthel
Does your town have something in it that would qualify as goofy or unique or just roadside America, which is something.
Peggy Barthel
That people would pull over, they don't even have to stop and get out of the car. Something that would make people detour around the block to take A picture as they drive by. Just something for us. Silly, right?
Peggy Barthel
Just something goofy.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. And that's in our Stressless Campers Facebook community. So a fun, friendly place to be. Another thing, did you know we do a once a week newsletter that's absolutely free with links to the stories, videos and podcasts that we think will help you get the most out of your stressless camping experience.
Peggy Barthel
All you have to do is visit the website and on any page you will find a place that says sign up for the newsletter. Please know that it's a once a week newsletter. It reminds you that the podcast is out. It gives you links and stories to other things that we've seen in the RV world. But it's once a week because did I just say we have a lot of laundry to do.
Peggy Barthel
We don't have time to be writing newsletters.
Tony Barthel
Oh gosh. You know, you can find the show notes for this episode number 302 on the podcast page at stresslesscamping.com and that's also where you'll find our favorite RV products and services page which has the things you'll need on your stressless camping adventure, including deals and discounts.
Peggy Barthel
And of course, if you ever finish looking at all the things on our website and you still want some social time, jump off to all those social places where we are and check us out in those locations as well.
Tony Barthel
Yep.
Tony Barthel
And if you don't want to miss a future episode of the Stressless Camping podcast, it is free to subscribe on any podcast app or now on YouTube. We are saving you a seat around our virtual campfire.
Peggy Barthel
Please know and remember that a review will help others find the podcast and it just helps us a lot. It tells those podcast places, those YouTube channels that people are watching and people are listening and people want more and so they will listen to you so that you can listen to us. Oh, I just made that up.
Tony Barthel
That's good. Here's something you like. Don't forget to share things you find on our website with your social followers and all of that. We really appreciate it. We appreciate you being here with us and hopefully you are out there enjoying stressless camping.
Mark Ferrell
We hope you learned a lot and had some fun and got some tips for your next stress less camping adventure. We're honored by your reviews on Apple Podcasts which helps others find us too. Don't forget to subscribe so you won't miss out on the adventure and we look forward to your joining us next week. Until then, happy camping.
