Herbster ("tornado alley") camping 2010.

We felt slightly out of place. The small guy on the block. The little brother.

This was the great part of the two days we spent in Herbster on the beach.
Sunny and quiet. 

 

Additional proof the summer is not over.

 

The next morning. The campground was emptying and the rain was falling.

The weather forecast called for occasional showers. We held out until 5:00 p.m.
  We waited for a break in the showers. Packed and headed home.

Leaving for this trip.  Hoping for one more trip before the snow flies. Donna and I decided we have been camping at Herbster for thirty years. On one of the first trips we gave the campground it's nickname 'tornado alley'. It probably should have been called water spout alley. But tornado alley sounded better.

TORNADO ALLEY... how it gots it's name.

On one trip in the mid 1980's. We had setup camp with two popup tent campers. We faced the campers door to door about 10 feet apart. In one camper were the two older boys and their grandmother.  In the other camper mom, dad and kids.

At some point in the late afternoon early evening the weather started to turn cloudy and windy. The skies darkened and the winds built. Across the lake we could see an approaching wall of rain with an occasional lighting flash. 

The storm was coming out of the northwest across Lake Superior. It is approximately 30 miles across Lake Superior to the Minnesota shore.

As the storm approached the winds had the canvas on the campers shaking and the roof swaying side to side.  Everyone had moved inside by now.  Inside our respective campers.  As we watch the approaching storm (not our first in the campers) we notice what appeared to be water spout building....... this was a definite first.

At that moment we realized we were committed there was no where to go. The winds continued to build and the rains intensified while we watched through the windows.

At a point grandma decided it was time for her to move to the other camper with us. As she crossed between the two campers I met her in the middle and asked where the boys were. She said they were sleeping and didn't want to get up. Sleeping! Who could sleep through this? Howling winds driving rains and what sure looked like a water spout...tornado coming across the lake toward us. I jumped in the camper grab the two boys and pushed them out the door toward the our camper. 

Once inside we all huddled together while the storm passed through. At the high point it tore off the canopy on one camper and blew tree branched and other debris through the campsite. 

It was gone as quickly as it had come. No one was hurt and the damage to equipment was minor and repairable. We all got out of the camper and surveyed the damage to the campground.

To this day we don't know if the "eye" of the storm passed through the campground. But on that day as we sat there recovering from the experience my mom said "well this is the last time I'm coming to this tornado alley to camp". 

So Hebster campground on that day became tornado alley to our family. 

My mom didn't stick to her promise to never return to tornado alley. We would often take her there on her summer visits. Sometime just a ride and a picnic. On a few occasions an overnight camp over.  

Now that she has passed she is still with us on our trips to "tornado alley". 

It always brings a smile to my face and a tear to my eye when I remember her saying "well this is the last time I'm coming to this tornado alley to camp".

This is not "our" water spout but it sure looks like what I remember crossing toward us that day.