Best Laid Plans

I had grand plans to leave by 6:00 a.m. this morning for my trip to Denton/Dallas. Well, I got up at six at least. I didn't leave town until around 7:45. But I made good time and arrived here shortly after 1:00. I went to the campus police in order to purchase my one day parking pass that I'll need tomorrow morning. After that I came to the hotel and checked in. I'm staying at a very nice Holiday Inn that I booked via Hotwire and got it for about half price. After that, I headed to six flags. You should know by now that I can't come to the Dallas area without heading to six flags to get some rides in. It's been over a year since I had been on a coaster. With all the house issues, yearbook, school etc. I really needed the coaster rush. It was a great day to go. It was overcast so it wasn't too hot and the rides were practically walk on - meaning I didn't have to wait more than 10 minutes for any coaster. I rode five different coasters (two of the twice) in less than 2 hours. By 5:00 the sky was darkening and I thought I should go ahead and head back to Denton. Traffic was o.k. for a while until it was backed up for a bit tht took about 10 minutes to get through. As I was heading back, I thought it would be nice to stop at Olive Garden, order take-out, and enjoy it in my room... but that was not meant to be. As I headed north the sky kept getting darker and lightning was flashing all around. I finally turned on the radio and as I'm going through Lewisville (which is just south of Denton) I'm hearing that there is a tornado warning for Flower Mound which is just to the west of my location at that point. (And the storm is moving east) As I near Denton, the rain is picking up and I decide maybe I should just head to the hotel. I exit and at that point the rain is pouring and the wind is blowing so badly that I get lost. I cannot see where I'm driving and there's no place for me to go in order to get away from the weather. A funnel cloud has been reported to the south and it is potentially heading my direction. I pull into a parking area because I can't see where I'm driving and I know that it's not safe to stay in my car if a tornado does come. So I turn around and I see a grain elevator. So I pull into a parking area next to it, get out of my car and run into an area that is covered, but still open to the outside. It is at least deep so I head to the back and just wait it out. Of course I have no idea if a tornado is actually going to hit since I no longer have a radio. The wind is swirling, it's raining hard, and lightning is flashing constantly. But I felt relatively safe surrounded by the cement blocks although rainwater was gushing in on one of the walls. I said a whole bunch of "Hail Mary's" while I was there. After about 20 minutes it begins to subside a little bit. I head back to my car, drive through some flooded streets and find my way back to the hotel. It was a bit of a harrowing experience for me.
So I decide to hole up in the room and just order room service... I didn't want to go out in that again! I enjoyed my dinner, then took a long bath and a hot shower, ate dessert and now I'm going to sleep shortly. (I took 1/2 a tylenol p.m. and it's starting to hit me.)