Life after 50 with a dash of Healthy Adventure

This is the tornado that struck near downtown around rush hour. It came from the City of Cockrell Hill, went over I30 touched down briefly around the Trinity River and then again on Mockingbird causing an 18 wheeler to get pushed by wind into the side of a building. Then the side of the building collapsed around the truck. Video was taken from about eight miles away – at I30 and Cockrell Hill Rd.

I had received several text messages with tornado warnings for the city I live in while I was at work. I decided it was time to go home and the flood gates were open and the rain poured from the sky. My office is just a mile or so from the City of Cockrell Hill. The sky was very dark and laden with swirls of ominous clouds. The rain was coming down sideways and the parking lot flooded here and there. I sucked it up, went outside and opened me mini umbrella. It did keep the top of my head dry! I remember looking at the clouds and then thinking that they looked tornadic, like there could be some rotation in them but they were coming in my direction and I knew it wasn’t a good idea to be a possible sitting duck. So I got in my car, called my husband to check on the weather at home since there were tornado warnings in Kaufman County. He said, “huh,” when asked about the weather. It appeared to be fine at home. I turned on KRLD for the latest in the weather and traffic. Reports were of tornadoes popping up everywhere thanks to the former hurricane. My thoughts of a tornado were confirmed by KRLD and I decided to go west on I 30 instead of east so I could get behind the storm. My sister, who lives in Frisco, called from the storm shelter in the garage of her townhouse in Frisco and asked about the weather. She and a friend were hiding out in its safety because the sirens were signing in Frisco. I told her I would call her after I listened to the radio some more because I had not heard anything about Frisco, just where I was and near my home. I turned the radio on again as I drove west to Cockrell Hill Ln. I got off the freeway and parked behind the Chili’s Restaurant with a few other people.

We watched the clouds as they flew past until we could see the tornado form. We knew when it made contact because we could see the debris field even from eight miles away. Above is what I was able to capture on video before the tornado went back up into the cloud. There were more tornadoes around the same time. As far as I know there were minor injuries and some building damages from several counties. KRLD weather told me on the way home via my stereo speakers that more of this could suddenly pop up during the night.

Image via Wikipedia

Soon to follow will be a post about historical locations in New Orleans. Yesterday I visited the very interesting Voodoo Museum and met the interesting John T Martin, druid and voodoo priest. Today’s trips include St Louis Cathedral and St Louis Cemetery #1. I may have a photo or two either her or on our page at Ghosthunters.me. During our stay we chose the St Pierre Hotel to rest our heads. It is made up of several buildings including former slave quarters. Part of hotel was built in 1790. This sounded like a place that may have some stories.

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My birthday is in the middle of the week so several of us decided to go to one of my favorite restaurants. We went the the officially declared haunted Catfish Plantation! As always, the food was outstanding and the portions big enough to feed an army.

While we were there and I was being nosy I discovered two events that are planned at the restaurant. The first one is a Ghost Party in September. It will be hosted by Brandy Green, from Ghost Hunters International. Sounds like fun to me.

Who will join Brandy?

Then there is another event scheduled for October. This one is a ghost hunt with the Klinge brothers, Brad and Barry, from Extreme Paranormal. Sounds like a lot of fun to me. It looks like they will be there for two nights so everyone can get a chance at the ghost hunt.

Who wants to meet Brad and Barry?

If you live nearby this is a happening place to go during the week. There are happy hour drink specials Wed and Thurs. Then on Wed night you can get a free appetizer! Just don’t make the mistake I did a few weeks ago and drive over there on a Mon or Tues – they are closed.

I didn’t see or feel any activity on this trip. However, they did say a picture came of the wall in one of the rooms. My friend was hoping for a friendly pat from the friendly male entity. No luck there either.

There is always another time…..

This is a sponsored guest post written by Memphis Travel on behalf of Memphis CVB. Post powered by Sponzai.

More than just the home of the blues and barbeque, Memphis gives you plenty of ways to play around, with fun things to do no matter who you are or what you like. Of course, if you’re into Elvis, rock-and-roll and mouth-watering ribs, you’ve got to check out Graceland, Sun Studios, and the Rendezvous. But Memphis has much more to offer than this holy trinity of southern culture, with enough to see, do and eat to make it the perfect location for your next long weekend getaway.

The families out there (or the wild at heart) should be sure to check out the Memphis Zoo, one of only four U.S. zoos with giant pandas. Recently ranked the #1 zoo in the U.S. by TripAdvisor.com, the Memphis Zoo lets you get up close and personal with the animal kingdom. And with the recent addition the Northwest Passage, home to Polar bears in a see-through underwater exhibit, and the zoo’s newest section, Teton Trek, kids and adults alike are certain to have a blast.

Don’t let your midtown experience stop at the zoo; the Cooper-Young and Overton Square neighborhoods are just down the street. Ask a local Memphian where to find a tasty bite to eat, great local music and ice cold beer, and they will probably direct you here. Speaking of beer … the environmentally conscious visitor can enjoy a locally brewed beer by Ghost River Brewing or walk through the natural landscape and educational facilities at the Lichterman Nature Center.

Memphis has museums for just about everything. From the Civil Rights Museum, Cotton Museum and Fire Museum in downtown to the Brooks Museum, Children’s Museum of Memphis and the Pink Palace Museum further east, the number of places to have fun while you learn are as bountiful as the barbeque restaurants. Families, friends, sports fans, history buffs, self-proclaimed food critics – Memphis has everything you need to keep everyone happy.

So when you visit Memphis, stay a few extra days. Even the locals don’t run out of things to do. And to make it easy, memphistravel.com is launching a new travel guide to help you plan your next vacation. Simply choose from a list of interests and you’ll be given a sample itinerary with lots of great ideas. You can also register for a chance to win one of twelve trip packages that include tours, gift certificates to Memphis’ favorite restaurants, hotel stays and more. Go to itinerary.memphistravel.com to get started.

LIMU 2010 WEBINAR from LIMU on Vimeo.

Stay tuned for a nice update about my progress with Limu Lean. I am excited about this product and what it has done for me the past three months. It’s the latest and greatest product from The Limu Company. They are about to hit the big times and be in the Fortune 500 ballpark before the end of the year. The company is only six years old. I have been in network marketing for many years and I tell you that this is one of the best companies around. Distributors are treated with respect and everyone I have ever met within the company and distributors are there to help. They have figured out if we help each other than everyone benefits. I have never been with a company as family oriented as TLC. There is money to be made for those willing to work and the products are superb. Just check out fucoidan on pubmed.com for more information.

As I said, stay tuned for an update about me and Limu Lean……..

If you can’t wait – click on one of my links to the right and find out about the products……

How does the rural cowgirl travel?

Why, with her pull up horse and bag of dog!