Tornado!

The sheet of metal that hit my car.

This was fully in tact about 10 minutes before...

 Last night I left Johnson City and headed to Blacksburg because we were having Amanda's lingerie shower today.  The drive was going great, the wasn't much traffic on 81 and it was bright and sunny.  A little after 7:00 I was getting a little sleepy, so I got off at the next exit to get a snack at a gas station.  I pulled into this lone, little BP station, ran in and grabbed a water and pack of gummy bears.  As I was walking to my car it started raining, and by the time I reached the car, it was pouring!  I decided to wait for a bit, and it just kept raining harder and harder.  Then I started noticing things blowing across the parking lot, the porter potty, trashcans etc. and I started getting a little concerned.  Then the wind got so strong that I felt my car shaking back and forth and I was worried.  Then I looked up and saw a huge sheet of metal rip off the roof of the gas station and come crashing down behind my car, and I was scared!  Next the canopy of the gas station started crashing down and I was terrified and started praying and at some point I started saying out loud "Help me, help me, help me!" or "Save me, save me, save me!"  Then I looked over and I saw a huge sheet of metal  flying toward my car and I started screaming "God, GOD, GOD, GOD!!!!!! It hit my car and fell to the ground, and then the next thing I know the wind and the rain just stopped.  Like that.  Me and the two other people that were in our cars got out and I asked "Was that a tornado?" and this old man said (in a very slow,  southern accent) "I think it was..."  And then to summarize the next four hours...I hung out with a lot of rednecks that were very friendly.  The cops kept coming and telling us not to leave until the state troopers came and wrote up stuff for our insurance.  The gas station had lost its power so the owner let us eat as much ice cream as we wanted.  The news came and interviewed me and I was on TV.  Did I mention the rednecks?  Lots of camo, Skoal rings, mullets etc.  Finally, I got to leave and finally made it to Amanda's around 11:40.  That's kind of a brief summary of the whole event, but I've told it so many times that it's getting kind of exhausting.  But I am very thankful for the nice people that stayed with us at the gas station until we could leave and give all the glory to God for keeping me safe!

It knocked out the BP sign.

Knocked these over like dominoes.

Some of the scratches on my car.

My feet by some of the metal I pulled out from under my car.