Remember that gazebo we had in our backyard? The one that made the whole yard feel like an extension of our house? It was like having a little living room outside.
That gazebo is no more. It was crushed against the fence in the storm that hit the Twin Cities on Friday night. Here is a picture I took of the crushed gazebo when we got home:
Apparently, the winds were 60 to 70 mph in my neighborhood.
When the storm hit, Brian and I weren't even at home. We thought we still had a couple of hours, so we had headed off to the Blue Door Pub for a tasty burger. Just as we were finishing our meal, the storm kicked into high gear. It looked like a hurricane outside.
The power cut out at the restaurant, and they asked us to all come down to the basement as there was a tornado warning. My first thought went to that gazebo in our backyard. It had held out in the previous night's storm by was liable to rise up and be carried off with the canopy on it.
Once they let us out of the basement, Brian and I quickly left cash on the table and hurried home.
But getting home turned out not to be an easy task. Road after road was blocked with downed trees. The railroad crossing barriers kept us from crossing easily over to our neighborhood, and then we had to search for streets that were clear to get to our house. It was a puzzle of a drive, and we still were forced to park over two blocks away from our home and walk around the trees blocking the streets.
Luckily, the gazebo was the only major damage we suffered. It didn't hit the house. It didn't hit the garage. It didn't even hit the grill. We were extremely lucky.
That gazebo is no more. It was crushed against the fence in the storm that hit the Twin Cities on Friday night. Here is a picture I took of the crushed gazebo when we got home:
Apparently, the winds were 60 to 70 mph in my neighborhood.
When the storm hit, Brian and I weren't even at home. We thought we still had a couple of hours, so we had headed off to the Blue Door Pub for a tasty burger. Just as we were finishing our meal, the storm kicked into high gear. It looked like a hurricane outside.
The power cut out at the restaurant, and they asked us to all come down to the basement as there was a tornado warning. My first thought went to that gazebo in our backyard. It had held out in the previous night's storm by was liable to rise up and be carried off with the canopy on it.
Once they let us out of the basement, Brian and I quickly left cash on the table and hurried home.
But getting home turned out not to be an easy task. Road after road was blocked with downed trees. The railroad crossing barriers kept us from crossing easily over to our neighborhood, and then we had to search for streets that were clear to get to our house. It was a puzzle of a drive, and we still were forced to park over two blocks away from our home and walk around the trees blocking the streets.
Luckily, the gazebo was the only major damage we suffered. It didn't hit the house. It didn't hit the garage. It didn't even hit the grill. We were extremely lucky.
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