A Frightening Ride

I woke up pretty late today and started packing up my stuff for the beach. When we left at about 1:00, it was cloudy outside, but about 30 minutes into the trip, it started pouring. We got caught in the middle of a massive thunderstorm, and the torrential rain made it impossible to see even 2 feet in front of us. We actually had to pull over at a rest stop and just sit in the car for about 15 minutes until it slowed down enough. A lot of cars were doing that, and Deefle said that it was only the second time in his whole life that a storm was bad enough to cause him to pull off the road. However, about 2 minutes after it slowed down and we got back on the road, the downpour started again. We were hitting gusher after gusher and barely moving. At one point, a huge lightning bolt struck right beside the car, immediately followed by the loudest thunder I had ever heard. It was so scary, and my heart stopped completely in that instant. Mumphy says hers did, too. A bit later, a truck that was heading in the opposite direction was about to pass by us when it hit a huge gusher that sent a wall of water toward our car. I don't know why I did this, but I ducked and covered my face as if the water was going to somehow reach me inside the car. I felt so stupid afterwards, but it was hilarious. For most of the trip, the storm followed us. It was just buckets of rain and terrifying lightning and thunder too close to the car. Eventually, though, it stopped and we made it to our hotel. We had planned on going out to eat, but the storm somehow found us here and made it impossible to go outside, so we ate in the hotel restaurant. I had crabcakes, and they were pretty good. I just can't wait to go to Chesapeake House! We have always gone there since I was really young, and it's still the best food we've found here at Myrtle Beach. I just finished a cup of coffee in the room, and I'm planning to go to bed soon, hoping that tomorrow will be bright, sunny, and warm!