Independence tornadoes and camping

Several years ago, when our girls were still toddlers, I decided we were going to go camping 4th of July week in Kentucky. A cheap vacation and a chance to go visit my family. My husband was quite surprised at my suggestion, but went along with it. So we packed and loaded up his Dodge 3/4 ton to the max. I think I took everything but the kitchen sink. I had meals planned to the t and everything labeled and sorted. I even precooked meats, because I knew our cooler system would probably not keep things for a long period of time. I knew we would make a grocery run to the commissary at some point.  We arrived in the middle of the night and ended up sleeping in the truck. We were going to be staying on a military camping property near Fort Knox and the MWR clerk did not arrive until earlier that morning. She was able to honor my request of putting us on one of the RV sites, so we would have water and electricity.  With the help of my two older children, we made camp. I don't remember how we came to have my grandmother's cook stove but I had it. A three burner deal that she use to use when my mother was younger, when they would go fishing up and down the Ohio. I am not even sure how old it is but it is a great cook stove to use when you are camping.  The weather was hot, but the kids enjoyed it anyways. I have the best pictures of the baby, who wasn't two yet, taking a bath in a wash bucket. She thought that was the best thing in the world.  We went to see my grandfather and he made plans to come visit our campsite and share a meal with us. The day he was supposed to come, he never showed up. I became increasingly worried and told my husband we had to go see what was wrong. I knew we were low on cash until payday, but it was not like him not to show up. Apparently he had problems with his truck and it was broken down at a repair shop. But he did not have a vehicle, so we ended up helping him get to his son's to pick up a spare vehicle to drive. I was relived nothing was wrong with him, but it was still scary. I had lost my grandmother right before the baby was born and I really couldn't handle it if something happened to him too. On the way home from his house, we were listening to the radio. There was a Tornado warning for four specific counties in Indiana. I knew from our time living in the same area as our camp site, to be very aware if these counties ever had a tornado warning, because that meant we were next. We hurried back to our camp site to  make sure our tents were securely tied down, picked up any loose items and took shelter in the MWR building. We alerted others to the bad weather and they took shelter as well.  It was quite scary to watch the storm come up, we had no real area that was free of windows or glass, so we crowded into the bathrooms. It sounded like the roof was going to blow off at any time. My husband sneeked a peak and it was not good. There was a lot of damage to the site, rv's were damaged, tents were blown away, utility poles an wires were torn down. We later heard it was hurricane force winds, but they ruled the damage as straight line winds. Our tents were the only ones standing, I credit my husband for making sure they securely tied down. We ended up spending the night in one of the cabins, but were forced to cut our vacation early because of the damage to the site.  We were eager to get home, but were not prepared for what awaited us at home. We took one step in the house and the smell hit us. I had dethawed chicken to take with us and forgot it in the microwave. We ended up having to throw the microwave away because it stunk so bad. There was no way to remove the smell. That is one memory I will never forget about our first real camping trip.