Red, White, Blue... and then Stormy.

Yesterday we drove to Bealeton. I chose a route that avoided highways most of the way because I knew traffic would be heavy on Memorial Day Weekend.

When I saw this fine church on a hill, I pulled into the parking lot to take a picture. It looked familiar to me; I think I once passed it on a Civil War field trip. We may have even stopped there. A sign said Jeffersonton Baptist Church.

The church website tells us it was originally built in 1848 and rebuilt in 1877. The grand portico was added in 1921.

The “Great Wagon Road” from Chester Gap to Falmouth and the Piedmont Stage Route from Washington to Milledgeville, GA passed in front of the church. (Interestingly, we had come through Chester Gap and were thus following the old wagon road.)

During the Civil War, skirmishes took place around the church. In 1862, it was used as a hospital and over 30 unidentified soldiers were buried in the cemetery.

Later I saw these roses in a car lot where Frank was looking at a Jeep.

During the ride home, Frank said, "What's that noise?" I could hear his cell phone speaking and I thought maybe he had hit a button accidentally. Then I remembered it was safely inside my purse. As you can see in the last photo, the sky was getting very dark. When I saw a safe place to pull over, I stopped to take a picture and check the phone.

"Extreme Tornado Warning! Take cover." That message lit up the screen in red letters. There was no place to take cover. Frank noticed that small print said the warning was until 5:30 pm, and it was already 5:24.

We were on Ben Venue Road in a rural area with no public buildings. It would not have been safe to shelter in a barn, so I kept driving. Flint Hill was a few miles ahead and there were a couple of restaurants there. By the time we got there, the warning was past. We drove on, went through a thunderstorm, but made it home safely.