After leaving Texas, we headed to Florida to see Richard's family. On the way, we had a big surprise. Severe weather in Louisiana forced us to pull over for the night. Had we realized how severe the weather was, we would not have stopped. We tried to "boondock" in an LDS church parking lot next the LSU, but the road we drove on to get there had a small river running through it, there was a big lake next to the parking lot, and Google Maps told us that we were not far from the Mississippi on the other side. We decided that it would not be wise to stay the night there, so we headed down the road to the next church parking lot.
We got off the highway in Denham Springs and headed towards a stake center. The entire road we were driving on was a river. The only way we knew where we "should" be driving was because there were mailboxes lining the road on either side. The water was not very deep, but when we came to the cross section of the road the church was on, and saw it was called Riverton Avenue, we decided against staying there as well.
We chose to head back towards the highway and found a Bass Pro Shop parking lot to stop in. We intended to leave early the next day, but we were just so tired. When we woke up around 9am, we saw that it was still raining and that there was standing water many places in the raised parking lot we were in. We tried to leave the parking lot the way we had come in, but the water was too high, and we did not see any other cars in that direction. We tried another way, but again, the water looked dangerously high. There were however some vehicles braving the flood waters. We sat and watched for a few minutes as a couple trucks pushed their way through. Finally, we saw a small car make it and decided that maybe we better press forward. Driven by the desire to reach our destination more than by anything else, we pulled onto the street and carefully drugged our way forward.
We made it to the highway, but could only inch our way forward for hours. Eventually we came to a stop. Richard and Maylee hopped out of the RV and went more than a mile to the front of the line of cars to see what the trouble was. We found out that there was a river running across Highway 12 in front of us, and there was also a river running across the highway behind us. We were stuck on the road with a few thousand other people, mostly travelers passing through like ourselves.
Being stuck on the road for an undetermined amount of time was not easy, but we felt blessed that at least we had beds to sleep in, a toilet, food, and water. We were able to share our resources with those around us who were not so fortunate. Richard and the kids passed out canned goods and other supplies to our I-12 neighbors, we helped a few women who were grateful to be able to use our bathroom, and we invited a mother with a small child in to play with some toys because he was having a hard time without a safe place to play.
During our 30 hours on the highway, we also gave out a Book of Mormon to one man and donated an extra phone charger to an elderly couple who was then able to call a friend for help and get to a nearby home. The wife had just had knee surgery and was having a difficult time on the hot highway. We feel that we were stuck on the road for a reason. We were able to bless the lives of others and learn some lessons ourselves.
When we first came to a stop on the highway, we were told that we might be there for days. We were told that it was supposed to rain for two more days. I am certain there were collective prayers from people all over offered in behalf of ourselves and the people of Louisiana, because the rain stopped, and did not come back for more than a sprinkle while we sat on the highway. Because of that, we were able to leave Monday morning instead of Tuesday or Wednesday.
After this circumstance was over we later learned that Denham Springs was the area hit worst by the flooding. Had we stayed in the Bass Pro Shop parking lot even 30 more minutes, we would have lost everything with us because we would not have been able to leave. We probably would have had to be rescued. The Bass Pro Shop was completely flooded up to the roof, and the stake center down the street was also destroyed. We visited the area week and a half later and saw the devastation left behind. It was a sobering experience for our family.
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