Travel-Blogue 3
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- The rainbow before the storm
Day Three—Moab, UT to Salina, KS
I thought that today would be an uneventful all day drive to our next stop. Silly girl.
We all awoke at exactly 4:55 am, when the storm I referred to in yesterday’s missive began to drop water on our heads. We scrambled up, packed our tent and gear, and were on the road by 5:30. This was a good thing. Colorado was gorgeous along I 70, and it was neat driving through 3 totally different climates—the hot desert, high Rocky Mountains, and then down into the plains. There were really scenic areas along some of the corridors, and the bike geeks in the car quickly spotted the gorgeous bike paths that run parallel to the highway. Someday.
Enter Kansas. It started out fine. But about two hours later Rich looked ahead of us to the east and wondered out loud about a line of cumulous clouds extending out along the eastern horizon. As we got closer, they became massive. I must admit they were pretty cool looking and seemed to extend clear into space but they were ominous. They were clearly threatening rain, but they still seemed kinda far away. Two hours later, as we drove into the front, it began to rain. My heart pounded in my chest as the flat highway suddenly became covered with standing water right before our eyes and we were having trouble staying on the road. At points it rained so hard that it was difficult to see past the front of the car. Then all the cars with local license plates began to pull over and stop for shelter below the overpasses. Suddenly, the sky opened up and we started getting pelted (and I am not even hyperbolizing here) by marble sized hunks of hail. They exploded with loud pops all over the windshield and car. We tried to duck and cover like the folks around us with sense, but all the cover was taken, so we soldiered on fighting a driving rain and at least a 30 mph headwind. I flipped the satellite radio to the emergency weather station which reported a massive storm system right over our heads (duh), that central KS is on tornado watch until at least 2am, and that the system is moving east, like us.
We finally arrived in Salina, KS, and pulled into a diner to eat (incidentally, I had called the KOA earlier to request an upgrade to a Kabin since us geezers are having so much trouble sleeping on the ground, and we got the last one. Boy are we glad to be old now!) since this Mama wasn’t about to try to fix a camp meal in this storm.
We were more than a bit freaked out about the tornado watch, but the locals just shrugged their shoulders, which really put us at ease. The diner itself was great. Now let me confess that I have never been to Kansas, and pretty much everything I know about it is based on The Wizard of Oz. First, it smells nice. At the diner we had a good laugh right away when Nic pointed out that Rich lucked out by qualifying for the senior discount by two years and a day. Then they brought us the water. It tasted funny. Then Rich got his root beer. It, too, tasted funny. The food was typical diner food except that they served Nic’s jello with a side of crackers (I told our server that we may be from California, but we weren’t THAT weird). The local charm of the place was contagious and before long even the server started joking with us. When Rich got up to pay at the front, she whispered to the girl at the register to check his ID even though he refused the senior discount. I don’t think she believed us.
By the time we left the diner the storm had found us again. We pulled into the KOA grateful that we didn’t have to pitch a tent in the rain, in the dark. What a spectacular lightning show, though! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a storm like this. This isn’t like California, where a mere sprinkle puts every newscaster out onto the streets for live “Storm Watch” reports. No. This is REAL weather.
It was fun to watch. But the best part of all was the bathroom. I am posting pictures because you just wouldn’t believe me otherwise. Please note—this is the Salina KOA. Can we just move in?
Tomorrow: change of plans. We are driving straight to Erie and skipping Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. Wish us luck.
Monday Meditation: Serendipity and safety.
