Chase Day #5
Up at 7.00 in Woodward for a 8.00 start. This is the day it's supposed to happen...It's very windy today and I manage to load up some more of the blog. As I'm formatting this on a small screen I'm not sure how it will look on a larger screen. I couldn't get Skype to work this morning, so no calls home. Breakfast is...McDonalds. Yuk. And so was lunch,
Target area for today is initially north Kansas/South Nebraska but this changes to north east Nebraska. The weather is moving North at 60 mph, it looks very difficult to chase. The best bet is to get in front of it and intercept it as it rushes past.
Up at 7.00 in Woodward for a 8.00 start. This is the day it's supposed to happen...It's very windy today and I manage to load up some more of the blog. As I'm formatting this on a small screen I'm not sure how it will look on a larger screen. I couldn't get Skype to work this morning, so no calls home. Breakfast is...McDonalds. Yuk. And so was lunch,
Target area for today is initially north Kansas/South Nebraska but this changes to north east Nebraska. The weather is moving North at 60 mph, it looks very difficult to chase. The best bet is to get in front of it and intercept it as it rushes past.
We went through Stockton, Kansas and I see that there is a Norton not too far away. This day has been talked about amongst the chasing fraternity for weeks and there are dozens of them on the GPS map. We drive and drive and have to cut through a storm to get further east. We eventually stop at the Historic Missouri Valley on the Lewis and Clark trail and take a few hurried snaps as the weather hurtles by. We then cross the Missouri into South Dakota and book into the Days Inn in Yankton. We have dinner in “Yesterdays” and ask the waitress if there is much to do in town. There isn't.So nothing happened today, apparently anywhere. There will be a lot of disappointed chasers out there, all that chat having come to nothing. But that's the nature of chasing, you have a 20% chance of seeing a tornado over the week and it is not an exact science. There could be stuff happening but that could be several hundred miles away. If you treat the really violent weather as a bonus you won't be disappointed, just touring the Great Plains is a result in itself.
A note on the food. Mostly it's grab and go at a truck stop. Time is is for chasing not eating. It is revolting (don't read the ingredients) but you eat it or starve. Next up the food chain is McDonalds. See previous comment on starving. Next up is dinner. Everywhere in these small towns shuts at 9.00 or 10.00 if you're lucky, and if you do find somewhere open you can't get a beer. Or sometimes food...Breakfast is where it's at so you have to load up on a monster bacon based feast to keep you going.We found a truck stop that sold beer, so a couple of Guinnesses and off to bed.
Total Miles: 596
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