Today’s single objective is to return south, around 700
miles to Oklahoma City.
Last night we stood outside the Super 8 in Murdo, South
Dakota watching storms roll over us at about 2:00 a.m. with some spectacular
and rapid lightning; if you’ve not seen it before it’s hard to believe it’s possible.
Had I been more awake I would have got the 4K video camera and tripod which has
been shunted around unloved so far. I took some 4K video on the iPhone, hopefully
there’s a decent frame grab in there somewhere.
The power went off several times after that, each time the
hotel radio alarm let out a loud growl as it expired. It and the wall socket
soon parted company. It was a warm night so I had to leave the air conditioning
on which would restart every time power was restored with a rebooting beep and
rumble. Great, another sleepless night.
Up at 6:15 for the 7:00 start south. Sleep is overrated.
We stopped at The Buck House in Valentine, Nebraska for a
good breakfast and efficient service considering how full it was then we are
back on US83.
We take a left towards Grand Island on Highway 21. There’s a
chance of some dry line action in Kansas so we’re going to take a slight detour
towards Dodge City on the off chance on US283.
A quick pit stop at Broken Bow and I steal some WiFi to make
a call home as we’re back in Cell One of NE Colorado data death ridge
territory. Cricket isn’t going well. We continue down US283 and cross the I90
at Lexington. The North Central map has done its job and the South Central is
now back on stream. Kansas is an hour or so away, Just as well as a tinge of
sciatica is setting in.
Sitting on a pillow has made some difference. We cross into
Kansas and stop at Norton for a pit stop and Dairy Queen. There’s a Stockton
not far away which I’ve been to before (cue for Teessiders only) and there’s a
Graham directly to our south (cue for those who watch Channel 4). I opt for a
large plain cone like I’d do at home. Mistake…I’ve seen smaller ICBMs and get
brain freeze despite it being 99f outside and it looks like it’ll get even
hotter later this afternoon. No sign of my in ear headphones, hope they’re in
my suitcase.
We continue south towards Dodge City and have a pit stop in
Jetmore. It’s 100f and feels every f of it. Dew points are a juicy 68f to the
east and 32f to the west of the dry line. There aren’t too many places in the
world where dry lines can form. Moist warm air from the Gulf forms a boundary
with dry warm air from the High Plains. Where they meet the denser, dry air
forces the less dense moist warm air to rise. If conditions are right and
there’s enough energy for the moist warm to break through any cap then severe
weather is possible.
I have stodgy pizza with thick base and stupid amounts of
cheese in an “Italian” and as nothing is happening in the short term we head
back to Oklahoma City via Woodward after a 16 hour day. And that is that for another year.
Total Miles: 730
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