Day 4 - Things happen on the 31st May...

The transition from La Quinta hotels to a Days Inn last night put the mockers on our night's sleep. Not sure what the aircon was doing but the room was muggy and the pillows were way too soft, we're both a bit grumpy this morning. Whatever I picked up on the plane has left me seriously congested, adding to the general malaise. 

Breakfast this morning was at The Grill in Dalhart, a small place with a drive through. I had the blueberry sausages which were really good if a bit spicy. The coffee and cutlery were distributed in the same manner as newspapers are in US movies, tossed into the general area where we were seated. After a very leisurely breakfast we're on the road at 10:15 with an initial target of Medicine Lodge, Kansas.

The SPC outlook has a slight risk with 2% tornado chance in Oklahoma and southern Kansas. The main threats will be hail and outflow winds, but if decent supercells form there is a tornado possibility. Local forecasters are little more negative, we'll see what the noon update looks like. Storms that do form will start at the top of the risk area and work their way south, hence why we'll be starting off in Kansas. Whatever happens we won't be heading anywhere near the Oklahoma City metro, we'll bail at that point and head to our overnight stay in Enid, Oklahoma. 

We head north east on US54. As we pass Conlen a crop duster comes into land, then as we enter Stratford the barriers come down for a mile plus long train which sounds its very loud horn as it passes through. We head into the Oklahoma Panhandle.

Apparently there has been a major solar eruption which could see a spectacular Northern Lights display tonight at about 04:00...Not sure I'll make that.

So back to May 31st. Today is the 15th anniversary of the Campo, Colorado tornadoes of 2010, even after all this time, it's my no.1 day out on the Plains. Sadly, it is also the 12th anniversary of the El Reno tornado which killed Tim Samaras, his son and chase partner. 

The SPC update is no surprise, storms now after dark, at least we should get a lightning display. We stop in Guyman where I had a rather unpleasant Sonic Burger prior to the 2010 Campo day. We continue north east for a stop in Hooker; despite the comical name I've skirted round the place but this is a first visit. Of course there is a shop here making a living from the town's name. After a peruse of the shop we try to remember what Rory's mam said about buying yet more souvenir mugs...couldn't remember exactly...We continue north east and into Liberal, Kansas.

Liberal is home to Dorothy’s House, a homage to the Wizard of Oz. I’ve been before, but Rory is desperate to visit and is absolutely overwhelmed by the experience…🤣. There are some ancient farmyard implements further out the back so these get snapped. The excitement over, we get back on the road. Speaking of excitement, Rory's Middlesbrough cricket team have just beaten top of the table Rockliffe, bowling them out defending a meagre total of 143.

Continuing north east on US 54 we arrive at Meade, Kansas where we have lunch at the Chuckwagon Restaurant, I had the Chef's salad and Rory a burger. Decent food and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. Back on it and we're going to have a look at Greensburg, Kansas which was destroyed by an EF5 in 2007.

We arrive at Greensburg which has partially recovered from the tornado but the city's population has decreased by 50%. Many of the plots that were swept clean by the tornado remain empty. While we get gas there's signs of some convection but nothing too exciting.

Greensburg is home to the world's biggest hand dug well as well as a giant palisade meteorite. The visitor centre has been rebuilt since it was destroyed by the tornado with the meteorite buried under the debris. While we're here we pay it a visit and climb down to the bottom of the well; it must have taken some effort to dig it out. From the top of the visitor centre there's a good view of the grain elevator which was about the only thing left standing after the tornado. There's also a view of the steps that I took a photo of in 2008, if I remember rightly they were the entrance to a large brick building (antique shop?) which was otherwise entirely swept away. I have a wander down to recreate the photo and Rory appears...on a bike.

We head east from Greensburg and shortly after there is train on its side with 100 or so containers scattered around. A quick Google and it turns out that the train was derailed by a tornado on May 19th being only two weeks ago. Wow. All of a sudden there is a blip on radar, a small blip but a blip nevertheless. We turn south at Pratt on the US281 to our original target of Medicine Lodge. We have a pit stop at Casey’s in Medicine Lodge…our little blip is fading. We head east  on US160. 

We drop south and pass through Anthony, a little different from last year with Alex where we blasted through with lashing rain and tornado sirens blaring. Any hope of a storm any time soon has receded, so we are heading to Enid, Oklahoma and a date with Mr Greek House* for dinner, well a chicken salad…

*permanently closed so went to the Napoli Italian…still had the chicken salad…

Things do happen on 31st May, just not on this one.

Total miles: 388

Day 3 - A sunshine tour of eastern New Mexico...

A decent night's sleep was had by both, now reasonably well adjusted to the time zone. The effects of the orange dust from yesterday remain. Last night was a mix of sneezing fit (me) and nose bleed (Rory) after inhaling the unique and heady cocktail of cow, fertiliser and pesticide. It was only when I got in the shower last night that I realised the entirety of my exposed body looked like it had received the worst spray tan of all time...car crash lips and 3" false eyelashes would not have looked out of place.

A late start this morning, no decent weather on the horizon and the Jeep needed an oil change which could only be done by a Jeep garage, the V6 twin turbo being beyond the usual places. At some point in the past, one of the rear seat belts had been wrapped round the headrest and could not be freed as it was well and truly stuck. This would require a 90 minute disassembly of the seat belt mechanism which was declined as we wanted to be on our way; fortunately we are a person down so that seat remains unused.

As we sat in the hotel foyer a coyote pup wandered around the car park, unbothered by people and cars. Breakfast this morning was at Lubbock's Breakfast House which was a bit of a let down: the eggs were undercooked, the bacon overcooked and too salty, the hash browns underdone and the sourdough toast was stale and not buttered. The coffee was stronger than usual but took some effort to get a refill. Disappointing. 

Today will be a leisurely tourist day and fortunately the sun is shining. The plan is to mooch north, up through eastern New Mexico, through Clovis and Tucumcari with a view to ending up at Dalhart in the Texas Panhandle ready for tomorrow's upgraded slight risk and 2% tornado risk over central Oklahoma no doubt replete with yahoo chasers clogging the roads as it's a Saturday.

Two years ago Rory and I visited the Museum of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, one of the many excellent and truly interesting museums that populate the Great Plains. Personally, I find museums back home to be stuffy and boring (the big London museums are great to be fair) but the variety here is really good; the relatively short European based US history means that the exhibits have some context rather than than being filled with artefacts from some long forgotten, lost civilisation. 

Having done Texas Tech, Rory and I split off to go to the American Windmill museum, 6000 square feet of 18th century and later windmills used for pumping water through aquifers for agriculture, trains, powering mills and all sorts. The quantity and variety was astounding. The museum also contained huge scale model dioramas of American history including a monster and exquisitely made model railway which brought back the kid in me. There was also a massive mural on of the walls which was really well done. If you found Big Foot you could claim a prize from the gift shop. We couldn't. We got chatting to the guy on the reception desk and he put us out of a misery and showed us where the Sasquatch was hiding. All in all, an excellent museum.

Next up was our first trip of the tour to the strange behemoth that is Walmart and the realisation that four days in we'd had no corn or potato based snacks. That needed to be rectified, so picnic lunch ready I went to pay...they don't take Apple Pay. Gobsmacked. As we left there were three guys trying to open a truck using brute force with tools that should never be near car including a crow bar...where were they when I was trying to get into Rory's case last night?

We head north west on US84 towards Clovis, New Mexico and have a pit stop at Loves before continuing west on Highway 60 past Cannon Airforce Base. I'm still hacking up Agent Orange...we head north at Melrose with Tucumcari in our sights. 

Tucumcari is derived from a Comanche word meaning "ambush" and is referenced in the Spaghetti Western "For a Few Dollars More" despite not having been incorporated until decades after the movie was set which was in 1872. It also appeared in "Better Call Saul". I've watched both, it's always fun to visit places that have been referenced on TV; Apparently Rawhide with Clint Eastwood was filmed nearby.

The endless flatness suddenly gives way to Rincon Canyon and an abrupt change to the topography with escarpments in all directions; we have deer. It's time to crack open the first enriched cornmeal based snack of the trip; I've held out quite well. Today's delicacy is Flaming Hot Crunchy Cheetos which contain several million percent RDA of Red 40 Lake, Yellow 6 Lake, Yellow 6 and Yellow 5...

We reach Tucumcari and have our picnic in Dunn Park. My Walmart Santa Fe salad looked promising until you wade through the layers of plastic to get to the food; it tasted ok, there just wasn't a lot of it, a case of shrinkflation? Rory can't resist the kiddies swings and is firmly encouraged to desist before the inevitable happens...We have a pit stop then drive out of Tucumcari through what used to be Route 66, now a rather sad spectacle with many long since closed stores slowly rotting away. I had some anticipation of Tucumcari on the back of all the cultural references but it was a bit underwhelming. We set off north east on US64 towards Dalhart. It's 16:30 and 87f, around 31c. 

We check in at the Days Inn at Dalhart and head off to the XIT Woodfire Grill for dinner. I ordered a salad (body, temple etc.) which confused our server as I neglected to order additional meat...Rory gets the burger and fries and suspicions of us being communist sympathisers are allayed. We got a couple of scooners (big pints) of Karbach IPA at 6.6% which at $7 were really excellent. Tomorrow we're in central Oklahoma, likely an overnight stay in Enid.

Total miles: 302

Day 2 - More grey soup and Texas bound…

After another fitful night’s sleep and various intestinal issues far too graphic for this blog we’re “wide awake” at 06:15, get sorted and are on the road for 07:00. Nowhere is open for breakfast so we set off on US56 south west through Montezuma towards Liberal, Kansas, home to the extremely underwhelming Dorothy’s House. It’s 11c and raining. Go figure…shorts and rain jacket combo again. We stop at Sublette for gas which is right opposite a grain silo. A semi truck is filling up with grain, something I can’t recall seeing before. We get back on it and head south on US160. 

While all this was going on the SPC upgraded the tornado risk to 5% over Lubbock, Texas which was nice of them, for context that is 367 miles from Dodge City. An F5 tornado ripped through there in 1970 if I remember rightly. The drizzle continues, it’s 08:30 and I’m getting peckish. Drizzle gives way to heavy rain.

We arrive at Liberal and to the Pancake House for breakfast. Deja vu from last year, same staff and same menu choice, Canadian Bacon, Eggs over easy, hash browns and sourdough toast. Very nice. We head off, sadly bypassing Dorothy's House and south towards Pampa, Texas, crossing into the Oklahoma Panhandle, the rain now having stopped. 

We cross into the Texas Panhandle and through Perryton, the damage from the 2023 tornado still visible. As we travel further south the topography changes with rocky outcrops and gorges. We get to Pampa and stop for a Starbucks. Not being a coffee drinker back home I find these places confusing bordering on intimidating: no menu and pretentiously named cup sizes. Me and Rory got the same coffee so as not to go through the palaver twice. Leaving Pampa we pass the Freedom Museum with a lot of military hardware on display including an M60 tank, a Huey helicopter and an F4 Phantom which is a seriously cool Vietnam era fighter bomber. 

The SPC has now upgraded to an Enhanced Risk (3/5) and the 5% tornado area has moved a little west. Parameters look good, 60s dew points, steep lapse rates, 2500-3000 MLCAPE and 35-45 kt deep layer sheer.

Fully caffeinated, we head south west in the general direction of Amarillo on US60. Changing drivers necessitated using the memory seat function and a whole lot of mirth kicks in as the massage system accidentally gets activated. At Panhandle we go south on Texas 207. 

We travel through the outskirts of Palo Duro Canyon, the second biggest canyon in the USA. The soil is red but the sky is grey, we haven't seen blue sky all day. It's now 13:00 Central. 

We continue south on Farm to Market Road 378 and the drizzle has returned. We get a grab and go Subway at Plainview and head south on I27 towards Lubbock; we nearly collect a coyote as it runs across the road. As we approach Abernathy we have sunshine and a hint of blue sky!

It's now 14:30 and the temperature has climbed to 27c, we pass Texas Tech University and their huge American football stadium - capacity 60,000. Rory has with him a Red Raiders baseball cap I bought him when I was here in 2010. We head south west on US62 and stop at Ropesville to see what happens. Chasers are starting to congregate and it's now 30c; a Texas Tech doppler radar truck is parked next to us.

Storms have initiated and we are just east of Ropesville. The storm in front of of us has gone severe warned at 15:55. Someone has reported a landspout.

We get in a good position, stop, take photos and move on. The storm looks really good with good structure if low contrast and has a wall cloud, strong inflow and is forming stratified plates. So far so good but suddenly the inflow into the storm is ripping colossal amounts of red dust from the arid fields and visibility drops to next to nothing. We keep moving but can't get away from the chocking dust probably laden with God knows what. Reports come in of a brief tornado but it's impossible to see anything. The bloody dust is everywhere.

There is clear rotation and finally it goes tornado warned just before 18:00 as all of our phones chime simultaneously to warn of a potential tornado. A last final attempt to get away from the dust has us travelling east away from the inflow and it is just possible to see the edge of the storm but any tornado is still not visible.

Time to call it a day, we head past Lamesa then north to Post then north west up US84 to the picturesque town of Slaten for dinner at Texas 1809. It's then onto La Quinta in Lubbock for our overnight stay. Somebody who is not me...had managed to lock their suitcase with a combination lock that will no longer open...how I don't know...thankfully I always bring a Leatherman multi tool with me, and after much sawing it comes off. Seriously...

Total miles: 577