2018--day 14

Monday, 4 June 2018

An early start (8:30 local) to what promised to be a long-ass day, but the finish line is in sight.  A distant sight, but still in sight.  Left St. Louis with less than we arrived (thanks again), and headed east for the promised land.  Our route: I70 through Illinois and Indiana into Ohio, then I71 to I90.  Not much to say (and even less to show, I'm afraid), just lots and lots of highway.  We arrived in LeRoy around midnight, meaning we spent over 14 hours on the road (minus several stops).  The day's count: 816 miles.

To recap the adventures:

14 days
16 individual states (with some repeats, of course)
6.5 tornadoes (15.5 lifetime)
1 (!) McDonalds stop
7,605 miles (~98% driven by yours truly)
18,753 lightning strikes (probably an underestimate)
Countless memories

In summary, aside from the break-in, this trip was a smashing success!  But I think I speak for all who participated when I say it's wonderful to be home.  Thanks so much for reading, I truly hope you enjoyed it.  Until next time, this is Les Nessman saying good day, and may the good news be yours.  (Oh God, I'm delirious!)

2018--day 13

Sunday, 3 June 2018

A semi-early start, as we hoped to see the Arch and possibly a Cards game in the early afternoon.  This would be a first for a number of us, as it's been 20+ years since I'd been to the Jefferson Memorial and never to the new Busch Stadium.  The weather was damn near perfect for an October day (70s, low humidity--am I sure this is STL?).  These should remove any doubt.

We had it made in the shade (literally) at the ballpark, even though we missed a Cards grand slam in the first inning (!).  Did get to see Wacha pitch a two-hit game through nearly nine full innings and the good guys score a single home run to clinch a 5-0 victory over the (sorry, Pat) Pirates. 

All was not well, however, in River City.  About half of our group decided that America's pastime was not their cup of Budweiser, so they went to the first-class zoo.  They were quite impressed until they returned to the van and noticed all the broken glass.  Seemed some lowlifes decided that they couldn't live without the students' bookbags, and so they helped themselves to roughly 10K worth of their stuff.  Way to shine, St. Louis.

After a few hours, we were able to get situated with another van and some replacement items.  After another lovely meal at the establishment known for steakburgers (and cheese fries, thankfully), we bedded down at the same hotel we stayed at the previous night.  Our original intention was to have some decidedly non-Saint Louis style pizza and Ted Drewes, then drive to Terre Haute, Indiana.  Sadly, this was not to be.  All told, 67 total miles for the day--a record low for this trip.

2018--day 12

Saturday, 2 June 2018

To quote Bill Murray (guess the movie): slept late, felt great!  No wine nor women, sadly.  We left Lincoln around noon in search of vittles, this time in the form of what America runs on.  Surprisingly, the breakfast sandwiches hit the spot.  Thank God, as I was within 30 seconds of eating my own arm.

Travels today took us to I29, a new highway and two new states: Iowa (#15) and then Missouri (#16, the last).  Our travels took us to Columbia, where we explored Rock Bridge Memorial State Park with an old and dear friend, Dr. Pat Market.  We stuck our heads in the Devil's Icebox, but found nothing worth eating.  Instead, we ate real barbecue at a local dive, where after being an indirect vegetarian for the better part of two weeks the salad was simply sublime.  Then again, so were the ribs.

After chow we continued east on I70 for my adopted hometown of St. Louis, our bivouac for the night.  432 miles for the day.  Toodle-oo.

2018--day 11

Friday, 1 June 2018

Nothing so promising as a day with extreme CAPE values (4000+ J/kg).  We decided to stay semi-local (i.e., the same state), but then again Nebraska is nearly three times as large as Ireland, so...

We left our hearts in Valentine and traveled southish to Broken Bow, where we launched a sounding, ate lunch at a DQ (made up for losing out in Spearman), and the kids interacted with a cow.

Our forecast paid off, as we were able to catch these cells around Burwell and Taylor, Nebraska.  Beautiful structures and some more great mammatus to be had today.  There might have even been a tornado--there was dust on the ground, but it was very late and hard to see.  Some reports exist, however; I'm calling it a half of a tornado.

The chase 'ended' in a Grand Island (an oxymoron, as it's neither island nor grand) Wendy's, where we met up with other chasers from Ball State (Indiana).  My heart goes out to those folks, as that group is out for three (!) straight weeks.  One of them said that each chase ages you a year--I liken it to being President of the United States. 

Our official last day of chasing ended with us being chased (as it were) by this QLCS (quasi-linear convective system) with a very nicely defined bow echo (note the apex near Lincoln) as we headed east from Grand Island to Lincoln, our temporary home for the night.  We were traveling on I80 (the brown line on the image below), and the heaviest precipitation paralleled the highway until we made it to our hotel at 1 am local.  Unlike every other hotel at which we stayed, this did not feature an overhang--naturally. 

The end result: 491 miles.  Do I know how to have fun or what?

2018--day 10

Thursday, 31 May 2018

Thank the Lord for late checkout, and for Village Inn (with their grown-up grilled cheese sandwiches and their triple-berry pie).  And their sense of humor.

Today was a travel day, and a relatively short one by recent standards.  Our plan was to travel from Colby, Kansas to Valentine, Nebraska.  Interesting town, Valentine: the street signs are red (it's the heart of Cherry County, itself bigger than my home state of Connecticut).  Up to about 50 years ago, Main Street separated the central and mountain time zones.  The region is also surrounded by sand hills.  They're picturesque, but they make chasing somewhat miserable (bad sightlines).

It was one of the earliest ends of the trip.  After a celebratory steak dinner (six tornadoes, remember) that did not (repeat: NOT) feature appetizers (see below), we called it a night.  Final tally: 287 miles.