Missouri Storm

Today has been a little stressful. Last night we were trying to decide if we should get a hotel, camp, or drive through the night. The weather forcast predicted thunderstorms with 3 inch hail and flash flooding. The weather channel warned, “Do not drive through flowing water, even if its only 6 inches deep. In case of flash flooding, leave your vehicle and find higher ground.” We decided to drive a couple more hours to the next campground and re-evaluate.

We pulled into Wallace State Park (near Cameron, Missouri) at about 10 pm. There were several RVs, including a camp host, and other campers. The sky was clear with stars. The local forcast now predicted 50% chance of rain. Very different climate, warm and humid. Different vegetation, insects and night noises. Firefly’s!

The bulletin board warns about ticks and poison ivy. We can handle that. We see lightening in the distance and decide we should put the rain fly on. Maybe I had slept for awhile or maybe was still falling asleep when we started hearing thunder and it started raining. Mac has mostly only lived in California and Nevada and was still coming to terms with the fact that it rains in the summer in some regions. Although its been 8 years since I’ve lived in Texas, I grew up with thunderstorms.

I tried to be reassuring to Mac, but the thunder seemed louder than I remembered. It must be the acoustics of the area, I reasoned to myself. When a bolt of lightening sounded like it hit a tree in our vicinity, I told Mac we should get in the car. I remembered that vehicles are insulated to the ground because of their rubber tires, and the car would provide more protection from falling trees than a tent. The weather channel said tornadoes had been spotted in the area. The lightening went away and we went back to bed in the tent.

We woke up in the morning to another thunderstorm.

“Mac, do you hear that sound? It sounds like a train.”

“That's what a tornado is supposed to sound like, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I don’t think there's anything we can do.”

Mac decided it really was a train.

We waited for it to stop raining so hard and threw everything into the car. The camp host agreed that it would be a scary storm in a tent, but didn’t indicate that the storm had been more severe than usual. The small bridge we had to cross was clear. Water was starting to flood one section of road, but we were able to get around it. Except for a few sprinkles, the weather was clear the rest of the day.

We crossed the Mississippi river and are now in Illinois. I took the exit in Springfield for gas and to change drivers. I got on the wrong road and just pulled over to let Mac navigate the busy city. Mac followed a sign for “Historic 66” and ended up in the ghetto. He accidentally cut off someone with a low rider van, pumping, with $1000 rims. Mac was seriously concerned about being in this area with an “expensive hood ornament” (our bikes) and all of our possessions. We safely made it back to the freeway. They don’t show the ghetto in the Simpson’s.

Now we are at the Kickapoo State Park near Danville, Illinois. Mac was concerned about the loud unidentifiable insect noise. I told him to pretend they are crickets. Time for dinner. Mac made something really yummy. We should be in Athens, Ohio tomorrow.