For some reason the comments on yesterdays post were turned off. Meaning that nobody could comment. That has been fixed. Those responsible have been sacked.

Day Eight is just beginning and there’s storm clouds everywhere.

I don’t think I’ll be getting rain just yet, but the hills are such that you really can’t tell until it’s right upon you.

This morning, I woke up at 6am and it was cloudy. I grabbed some clothes and toiletries and headed up to the showers. As soon as I got there, it started to thunder and pour. Literally, one minute after I got into the bathroom. So I did my thing, showered, etc and by the time I was finished, it had stopped. Joy!

I walked back to the campsite. There’s a lovely stream next to it and a big cliff behind it. The cliff is tall, so I can’t see the clouds coming at me. Suddenly, everything was sunny and beautiful. I looked out over the park and it looked like it were to be a very splendid spring day.

Feeling it was a good time to load up the bike, I started strapping things down and putting things in little pockets¹. And right before I struck the tent, the sky filled with deep gray-purple clouds and the wind shifted and a deep thunder rolled down from the cliff.

What do I do?! Do I unload everything not waterproof from the bike? Do I quickly stuff the tent into where the tent gets stuffed? There wasn’t time to think, there wasn’t time to do anything. So I sort of froze, prayed for no rain and waited to see what it was going to do.

Two minutes later, it was sunny again.

Oh Missouri, you tricky lil rascal!

So now I’m in a Panera Bread - the internets were wonky at KOA. Panera is nice, but right across from me are two people having an amazingly pompous conversation which includes such phrases as “post-consumer culture” and “yes, that is true, however I have always believed…”

They are now talking about Segway Scooters and about someone who rode it across the country while making a documentary. You can have no possible idea how happy I am that they are not trying to talk to me. So so so SO amazingly happy.

Ok, real quick before I go, let’s talk about the weather.

I’ll be hitting some thunderstorms today and I’m pretty alright with that. However, they’re also predicting the potential for tornadoes in the next few days over the places where I’ll be riding. I’m fascinated by tornadoes, but I really don’t want to be involved in their goings ons.

Strong storms will erupt later in the day from northeastern Texas to southwestern Missouri as daytime heating increases the instability in the atmosphere.

The strongest thunderstorms will produce widespread tornadoes, damaging straight line winds, hail and drenching downpours. The Severe Weather Center lists the storm-related watches and warnings that are in effect across the southern and central Plains.

The South Regional News story reports the threat of severe weather on Thursday will shift to the Tennessee Valley. By Thursday night, severe thunderstorms will spread across the Southeast into Georgia.

To the north of the severe weather, heavy rain today and Thursday will renew the threat of flooding in the heartland. Between 2 and 4 inches of rain is forecast today from the Texas panhandle to the mid-Mississippi Valley, while locally higher amounts are not out of the question.
-From Accuweather.com

I’ll be buying a weather radio, but that’s all reported by county. I don’t really know which county is which. It’s easy to find out which county you’re in, but about what is surrounding you? Not really. I’ll have to figure something out.

The route I’ll be traveling today is from St. Louis to Lebanon, MO. It’s along the I-44 corridor. For those who know my number, feel free to text message me (or leave a voice mail) if you find yourself looking after where I am. Tomorrow I’ll be in Springfield, MO. The next day, in Tulsa, OK and the next in OKC. All along I-44.

Ok! Here I go!

1. I spend most of my day doing this. [↩]