We're not in Kansas Anymore

Today we departed Kansas on I-70 and entered Colorful Colorado, as the state welcome sign shouted at us when we went by. 

-Did you get a picture?

-How could I! You told me to take it too soon.  I didn't have the camera out.

-But it was coming up.

-But I was texting ----.

I'm glad she's using her new smart phone! Ramon learned how to search out campgrounds and churches with Google Maps today.

Then we stopped for supper.

Flagler, CO, is a small grain and cattle focused town like so many others in America's breadbasket.  Except this one boasts a Cruise Missile in it's town park.  How cool is that?  And a 1950's diner (built about 10 years ago) that gave us more than a meal... 

We had left Abilene, KS a day before we had thought we would because heavy wind and threatening thunderstorms with their often accompanying tornadoes were predicted for today. We did hit hard, sometimes 65 mile an hour gusts much of the way west and one of them slammed the coach door so hard we'll have it looked at when we take QUO to the body shop in Arvada, CO, on Monday.

The winds had dissipated by the time we rolled into Flagler, but that would change shortly. Then the sky began to darken.

 The first sign of trouble was when we heard the staff shout that the Storm Catchers were rolling through the parking lot on the hunt.  And they didn't have to go far.

The restaurant manager had lived here all her life and she described what we were seeing, assuring us that as soon as the sirens blew we would be escorted into the basement for safety.  Of course Quo and Toad had no basement to turn to as the wind increased to a ferocious level. We saw QUO's front dust cover tear partly loose and begin to flap up and down on the roof.
Then, as the manager described moment by moment, the huge storm to our north began coming south and dropped two 'Super Cells', or tornado birthing machines, within a mile on the west and east side of the restaurant.  "Here come the sirens" she yelled.  But they didn't.

The cells never spawned anything and stopped their ominous curling motion soon. Then, in a few moments, the storm had passed south and east and the manager said "All right.  you're safe to go now, so long as you are headed west.  We LEFT.

Yes, we had eaten.  Well, I had.  Mona had lost her appetite when she saw the first cell drop from its overhanging parent cloud. Her fish is in the freezer as I type.

We drove west thinking all was fine and ran smack dab into another storm.  No tornadoes this time but lots of hail.  Small hail, thank God.  Maybe regular M & M candy size.  Whew! Were we glad when the sun came out over Denver!

The Rockies in the distance looked majestic under that setting sun.

But we were driving right into it!

We'll have to get the Camping World Shop to look at the left front motorized sun shade.  It sticks at the WORST times!



Tonight we're safely parked at Arvada United Methodist Church.  Hopefully for two nights. Unless, as Mona reminded me before drifting off to sleep, "Remember, if the police come to tell us we can't stay here you promised you'd de-level, retract slides, and move us somewhere else at 2 in the morning."

That's right, no one contacted us back from the message we left this morning.  So I'm getting ready to get enough shut-eye just in case!

-Ken