Summary: we played the Dryline and lost. Unexpected behavior of the atmosphere produced numerous tornado reports to our east. We could have reached there, but chose not to go. *sigh*
More details later.
Relocated from Dodge city Kansas to Amarillo Texas.
Dropped “AB” at the Greyhound depot, as he had an emergency at home and he’d to get back to OKC to collect his luggage and then fly east.
Weird foreshadowing: as Phil and I were walking around Dodge City at 10:45, we bumped into a lady who was walking in Italian GREYHOUND.
[My apologies: these are very rough notes, but I will refine them later. Enjoy!]
0900 – briefing
We will be positioning far to the north, in preparation for an active day in Nebraska on Friday:
0945 – dot hotel
1000CDT – depart Love’s in south Lubbock
1015CDT – depart
Walgreen store in downtown Lubbock on I-27 N (where we picked up AB’s Rx)
____ – at
Amarillo,TX
13:37CDT – depart
China Buffet, Dumas, TX
____- Depart Stripes c-store in Iraan, TX
14:28CDT – enter OK
15:18CDT/14:18MDY
– enter CO (Time zone change)
17:18CDT –
16:46MDT – we move
north toward Lamar
1655MDT – E from
Lamar
1732MDT- at Holly,CO
_____ – enter KS
______ – S from
Syracuse
(insert Nikon
photos, GoPro video here)
___ – extended sky
stop to observe tiered supercell to our west
I’m in a motel with no internet (to speak of).
I’ll catch up this blog once I can get a connection.
*shakes from iWithdrawal*
06:58 – wake up
08:45 – breakfast
10:00 – Briefing in the second floor conference room
______ — went with “AB” to get a replacement hearing aid. Grabbed McDonald’s salads and tea for the trip out of OKC.
13:00 — jumped in the vans and headed west on I-40.
17:02 – driving through brush land and canyons toward Hollis, OK
17:05. – Head west on OK9. Toward Wellington, TX; continued west.
18:07 — stop at Memphis,Tx Love’s. Spotted components of a wind turbine in transit.
_____ – Photo stop at scenic Tule Canyon.
19:19 – Join main road 3 mi outside Silverton, TX.
19:23 — head south from Silverton.
19:31 — wind farm north of South Plains
19:54 — West through Floydada on US62
20:16 — stop at Ralls. Angle west towards Lubbock.
20:53 – arrive at Lubbock, TX
21:15 – go get dinner at BJ’s Brewhouse
0800 – Breakfast
1000 – Errands
_____ — Home Depot: a long quest for a SEEK infrared camera for Phil (they aren’t sole yet in the UK)
_____ — WalMart: searched in vain for a Bruce Springsteen album for Kathy. Fellow traveler Eric Meola photographed the cover art for the “Born to Run” album. The WalMart music section was so disorganized that five of us could not find a single Springsteen album. Bad WalMart, naught WalMart!
_____ – Continued on to Penn Square Mall to visit the Apple store (and search for another music store). Phil spent a bit of time looking or the new Apple Watch. We discussed lunch at Whiskey Cafe, but the wait was almost two hours (as this is Mother’s Day).
_____ — Venture northwest (on Northwest Expressway) to F.Y.E., a real music store. Plenty of Springsteen, but we cannot find “Born to Run”. *SIGH*
_____ — we head south to Reno and MacArthur, ending up at Lin’s Restaurant for all-you-can-eat steak, sushi, and Chinese food. Stuffed, we return to the hotel, to allow safe storage of our purchases. We take a short break to allow all to regroup.
13:30 — We head up to the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum (just off the Kelley exit from I-44). Many great exhibits, a lot of walking, and a visit to the souvenir shop.
16:45 — We hed back to the hotel, then regroup later for dinner.
19:00– Walk to dinner at Frosty Mug (a bar and grill a few doors down from the hotel). We aree later joined by David Balfour, who arrived s bit earlier in the afternoon. The British/Aussie/Kiwi contingent is complete!
22:30 — Wrap up the day by frafting the day’s blog entry.