Obviously we survived last night but I'll remember it as one of the scariest that I've ever spent. A tornado touched down in Fort Smith, Arkansas--which we'd driven through a few hours earlier. Thank heavens we decided on the campground 40 miles farther west!
We weren't totally unscathed, though. Early this morning the sky darkened and thunder rolled over, heralding a hail storm. For about ten minutes we were pelted with mothball-sized hail. After it passed, we quickly unhooked the utilities, stowed our gear and got on the road about 8:00.
We'd spent Monday and Tuesday pressing west on I-40. Today we turned north and traveled
from eastern OK into central Kansas. As far north as Tulsa, every body of water was above normal level if not flooded. From Tulsa northward the terrain shows a slight but constant elevation gain and occasional rolling hills. There were no signs of massive rainfall or storm damage so perhaps this area missed what had swept through to the south.
It would be inaccurate to describe the scenery in OK and KS as 'dramatic' or even 'interesting.' By default, the best parts of our day's journey were: #1 listening to Morning Edition on NPR and #2 finding a wonderful travel center with easy-in/easy-out gas pumps and an upscale McDonald's. Really!
We're spending tonight in Russell, Kansas, whose claim to fame is being birthplace of Bob Dole. No wonder he spent so many years in Washington! There's a pizza-and-beer joint, an Italian buffet, a Pizza Hut, a McDonald's (definitely not upscale) and two sad RV parks. We are staying in the one next to the historic oil rig museum.
Forecasts show that the violent storms are moving east and this region will be clear and calm for the remainder of the week. Good weather will certainly reduce a significant amount of this trip's stress.
The Jeep's left tail-light doesn't operate when it's attached to the RV's electrical system. We played around with the cable and it worked briefly but shortly went 'on the blink' again. While bouncing along an extremely rough section of concrete highway, the radio jarred loose from its slot in the dash and stopped working completely. I forgot to bring the can-opener.
Russell, Kansas
April 27, 2011
Scenic Surroundings
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