A Shipwreck in the Third Act

Dodge City, Kansas


Leaving the Stroud's.


The first day of the trip had ended, not with a bang, but with kebabs. We began the day early, winding our way through rural Oklahoma. It has been pleasant to see what has changed in the small towns I haven't driven through in almost 10 years. The easy curves of my home state soon gave way to the plodding geometry of Kansas, where we picked up a companion for this leg of the journey, Raymond.

Now a trio, we zagged our way to Colorado, where the trouble began. Dad keeps an eye on the weather for our group, and not far into the rolling hills he warned us of a storm that was creeping up the front range. The farther we rode the darker and more ominous the sky became, and right when the fat drops began to strike around us we pulled over to don rain gear. I'd soon discover that wearing just my riding jacket was a major mistake. Not long after our gear stop the sky opened up and the wind roared into life. It was like a whiteout, I hunkered behind my windshield, riding nearly sideways from the gale and blinding spray. Then it got worse.

When my legs first began to sting, I thought it was just hard rain, but then something began to clatter on my helmet. It was hail, and it fell so hard and so big I had to pull my bike off the road. I tried to use it as cover as the hail beat down, it didn't, really help, I could still feel the stinging impacts on my back and legs. Understand that by now I was completely soaked and my teeth were chattering since the temperature had dropped to the 50s. It was not a fun time. We had to pull over twice, fighting our way forward between blasts of sleet and hail. By the time it finally calmed down the fields around us were white with all the ice. We drove through streets that had become rivers of ice. We made it to a pit stop in Limon, CO and spent the next few hours trying to dry off and waiting for the storms to pass.

Here's one local Storm Chaser's video from the hail storm: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9lrS9nrH58

The rain never quite stopped, but I got impatient, so pushed us to leave before the last cell had gone over us. We drove through the rain, this time waterproof head to foot. The rain began to lessen, and within 30 miles the sun burst through the dark sky, dazzling everyone. The snow that still held on to the edges of the road quickly melting under the onslaught, and while it wasn't exactly tropical, it was much more pleasant.

At long last the Rockies showed their face, gloomy under dark clouds and capped with snow, we we close to our destination for the night. Ft. Collins was close! We raced the sun to our hotel, reaching it right at sunset.

There's one rule I've added to our trip, no national chains for food stops! There weren't a lot of options to pick for dinner, but we settled on the Charco Broiler. It looked like a sleazy bar, but inside it was a 50s style steakhouse, all dark wood and farm implements on the wall. We were quite impressed! they cook a mean kebab, perfectly grilled with a delicious char on the outside.