Tornado on the Mississippi!

June 13, 2013

Okoboji, Iowa

Distanced traveled: 1135 Miles

So about that tornado now.  Some like myself might think I took a huge gamble and had it pay off, but others might not feel the same way.  Either way I will never take that risk again.  Ever! Most of my days on the road meet the unspecified requirements for adventure traveling and I'm happy with that. After all I stated many times last summer that although I enjoy pushing boundaries I certainly don't have a death wish!

So it was Wednesday morning in Chicago and 50% of the weather sites said sudden doom and destruction, and the other half said I'd be fine until later when I'd be long gone.  So thinking about seeing Mount Rushmore by bike I loaded up and head out under the most ominous of skies.  Turns out the riding was perfect with only a couple sprinkles at lunch time while I was eating lunch.  Only miles from my campground, one of the many Yogi bear jelly stone national park campgrounds I used to love as a small boy, I thought I had made it.  But when I got to the five mile mark the skies quickly turned black and started dumping on me a torrential downpour.  So close to my stop I didn't feel like pulling over, so I quickly became soaked and had to look into between the sunglasses down at my nose and the top of my helmets visor.  This was one of the strongest rains I had seen on my bike, but last summers storms that shot tree limbs in my path made this one seem so so at best.  That's when I saw the sheriff trailing behind me, and with my stomach dropping I started to get the picture that something was truly wrong.

Right as I'm about to pull over to see if everything's alright, he beats me to it, turns around and roars off in the other direction.  Now I'm thinking that if it were really that bad surely the man in that car would have flagged me down to tell me.  But just minutes later continuing on in the middle of no where with no other option in site I see a fire truck sitting on the side of the road, lights flashing, but the boys sitting safely inside.  They even waved to me as I crawled by at no more then 20 mph due to my lack of viability from the down pour.  Indicator number three that something really wasn't right, but again with no other option or shelter I pushed on. 

5 minutes later, though really it felt like hours I finally pulled into the campground to find everyone hanging out inside the main office shocked to see me pulling in as soaked as a drowned rat on poor Saphira.  They quickly informed me that a funnel had formed right on the other side of the river my campground was on and that they were now in a state of tornado watch!

So forgoing the tent for a cabin with four solid walls and a ceiling I waited it out in anticipation but thankfully (I think) the rest of the night was peaceful.
Leaving the bustling streets of Chicago I had a strange desire.  I wanted to drive through nothing but never ending field after field in stark contrast to the city and for the past two days that is exactly what I got.  The weather has been a perfect mid 70's and this mornings ride around the swamps of the great Mississippi river barricaded in with tall jagged cliffs was the icing on the cake.  I remember last summer running into the massive Mississippi and just being in awe of its sheer size and historical importance.  I honestly didn't know I would be seeing her again so soon but it was another awe inspiring site.  One things for sure though.  Next time I see storm warnings of possibly severe weather with damaging winds I'm staying put! 

On the bright side I am now only 369 miles from Bad Lands national park and I'm pumped! Planning on two hundred more miles tomorrow then an easy days ride to the park.  I got to swim today for the first time on the trip, I'm now sipping a cold beer next to as blazing fire and I couldn't be more content.

So after writing these last words totally focused on what I was doing I realize their had been a rustling going on at the side of my tent for a while now.  Going over and turning on the flashlight I find a raccoon happily going to town on my food that that I had left open: rookie mistake!  To my amusement more then annoyance I found that he had successfully lightened my bike of my Twizzlers and my tortillas.  Touche my furry friend but kind of a weird snack!  Oh well the foods locked up in my trunk now, and the guys from a few campsites over brought me a beer and invited me to join them so I think I'll do just that before heading to bed.