ChasePDX: May 2006

And More Pictures....

More Pictures...

On Wednesday we started the day in Elk City, OK and drove north through Texas, Oklahoma, and into Colorado. Though our inital target was SE Colorado... it became clear around 4Pm that most of the stronger cells would be about 90 minutes to our north..... so we sped north to the Limon Colorado area and tracked a cell East into Kansas..... No Tornado.... but some very cool shots of a rotating wallcloud..... here are the pictures....

Sorry.... no update from the 30th..... we didn't have internet in our hotel room.....

Spent the 30th in The Texas Panhandle and SW Oklahoma.... spent most of the afternoon chasing one cell that was tracking SW into Oklahoma.... it had a little rotation... but mostly was just a nice lightning show.

Day 4: We woke up in Sioux city Iowa and drove to Kansas city then on to witchita. Andy found a thunder storm running along the Kansas Oklahoma border and that is where we spent much of the day. No tornados, just heavy rainfall and lots of lightning!

Everything seemed fine as the sun set and we headed off to find a hotel. However, upon exiting the car Andy realized he had misplaced his wallet somewhere in a 45 mile+ radius. So at 11pm in total darkness and surrounded by a deadly lightning we headed back out to find it. We programmed the GPS to track back from our current location to where we had been earlier in the day. We drove in heavy rain and carefully checked our previous stops. On the second stop, somewhere in very rural Oklahoma we used search lights and right there in the bushes Andy found his wallet!! It was soaked and filled with sand and debris but Andy was happy. It turned out to actually work out well for us as the extended drive put us into a better position for today's drive into the Texas panhandle.

Sunday we started in Bismarck, North Dakota...... and spent the morning driving into South Central South Dakota. We ended up driving around on a lot of dirt roads between Winner, SD and Valentine, NE while nothing was going on weather wise.

Ran into another chaser (Paul Knightley from the UK) at a high point on a very random dirt road SW of Winner, SD.

We also saw a bus that was on fire, Here are a small and large photo of said event:

We have a minor technical problem in that we now have no wireless access on our laptops..... this makes for an interesting checklist/questionaire as we attempt to check into hotels..

1. Do You have a hotel room?

2. Does it have 2 beds?

3. What is the rate?

4. Does it have high speed?

5. Is it "Wired" internet access?

As most places answer Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, No..... we get really wierd looks as we take our business elsewhere in search of "Wired internet Access"

Starting Memorial day in Sioux City, IA heading South.

We decided to spend Saturday Night in Bismarck.....

Luckily there was a wedding party at our cheap motel......... It was such a great time... that If I get married... I plan on bringing the whole crew back to Bismarck to celebrate in the cheap motel....

Look how much fun these fine folks are having in the cheap motel wedding party.....

Well.... Tomorrow is another day... and we are off to Mitchell, South Dakota.....

Well..... I had to drag Andy from the Lewis and Clark interpretive center......

We managed to chase a few storms... but no tornados anywhere today.... all we saw were these funky clouds.....

As a responsible Lewis and Clark Graduate.... It was essential that Andy visit Fort Mandon, where Mr. Lewis and Dr. Clark wintered on their way to Oregon. Why would someone want to "winter" in North Dakota... I don't know.

Here is Andy with a Buffalo that Lewis himself tamed......

We woke up today in Rapid City..... Checked the outlook and the models and North Dakota was the target......

We made it to Utah where we had breakfast with James and Sarah. We continued our trip towards a storm system in Nebraska.

Tomorow we are headed toward Cheyenne WY with hopes of catching some action in the high country.

Photos from our first day on the road

It rained a lot on our way out of Oregon.

Sunset on the Idaho border. Our last look at Oregon.

Andy is TIRED!

2006 Pictures of our 1995 Ford Explorer

TMD-700, Garmin E-MAP and lighting controls.

Radio Cluster

2006 Vehicle Lighting includes AMBER/WHITE strobes, WIG/WAG, Fog, Driving, Reverse and working lights. For a total of almost 45 amps!! Thank god for a high output alternator and a deep-cycle battery.