The adventures of Pioneer Girl travelling with enthusiastic Camper Barn Owl Guy

Started as a blog about my trip from Pittsburgh to California in a Ford Pickup, hauling a 30' refurbed trailer/camper. Ah, California Dreaming, 'n all that. Found that adventures can be long distance or in your own neighborhood... I look for my own twist on local sites, don't take the known for granted...and always find something new. It's easy, just open your eyes..

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Tumbleweeds and Tornado Alley

Good Morning, O Pioneers!  Tuesday October 26, 2010, GPS coordinates track us in Lamar, Colorado.

Yesterday was quite an eventful day.  We had to make a decision to go due west from our location in Kansas and to Denver and over the Rockies, or take the southern route.  We were told snow storms in Rockies so South we went at Oakley, Kansas.

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Wow, it was Tornado Alley,  Wind gusts up to 50 mph.   I spoke to state troopers before we went south on 40 and they said be sure to gas up as there are no stations for 100 miles, and it's 2 lane and desolate.  Not kidding!  Wind storm was dramatic, Barn Owl Camper guy had white knuckles, keep the entire truck and trailer ensemble on the road.  Only us and trucks barreling at us and passing us at a WHOOSH!  Nothing but grasslands and tumbleweeds, quietly stricking us from the right (my side, so winds were from the west).  It was quite scary for miles but also beautiful.  I could imagine being a tornado chaser flying down the highway chasing a twister.  or a twister chasing us..    I'll tell you what, if you stop, which we did, I could not get out my side of the truck, the wind said no way...  The wind also ripped off the canvas porch and one of the arms off and blew it clean away, we didn't even see it.

One little town, we stopped at the Green Chile Cafe for coffee and to lick our wounds.  I spoke with one local woman who was a rancher there, said she was born and raised there, had a ranch and grew milo (sorgham).  Used for feed and also in bird seed.  She raised her eyebrows when I said we came down 40 hauling a trailer... wow, girlee, be careful out there!  BTW they served no green chile at the Green Chile Cafe..  disappointed. 

More to come,  xoxo... Pioneer Girl

5 comments:

  1. Auntie Emm, It's a twister it's a twister. Better be careful or you will end up in OZ. Then you will have to follow the yellow brick road. Oh BTW, the yellow brick road does not show up on your GPS.

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  2. If you can't locate us, that's where we will be...behind the curtain.

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  3. I can see be a storm chaser. I'd love to see a tornado (not too up close) and out where it doesn't do any damage just to see it. You are definitely having an experience. I can't imagine that kind of wind while hauling a camper. Glad you're safe.

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  4. Saw there is a tornado warning in Pittsburgh! It reall all moved west from here.

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  5. Luckily everything pretty much fizzled by the time it reached us. It's that invisible wall between PA and Ohio that changes everything. We had some high gusts of winds and a couple of downpours mostly north. Couldn't have been too bad because my garage didn't flood. We had some tornado watches, but onces the front went through there wasn't much of a threat here.

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