Day 6 Stormchase 2010 Wednesday June 2, 2010

We woke with morning in Grand Island NE and started looking at what we were going to do this day. Chuck got busy looking at all the data and decided that we were going to head west and see what we could find to do between Grand Island and McCook to keep us busy because there wasn't going to be much if any weather today. About 3:00 we noticed some clouds to the northwest of North Platte and we decided to 'chase' them just to 'practice' and see what might develop. As far as storms go this wasn't a great one but it was the only storm in the area so we started chasing.




This is a picture of Chuck with the storm. Looks scarey doesn't it!! Chuck is wearing the shirt that Heather made us for this years stormchase. {{{{Cool}}}





This is another view of the storm.





I just wonder if someone called this in as a tornado!!

We ended up in McCook, NE for the night at the Day's Inn on the west side of the town. Nice people there! We were really looking forward to going to our favorite Mexican restaurant in McCook but found out from the hotel clerk that the owner had died and that it had sat vacant for awhile until a Mexican family bought it and opened it again. It now goes under the name of El Puerto and it is located on Norris St. Food is good but not as good as Mexico Lindo was.

Day 5 Stormchase 2010 Tuesday June 1, 2010

Well it has turned out to be another rotten day of chasing in more than one way!!! We got on the road before noon and headed east out of North Platte in hopes to catch what is be coming an ever elusive rotating thunderstorm.

We saw a storm and started chasing it, literally, we were flying down I-80 at 80 miles an hour and it seemed to keep pulling away from us. We finally saw some of the Dow's and the chase armada heading back towards us and we turned around and headed back west. Sad day.

Since I still didn't get a storm picture to share I thought I would share a couple pictures I took from lunch yesterday so you can put a picture with the name.



This Cameron Redwine and John Monteverdi! John is a professor at San Francisco State University, where else but in San Francisco, CA. Cameron is a photographer, studying photography in Denver.




This is my sweetie looking so studious trying to find me a storm...

John and Cameron had to head back to Denver tonight so we all stopped in Grand Island, Nebraska for supper before sending them on their way so John could catch a 1900 flight out of Denver back to San Francisco. Chuck and I had made reservations at the Sleep Inn in Grand Island and we went off to claim our room. Wish we could have had more time with John and Cameron but vacation times just didn't seem to overlap as well this year. We always enjoy meeting up and chasing with John!

Day 4 Stormchase 2010 Monday May 31, 2010

Today we sat around in Goodland, KS waiting for the weather to develop but Mother just wasn't ready to play with us. The dynamics just weren't there in the beginning of the day and the guys were forcasting a laaaate show for were we were in NW KS. Around 3pm we began hearing stories about SW KS and SE CO and we decided to head south and see what we could find since nothing was going up where we were. We drove a couple hours south to Syracuse, KS and decided that it was hopeless at that point in time for us to be able to catch up with the storms before dark and to be able to see anything worth seeing. Even if we did catch up with them it would be almost dark and the storm appeared to be shrinking before our eyes on radar and that is not a good sign! Anyway looking at about a 2-3 hour drive back to our night time destination we decided to turn north and head back up to Hayes, KS where we are staying the night at a Sleep Inn on the north side of town. According to several accounts there were multiple tornadoes out of the storm that were long lived and photogenic...oh well!!!

We received some sad news from friends in Germany today. A good friend of ours, Nicolai Dotsek died in Munich, Germany. Nicolai leaves behind a wife and two awesome boys. Nicolai is going to be missed by everyone he touched in his short life.

I was a bum day. Hopefully tomorrow will allow us to see some kind of weather...other than sunshine...and I will be able to show some pictures of the fantastic storms we saw. IF it turns out to be a crap day I will try and do a couple scrapbook pages and put them up instead...what a deal.

Day 3 Stormchase 2010 Sunday May 30, 2010

The start of Day 3 saw us waking up to a definately cooler day in North Platte, NE. The front had made its way through during the evening with the storms that we had tried to chase on Day 2. This is going to be a lazy repositioning day to get us in place for the storms...that's a positive mental nudge...on Monday and Tuesday.

After checking out of the hotel we made our way over to the Starbucks to meet up with some friends who are working with the Vortex 2 chase this year. It is going to be a down day for them also so everyone is laid back working on catching up with emails and project notes that they haven't had time for this past week. A several friends of ours are with the group again this year.

While at Starbucks we received a call from Kathy one of the original Twister Sisters (not to be confused with the unoriginal twister sisters) I say that because Kathy and Linda have been chasing the plains for over 17 years and a few years ago the new girls in town showed up and started using their name. No respect for the seasoned vets! Anyway they called to tell us that they were in North Platte and hoped that they would be able to see us this year before they went home on Wednesday. When I told them where we were they stopped by and we had a visit. I {heart} you gals!!!

Just after noon left North Platte and headed stopping for lunch in McCook NE at...can you guess?...at the Taste of Texas Barbeque. Tonight we are staying in Goodland, KS at the Holiday Inn. After supper tonight we went to the movies and watched Shrek 3 in 3D! Very nice. First 3D movie I have seen and I was impressed!

Not a very busy day but it was nice to be able to take the time to visit with friends and spend some quality down time! More tomorrow.

Day 2 Stormchase 2010 Saturday May 29, 10

Today turned out to be a pretty good day all things considered! We were up early and left Dodge City by 10 am. It was a fairly uneventful trip to get from Dodge City to our target of McCook, NE with the exception of road work being done south of Gove, KS. We were detoured almost 40 miles west and ended up taking hwy 83 into McCook. Oh well it ended well!!

Stopped for lunch in McCook at a Texas Barbeque place on the west side of town. You can find out more information about the place, location and the name on Chuck's web site once he has it up and running http://flame.org/~cdoswell It was yummy and they have wi-fi available so it was a doubly good stop for us.

Based on the information that Chuck garnered from the wi-fi stop we headed north to North Platte NE and spent some time visiting at the NWS forcast office there. Great bunch of guys were manning the desks today and we enjoyed visiting with them.

Chuck received a call from John Monteverdi and Cameron Redwine who were also chasing in this area and we met up at the NWS. I feel like John is family and it is always enjoy seeing him every year. After a quick look at Threat Net it was decided to attempt an intercept of a storm coming at us from the south west. We drove north to Thedford and after awhile it was determined that the storm south looked better so we back tracked to North Platte then went west on I 80 to catch hwy 25 south. Unfortunately before we got there the storm died and we headed back to North Platte to the hotel.

We are staying at the Comfort Inn on the south side of town. After going to supper at Margarita's (they have Mexican that is as good as any TexMex I have had down south) we came back to the hotel and it was determined that tomorrow looks like a down day and we are looking for some type of diversion for tomorrow....maybe a movie!!

No pictures to share today. I will get Chuck, John, and Cameron to hold still long enough to get one tomorrow! Stay tuned for StormChase 2010!!

The beginning....Day 1 May 28, 2010

May 28, 2010 marks the beginning of our stormchase this year. It doesn't look like much will be happening the first few days that we are out. We begin the vacation by attending a wedding of some friends down at the Wichita Wildlife Refuge near Medicine Park, OK.

Gene Rhoden and Heather Tracy are getting married at 11:30 am today. We received the invitation in the form of a DVD with pictures of the two of them describing their life since finding one another. The wedding was billed as a casual affair and promised to be a lot of fun. Unfortunately life had other plans for Chuck and I that morning and we didn't make it to the wedding on time but did make it in time to celebrate with them the beginning of their new life together. I am going to try and 'steal' a picture to post here so you can share with us.



This is a picture of Heather and Gene's families.




This one is one of the actual wedding. I wish we could have been there! Life! What a beautiful site to be married at! What a awesome couple getting married! Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Rhoden!!!!

After the wedding we headed north to Dodge City KS where we were staying over night the first night. Chuck had booked a room at the Super 8 there for us the night before. It is one of the better franchises. We made it into Dodge about 8pm and went out to eat supper with Carolyn and Jim Johnson at a nifty place called The Bad Habit Bar and Grill. Very nice steak and a great place to go to just sit around and visit for awhile.

We went to bed early so we could be up early to head out for NE in hopes we would be seeing some kind of severe weather tomorrow.

BLOG CANDY

One of the blogs I am following is having a followers drive and is giving away blog candy. You need to go check it out! I learned a lot blog hopping from this site. Lots of pretty things!!


Start here at call me {crafty}Al

Want to win the fabulous prize package shown below?!
















Prize Pack Includes: BasicGrey Origins 6x6 Paper Pack, BasicGrey Origins Writer's Block, BasicGrey Origins Glazed Brads, StudioG Series 35 Bohemian Stamp Collection, Three Bugs in a Rug "Wedded Bliss" Clear Stamp Set
Plus, NOT PICTURED: Three Bugs in a Rug "Family" Clear Stamp Set and ShortCuts' Clear and Frosted Cardstock Medium Pack

I am having a 'Follower Drive' now through Sunday, March 14th and you can be entered to win the wonderful prize pack shown above!! Here is how you can get entries...