24 June 2019
“EMSIMS”
Sharon Springs, KS to Alliance, NE (580 km)
It was a relaxing morning. I slept right through to 7:30, but breakfast wasn’t until nine, so I went for a walk, looking at the damage from a recent storm.
I found out that a tornado had come close to the town. The straight line winds and/or downdrafts had left a lot of downed branches that were still being cleaned up.
I went looking for the Wrench Museum but couldn’t find it. Others did later and said it was a private collection in a garage. It was laid out well and the gentleman who had it didn’t charge or accept donations.
I went down for a cup of tea at 8:30 and the woman was laying out breakfast.
It included eggs with cheese, quiche, baked oatmeal (I got the recipe) and real orange juice and more.
We got together for an orientation at ten and Bill said there wasn’t a lot in the forecast but that we’d go north towards Wyoming and South Dakota, expecting more severe weather later in the week.
We drove north and stopped in Ogallala for lunch at Runza’s and then continued north. We made a stop at the same lookout point on Lake McConaughy where we had had the close encounter with a lightning strike in 2017.
We headed into the sand hills and stopped so the time-lapse group could get some fluffy clouds.
I set up my camera as well.
And got reflection pics in the flooded fields.
And roadways.
At another stop, we were upsetting some birds that likely had a nest nearby.
As we waited, a storm blew up on the Wyoming/South Dakota/Nebraska borders, moving southeast. We headed west towards Alliance.
We went about ten miles north of the city, setting up on the edge of a farmer’s field about a half hour before sunset.
And we watched the cloud grow and change colour.
It produced some lightning.
We stayed until about nine and headed into Alliance for the night at the Quality Inn.
Another nice spot.
Go to Day Four
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See also: Bill Reid’s entry for 24 June