12 June 2023
Clayton, NM to Pritchett, CO
There were a couple of wicked thunderstorms that passed through overnight. At three in the morning, the hail was playing drums on my air conditioning unit. By seven in the morning, there was still hail on the ground.
We met up at quarter to nine to ensure we could get to the Front Porch in Texline before breakfast stopped being served.
And once again, it was a freaking fabulous meal.
We headed west and then north into Colorado to see what the slight risk would give us.
We went almost as far as Trinidad again but turned east to watch a cell develop.
It was taking its time, so we moved on. We stopped at the entrance of one driveway and the owner chased us away.
We drove east with the storm and made several stops. The wall cloud was skirting the ground.
And obviously rotating at one point.
Then the cold air hit us.
We kept going east but it was clear that the cell was done. It never produced any lightning and hid the sun. We stopped in Pritchett for dinner at the Branding Iron.
It was Matt, the driver’s, birthday and the staff gave him a shot of firewater that he couldn’t drink since he was still driving. So, he gave it to me.
It was my first and last taste of firewater. I don’t think it improved my singing skills.
They weren’t able to find rooms for the whole tour, so two of us volunteered to stay in the Coulter Inn in Pritchett while the rest split into two hotels in Springfield, fifteen minutes to the east.
We got our choice of room.
And I had just enough time to plug in my batteries before the firewater did me in.
Bill Reid’s entry for 12 June
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