Family

Saturday — Sunday
On Saturday morning we took off on a relatively short trip to Hutchinson, Kansas to attend a FMCA motorhome convention. With the convention being so close to Wichita, we would make it back the next day to continue our visit with Kay's family.

Lois talking to Kay about quilt pieces made by Kay for a new quilt

One week later
Mother Nature unexpectedly changed our plans. After a lot of heavy rain, we left the convention early after all our motorhomes were pulled out of a muddy field by a tractor. It wasn't long until we were on our way to Pratt, Kansas for our first stop for the night. We were leaving the FMCA convention a day earlier than planned. Originally Kay and I had planned to spend Thursday evening with her family in Wichita with our group leaving Hutchinson on Friday.

We made it to a campground in Pratt, Kansas in the late afternoon. After getting our motorhome set up in a very tight campsite, we had to take off for Wichita before our evening meal. With our plans changed, Kay and I drove 80 miles from Pratt to Wichita to see her family. The excitement would continue.

As we drove east on Highway 54 the storm clouds grew ahead of us. As the sun went down we began to see lightning and hear thunder. In a short time we caught up with the storm. Now it was raging over our heads. Huge lightning bolts streaked from one horizon to the other turning the darkness into daylight for a second or two or three. There was one time that we had lightning all around us and the thunder was almost deafening.
It was great!!!

By the time we arrived at Wichita the storm was behind us. We stopped at a drive-through hamburger place to grab something to eat before going to Jim and Donna's house. After a short visit, it was off we go to see George and Lois.

George enjoys watching sporting events of all kinds

We spent a couple of hours visiting with Kay's parents and playing with their dog. Then it was time to return for a while to say goodbye to Jim and Donna. We had a nice visit with Kay's family, however, we both were wishing we could spend more time.

George and Lois watching Pete playing

As we were getting ready to leave, Jim told us another storm cell was moving our way. So, when it was time to head back to Pratt, we could see lightning in the direction we were to drive. It wasn't very long after leaving Wichita when it began to rain. This time the lightning wasn't as severe as it was earlier. However, the rain would come in torrents.

The rain came down harder and harder. Then it hit; a cloudburst made it impossible to see beyond the hood of our car. It was as if we had driven under a waterfall. I could see the red glow of brake lights ahead of us. I pulled off the highway onto the shoulder. When we were finally able to see ahead of us we could see that all the cars and trucks had done the same as us. They were all parked on the shoulder. Even though it was still raining, I thought it was light enough for us to get going.

As I drove off, the other vehicles stayed put. I had driven only about a half mile when the rain came down again. As before, I was unable to see far enough for safety. Once again I pulled over to the side of the highway. We waited and waited. It seemed as if the water would never quit coming down. Finally I was able to drive at about 45 miles per hour. Then it let up more and I was able to get back up to speed again.

As we drove toward Pratt, I turned on the radio to find out if we had any more rain on the remainder of our route. I found that the line of storms was now completely behind us. I was listening to radio stations located in Wichita. It wasn't very long until I began to hear reports, from Wichita, about the fast moving storm front. As each reporter told his story, I was familiar with the reporter's location and the description of the storm, it sounded very much like what we had just experienced. The storm moved completely across Wichita in about 20 minutes.

We arrived back at the campground shortly before midnight. It was readily apparent that the campground had been drenched by the storm we had just come through. Our day of nerve-racking excitement was finally at an end. Unlike trips in the past, we did not finish this trip at home. A new adventure would begin when we start out in the morning.

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