However, the day didn't end up being like any other day we've experienced so far. As I went ahead like normal, the fog turned to thick clouds and became very dark. At one point it began to rain so hard the windshield wipers could hardly keep up. As I found a place to turn around to go back to Mike and get him rain gear, I got myself turned around in the back roads of the Ozarks and ended up headed in the opposite direction.
Without cell service and severe thunder showers I was a bit panicked. Finally I heard from Mike. He was fine and wanted me to meet him in Bismark, when I finally met up with him he approached the car and had one question for me; "Did you see my wallet"? He thought he had left it back at the hotel. I tried calling but there was no answer and I figured because it was a small hotel, the owners were cleaning the rooms. So we loaded up the bike and we headed back to the hotel.
All I have to say is thank god we were together. As we drove back the rain became so heavy we were unable to see the road in front of us. The area is heavily wooded and we saw a few trees come down with the storm. We reached one point where the winds were so crazy we couldn't tell which way they were going, there were trees down in front of us on the road and we were forced to stop along with 5 other cars.
The lead car did a U turn and stopped at our car and said, well, where do we go now. There had been 6 or 7 trees that had come down just behind us. None of our cars were touched. He said to Mike, if I didn't know better I'd say that was a tornado, Mike agreed.
Well it just so happened that the guy had a chain saw in the back of his truck and he, Mike and the others all pitched in and started to clear the way. After clearing the trees in front of us, we found that there were power lines down and decided not to go that way. So they began working on the 6 or 7 trees behind us. Just as they began working on it, a logging truck pulled up and helped out greatly by lifting and moving the large trees out of the road.
As we moved up the road, there were trees down the whole way. We figured it was going to be a long day as cars were not backed up or coming through on the other side. Finally we worked our way through to a point where the fire department and state troopers were working on the road from the other side.
One of the firefighters let us know that the town we came from was hit pretty good and the town we were headed for was one of the hardest hit. I think we were lucky when we got stuck in between the two.
As we made our way back to the hotel we were surprised at the destruction that we saw which was created by the tornado. It's the stuff we see on the news at home. Roofs missing from homes, trees down everywhere, trees lifted from the ground and placed in the middle of homes.
Once we got back to the hotel, we asked the inn keeper if she had found the wallet, she had not. So, I asked Mike that all important question, did you stop to go to the bathroom along the way? He said he had and in doing so he laid his bike down. He checked his GPS which he sets to track his way and he could pin point the exact spot where he had stopped. It was 1.8 miles form the hotel so we were off. As we turned down the dirt road where he had stopped, there was a tree down across the road from the storm. He parked the truck and I waited. About 2 minutes after he went behind the tree he came out, cheering with his wallet in his hand! It was soaked, but all intact. He said where it was it would have not been found for 100 years!
So we are back at the hotel tonight that we were at last night. Tomorrow I will drive Mike to the spot where I picked him up today and he will start again from that point tomorrow.
When we settled into the hotel, I opened the special wine I bought while staying at the hunting lodge. I knew I had saved it for a special occasion. Tonight we enjoyed and ice cream cone while watching a crazy electrical storm off in the distance. I'm ready for Kentucky!
This isn't what I was thinking when I called it a ride of a lifetime!
When the going get's tough, the tough eat's jello!
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