Tuesday, August 28, 2007
We got off to an early start and spent the day crossing Iowa, with our day's goal being to reach Norfolk, Nebraska (birthplace of Johnny Carson).
Our route for most of the day was US24, an excellent road that runs through farm fields that stretch from horizon to horizon, with an occasional small town along the way. The morning was cool, but a long-sleeved t-shirt was plenty to stay warm. By the afternoon, we were roasting in 90+ degrees and high humidity.
As we got closer to the Nebraska border, we could see a storm front building to the northwest – right in our path. After fighting through the late afternoon traffic in Omaha, we hit the western outskirts just as the weather began to look really nasty. We pulled over for gas, and turned on Jeff's weather radio to see what we could find out about the storm. The first thing we heard was that a tornado warning was in effect for the area we needed to go through to get to Norfolk.
So we decided to just take cover in Omaha for the night. We got the bikes parked, unloaded, and covered just before the worst hit. We weren't sure whether the covers would protect the bikes, or act like sails and dump them over like dominos. Gladly, they rode it through the high winds just fine.
Unlike our accommodations last night, the Best Western here at 108th and L is a new facility with great amenities, not the least of which was a free cocktail hour. Well, actually, it was free beer in a little room with a few munchies. It was a great way to unwind after a long hot day.
We leave at 8am in the morning – destination, the Badlands of South Dakota.
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