The children and I headed out of MN in the morning, for a seven hour drive west to Pierre, SD. We had a picnic at a playground, took in the beautiful scenery and continued our game of counting american flags, hay bales, and horses. South Dakota took my breath away. I thought the landscape was stunning. As we rolled along, I saw some clouds ahead. I figured a rainstorm was no big deal to a girl who has spent the last 12 years in San Francisco and Seattle. I was wrong. The radio emergency broadcasts and the weather channel's three severe weather warnings in the area, got me a tad nervous. As lighting flashed across my windshield again and again, I was going through towns with no diners and no gas stations, I figured I needed a plan. When the radio called out highways and timeframes of the storm, I realized we were centered on it path, with no place to go. I pulled into a farmhouse and asked for advice. He suggested a town 11 miles west with a diner. A perfect solution, as this was the direct path of the storm, and I had 10 minutes until the storm directly hit. We got back on the road, and I realized that the other drivers were headed somewhere when 100 miles an hour was the standard speed of all on the road...so when in rome.......we arrived at a diner in Hyde county in pouring rain and more lighting than I have seen in all my storms past put together. The place was packed with those coming in for shelter and the regulars. We ordered the fried chicken and biscuit dinner, chatted with the locals and waited it out. When we had paid our bill and peeked out the window, the sun was shining, the roads were sparkling and Italy B's first rainbow had appeared.
No comments:
Post a Comment