June 2, 2008

 

Monday morning we woke up in Topeka, Kansas to storms.  The weather report called for softball-sized hail and high winds.  Since we had to pack the suburban and go to the store, we waited until after the storms to leave town.  It was a good thing too because our downspout was clogged and had come apart.  We had just cleaned it out a few days ago but the whirlybirds that come off our tree in the backyard had filled the gutters and downspout again.  The worst of the storm (softball-sized hail) didn’t come through our area but we did have high winds and over 2 inches of rain in an hour or so.  We ate lunch at home thanks to the youth group burrito fundraiser.  

 

We finally got out of town at 2:45pm.  We headed north out of Topeka on highway 75 and then I-80 west through Nebraska.  After all the morning storms in Topeka, it was amazing but we traveled under blue skies. The suburban seems very comfortable and big compared to our truck. Chris slept much of the trip, Sarah watched movies, Aleesha played games, Deaune read and Tim drove.  What a time we live in that so much can happen in one vehicle.  We ate supper at a McDonalds on I-80 around York, Nebraska.

 

We stopped around 8:00pm at Windmill State Park near Kearney Nebraska for the night.  It was a campground around a lake with electric hookups, showers and flush toilets.  YEA!   We set up the camper but didn’t have electricity in our campsite so Tim went to pay and ask if they had to turn on the electricity.  A very nice man at the campground office said the electricity should be on and he would come help us.  He checked things out with some kind of electricity checker and discovered that we had flipped the breaker on the camper.  Just a little switch of the breaker and we had electricity and air-conditioning.  It was rather muggy and a little warm so the air was very nice. Chris flopped on the bed and enjoyed the cool air so much that he fell asleep.  After we got camp set up, Aleesha read her book and Sarah, Tim and I went to the playground and played on the swings until the mosquitoes found us.  I think the mosquitoes were very hungry and glad to have some people around so they could have supper.  I got to run around the campground before getting a shower and turning in for the night.  We saw a bunny and many frogs.  I think I stepped on a dead frog when I was running.  It was dark enough that I am not sure and I didn’t stop to find out.   It sure felt good to stretch out on a soft bed.

 

At 3:00am Tim woke and wanted us to prepare for rain and possibly a storm.  After getting everything set for rain and wind, we turned on the radio and didn’t find any stations talking about the weather so we decided it must just be a spring rain and went to sleep.  It did rain and storm a bit in the night but the Keen’s camper kept us dry.

 

Mileage for the day: approximately 300 miles

Temperature: 80 degrees

Camping fee: $15

Gas prices: $3.83