As we pulled out of Dubois, WY on Sunday morning, I sat back ant soaked in the beauty of the surrounding countryside. This trip has been so good for my soul. It’s almost been like a spiritual retreat. It has awakened things in my soul that I thought I had lost. I have seen so many beautiful, natural wonders that it is hard for me to believe that I have done this. To think that so many people will never, ever experience anything like this. So many live in a concrete, high-rise, hi-tech environment and never see the beauty that God has given us beyond those walls.

God has truly blessed me with this time here with Mike, Randy and Neely, and a bond has been made that will last forever. To share this experience with them has been more powerful than I ever expected. I have seen first hand what drives Mike in his travels and know that he is a man who can not be kept cooped up in a 9 to 5 job. It’s just not in his bones. He understands the beauty of the earth and wants so desperately to share that joy and feeling with as many people as possible.

As I write this, we are rolling down the highway in an easterly direction.  Our ultimate destination is hopefully Canada but we won’t make that decision until tomorrow when we have seen how the weather is playing up.  I had hoped to get to do a storm chase in Canada but Mike said it most likely wouldn’t be this year’s tour after all, but he studied the models and there is enough of a potential for extreme weather activity in Saskatchewan so we are going for it.  What a rush!  So that means we are in for a loooong ride ahead to get us in position and I am more than ready and willing to go.  Heck, why not!

We stop in Riverton, WY for a Micky D’s breakfast and then we are off.

I spend my morning on blog writing.  I occasionally stop to absorb the passing landscapes and catch bits and pieces of the conversations up front.  I’m sitting in “the cave” today.  (the back of the van next to a speaker so you can’t hear the guys talking up front that well).  We pass through some tunnels in the Lava Flow Passage area and threw Thermopolis.  After completing two of my blog entries I close up the computer and sit back and relax.  At least they are ready to be uploaded when I get an internet connection.

Traversing the Big Horn Mountains, I believe the highest elevation was at about 9500 feet.  As we climb through the mountain range there is still snow melt going on as the streams are bubbling over rocks and boulders, and the air is crisp and clean smelling.  We are heading towards Buffalo and Gillette.  We come to Big Horn National Forest Over Look and see Loaf Mountain.  We make a pit stop in Buffalo at 1:41 pm  and we are still in Wyoming!

After we finally get into Montana we meet up with David Steppe, a member of the SSL/Fossl group.  David is a big supporter of Mike and StormScapeLive and is known to us chatters as MontanaStorm.  It was great to be able to meet another member of the group.  After a brief visit we hit the road again.  We still have a long way to travel.  Late in the afternoon we have a little bit of fun.  Our group is a bit wacky from time to time and a bet has been made.  If $250 are donated, Neely will do her version of the Harlem Shake.  Boom!  Two folks come up with the $250!  LOL….. another bet….if we get $250 more donated, Randy will do an interpretive dance of some sort (OMG!)  Yes in a matter of minutes the money is donated!  We find a nice isolated area and set up my video camera to capture the fun.  Randy is up first and his tune to dance to is the song Rawhide…I will leave that memory to those who witnessed it live on stream.  I about pee’d my pants from laughter.  Neely then did her dance…she’s a good head banger!

I grab the opportunity to finally present the 2013 FOSSL awards.  The first award is given to Ben McMillan who unfortunately wasn’t able to meet up with us after all.  Mike accepts the award on his behalf.  Then we present Randy with a flag for his patriotic act in Moore of recovering a flag from the rubble and returning it to the Mayor of that city after the EF5 tornado in May. And then we surprised Mike with an award that kind of choked him up a bit.  Love it!

After we finally arrive at our hotel, we go out to grab a bite to eat at the Boardwalk restaurant.  Neely and I order Chicken tenders, Randy gets Spaghetti and Mike orders the Perch dinner.  HAHAHA! If you could have seen the look on Mikes’s face!  Randy had about a pound of pasta in his bowl,  the chicken tenders were more the size of 4 chicken breasts and Mikes’ perch was about a two-inch square!  Here was Mike’s reaction…”Ah Neely, if you don’t mind, can I have one of your pieces of chicken?  I’m a big man here and look at what they put in front of me!  the smallest piece of fish I’ve ever seen!”  LOL  We had a good laugh.  Neely ended up treating Mike to a DQ Sundae after we left the restaurant.  We then drove about 20 miles out of town to a field in the middle of nowhere to watch for the Milky-way to appear.  It’s the first time I recall ever seeing it, as the city lights back home are too bright for it to fully appear.  A totally awesome ending to a very long day.

Add Media