The road ahead

Lucille:

May 16 - Friday - Today we had our severe weather experience.  I was awakened around 4 am by rain and thunder.  We have been getting up at 7, but since we still heard thunder by 7, we decided not to rush to get up because Tom doesn't plan to bike in a thunderstorm.  By 7:30 we no longer heard thunder, so we started our routine toward getting on the road.  We drove back to Dustin, where Tom left off yesterday.  It was no longer raining so we decided that Tom would bike as long as there was no thunder or torrential rain, and that I would stay a little closer today in case I had to pick him up if the weather changed suddenly.  The sky was overcast with dark clouds in the west, so I drove on ahead and in 12 miles found a place where I could pull off the road, do some reading, and wait for Tom to catch up.  He did, and all was well with biking and weather.  We then planned to meet in Eufaula where we stayed last night before heading on to Stigler.  We found a park with picnic tables where we had lunch.  Tom took off and I explored the shops of Eufaula.  We decided that since all was going well, our next meeting spot would be our motel in Stigler, Hammon's motel.  I was listening to the radio.  As I approached Stigler, a weather alert came on announcing severe thunderstorms and tornado alert for an area where we were yesterday.  By the time I checked into the hotel I was feeling uneasy.  The proprietors of this motel are very friendly folks, and when I mentioned that Tom was about an hour west of here, they thought I meant by car and both of them got worried looks on their faces and said, "Is he in  Henryetta?  There's a tornado on the ground in Henryetta."  Tom was not in Henryetta.  We passed through there yesterday.  I was expecting Tom to arrive around 3 pm, and shortly after 3 he wasn't here and suddenly it started raining--very hard.  These storms come so suddenly around here.  I hopped in the car and headed west, looking for Tom.  After driving about 5 miles, I pulled over at a wide spot and tried to call him on the cell phone.  It didn't work.  For a few minutes, it was raining so hard, I could hardly see the road.  Just as I was about to go on further, there was a ring on the walkie-talkie.  It was Tom telling me he was 6 miles west of Stigler.  I had only about a mile to go and I found him at a gas station/mini-mart.  By now the rain had pretty much stopped.  We put the bike on the car and headed for the motel.  Whew!  The owner of the motel said that just a few minutes after I left the sirens in town rang to warn of severe weather.  The storms come quickly and also pass by quickly.  All is calm now.  The next few days may be slower than we originally planned if we have more of this kind of weather.  Also the rolling hills make biking slower that the biking through the desert.

TOM:

Day 23 –Dustin, OK to Whitefield, OK 51 miles. Rolling hills starting at 700 feet and ending at 564 feet with many variations from 600 to 900 feet.  I traveled  the 51 miles in 4 hours and 45 minutes for an average of 10.6 mph.  This was a slow day due to the east wind in the face and some hills.  The first half of the trip was not bad because the rolling hills and trees blocked the wind to some extent.  After passing Eufaula, where I had lunch with Lucille, the route crossed Lake Eufaula and the wind was somewhat stronger.  Next was a long gradual  uphill for about 400 feet with wind directly in the face.  It was slow. I felt like the speed was slow like the turtle that I saw. The turtle was in the center of the road lane in the west direction.  I stopped to take the picture and about three cars passed over the turtle without hitting it. When the traffic was clear I pushed the turtle across the road toward the pond, making sure that it was still on its feet.  I then continued on to find the rain. Today's trip was cut short by about 18 miles due to the weather.  At about 12 miles from Stigler where we are staying tonight it started to sprinkle. It had been overcast all day after the thunder storm last night.  Since the rain was warm and not very hard I did not try the bike poncho.  As I traveled further the rain was heaver but the wind was gone, so I was happier.  At about 7 miles from Stigler the rain was very hard and I could hear thunder in the distance. At six miles from Stigler I found a small gas station and market in Whitefield.  I stopped under the cover of the gas pumps but the rain was still blowing on me.  I tried my cell phone but only heard static.  A man walked up and said that it was not a good day for biking and  that a tornado warning was in effect.  He pointed down the street to a storm shelter that I could use.  He also said the the lady inside the store had more information on the storm.  I decided to go inside the store to use their phone to call Lucille at the motel.  The lady was using the phone when I entered the store,  talking to someone about the tornado warning just ending.  That was good news.  When she was finished I asked if I could call the motel and she gave me the phone. I tried making the call twice. The first time I got a recording that I needed to use a 1 or 0 to make the call.  She said that was not correct and I tried again and got a voice mail recording at the local hospital.  I hung up and told the lady the problem and she looked up the number for the Hammon's Motel and dialed it for me.  When I told the lady at the motel who I was and that I was looking for Lucille, she told me that Lucille had just left the motel to look for me.  I then got out my Motorola Talkabout radio and started ringing Lucille's unit.  After a few tries she answered and I told her where I was. She was just a mile down the road.  The rain had stopped.  There were two sheriff cars and a few other cars looking about  maybe waiting to use the shelter if necessary.  One man wanted to know it I was a spotter.  I told him no I was just a bike rider.  This is the first rain in 23 days. It turned out to be another great day.  I saw some great sites not seen before.  Check out the sample photos.

Dustin, OK to Whitefield, OK 51 miles.  Rolling hills starting at 700 feet ending at 560 feet with many variations from 600 to 900 feet.

Lake Eufaula, OK

The towns around here all have tall narrow water towers like this one.

Round-up time

Total Trip Distance: 1937.38

Farm for performance horses

Day Twenty-Three - 5/16/2003

We passed this pond with lily pads.

Turtle in danger