Day 7 Walnut, IA

What can I say about today? Hair Raising to say the least. We got up, had breakfast, and headed down Rt. 80 around 9:15 a.m. Our destination was Lincon, NB It was about 450 miles away and the weather forecast predicted rain. Traffic was a little congested at first but it lightened up after a while. We traveled 250 miles before we finally went up hill (not a very large one either). The only thing we saw was cellular towers and corn sprouts. Miles and miles of them. Steve zigged when he should have zagged and we found ourselves having to turn around to get back on track. No big deal, we needed fuel anyway, so we fueled up and headed out. The threat of rain hung to the north and it was smooth sailing. Around 300 miles into the ride the rain looked more threatening, so we pulled under a viaduct to put our rain gear on. The timing couldn't have been better. A few minutes later a storm rolled in on us so quick it would make your head spin. Gail force winds, hail, and very heavy rain forced us to pull over. I was in the lead and Steve had pulled over before us. A van pulled behind Tracy and I and waved us in. Tracy was about to jump under the van because the lightening was so close. I remained outside trying to see Steve. A trooper pulled behind us and told me Steve was only about 500 yards behind us and that he was safe. The rain let up but the winds were still high. We thanked the guy who stopped and headed for the viaduct a quarter mile up the road to wait for Steve. I contacted Steve on the phone and he said he was going to wait there till the winds let up. The winds slowed enough to start our ride again and we headed out. We pulled off I 80 in Altoona, IA to find a place to eat and get dry. The weather looked like it was improving so I pulled out my lap top and checked the weather map. We saw a storm brewing where we were heading but we decided to head out. We had around 150 miles to go. Around 50 miles down the highway. Tracy and I heard a tornado warning for our area so we told Steve and we decided to call it a day. Thank God we did. If you watched the news you would have seen the devastation the tornado's caused. I 80 is closed from Altoona, IA to Omaha, NB. Hopefully it will be open in the morning. We are under a tornado watch till 2:00 a.m. The news channels are just buzzing about all that's going on. Once again the Lord is with us and we continue to ask everyone for their prayers as we travel. Sorry I haven't posted any new pictures, but the site only allows me so many megabytes per month. I will post new ones on June 1st. Good night and God Bless.