TORNADO CHASE: Week 2;day 4

Leaving Sweetwater, we began a travel day. We were heading to Colorado to await the storms as they broke into the plains. It was a long drive, but it was mostly uneventful.

We did have to have some Texas BBQ before leaving the state. So we stopped in Amarillo and had an amazing BBQ lunch at a place called Rudy's. I am not much of a fan of creamed corn, but oh my, the most amazing creamed corn I have ever tasted. I asked the girl taking my order if it was any good. Her eyes lit up when asked as she admit I made her mouth water just by asking.

So I ordered the corn and since I had never been there, I was given a sample of brisket and smoked turkey. The brisket was chewy and had no sauce so I was slightly disappointed. The turkey, on the other hand, was truly amazing, smoked and salty and very delicious. It almost made me doubt my order, but my order was delicious as well (jalapeno sausage sandwich with pickles, onions, and spicy sauce, if you cared). One of the clients forced me to try her buttermilk pie, the name which disgusted me. I must admit, however, it was very sweet and yummy.

Rudy's impressed me with their hygienic options as well. They had large trough type sinks in the dining room to clean up before and after you hit the sauce. And in the bathroom, they had an invention I have been wanting to make for years. The question always was, when you are in the restroom and you wash your hands, you still have to touch the door. And not everyone washes their hands (particularly men). So Rudy's had installed a solution. There was a foot handle, where you could use your foot to open the door. Simple, effective, and worth mentioning.

Later, we drove through Boise City where we took a round-a-bout toward Colorado, but not before going around and around a few times chanting "Circle, Circle" in homage to Conan'c 1st episode of the Tonight Show. The round-a-bout was unique in that it held the courthouse dead center, and each exit of it led to a different state. We took the Denver exit even though we had no intention of going that far.

The road to our destination, which turned out to be Lamar, CO, was fairly boring and it was a long drive. It turns out that eastern Colorado is just like Oklahoma and Texas in that it is miles of flat farmland. Antelope helped break up the monotony of the vistas as we traveled. We saw a few other storm chasers during the ride and upon pulling into Lamar. This appeared to be a good omen for weather.

We went across the street to the Lounge in the "Cow Palace" hotel. A very strange place indeed. No high end spirits (I tried for Sapphire gin, a client went for single malt scotch and Gregg tried to get Captain Morgan, all with no luck. And Captain Morgan isn't exactly ritzy ffs... Gregg had to settle for Admiral something or other). The place was bizarre enough to have an accordion style gate to protect their bathrooms. Also, walking in, it smelled like chlorine. We ate there, and I have to admit I was surprised by how well prepared the food was considering how much the bar had in common with a child's lemonade stand.

After dinner was a poker game among clients and staff. The beer got broken out and it was a fairly jovial, but everyone bed down early. Day 4 was fairly uneventful, and we had switched time zones, so I hit the hay early as well. Prospects were good for chasing the next few days, so sleep seemed to be the course of action taken by most.

The next morning, we said goodbye to Lamar, packed up, and went looking for what we came for. As I write this, we are passing through Kit Carson, CO and the clear sky is giving way to clouds to the North. All the storm chasers we have recently seen seem to indicate that something is coming...