Well, good morning!

I guess since it is 10:30ish back home it's not truly morning, but it is here in Boulder. Yesterday's drive through all of Kansas was challenging, but once I got in to Colorado it made up for it.

I'll get to that in a minute, for now I'm going to focus on fire stuff. You'd think that driving halfway across the country and through some major cities (Cincy, Terra Haute, KC, Denver) that I'd see some fire activity, but apparently not. I saw the boys from the Bridgeport VFD (WV) on what I think was a gas leak and Independence, MO Engine 3 returning to quarters, but other than that there hasn't been much to see. Mostly it has been closed up fire stations. There hasn't been much police activity either, not that I'm complaining.

I left Independence, MO a little behind schedule as usual but it worked out in the end. It was raining as I headed towards KC and cleared up the further west I went. KC looks to be a very photogenic city. I'll have to visit in the future. Topeka reminded me much of Richmond, VA in the way the roads wrap around the city, the way the buildings are in the downtown and the way the suburbs sprawl out. I kept anticipating the Great Plains as this huge, table flat, barren except for wheat fields expanse, but it didn't quite live up to expectations. I'll have to consult my notes, but somewhere west of Topeka it gets pretty close to my expectations. It was hot, dry and windy on the Plains. Not much to look at either or anyone to talk to so I took a break from the roar of the road and napped in a rest area for twenty minutes. Suitably refreshed, I motored on towards Colorado. I stopped at a Petro Service Plaza in Colby, KS and noticed the air had gotten drier. High cirrus clouds also began to signal what was to come. Crossing in to Colorado, the cirrus clouds had turned in to lower clouds that were dark with rain. A little further on, I had to pull over and get some pics.

This is what it looked like a couple of miles out

When I saw this on the shoulder of the road I thought it was foam. When I stopped at the rest stop, my sliding along told me it wasn't foam. This was all of the hail that washed off the road. The temperature dropped forty degrees!

This is what the storm looked like from the western side.

I got in to Boulder, met up with Dave and Sky and went to Efrain's, an excellent Mexican joint in an industrial park of all places! One margarita and a chicken chimichanga later and I was good to go.
I spent the night at the Fire Cache. For those non-fire readers, it's like a fire house but for wildland firefighters. For those fire readers who know me, it's perfect!
Breakfast at the Village, followed by some OM in Boulder. I'm out to Denver to pick up some sorely needed Rover parts. I'll be back soon.