I'm back!

Lots of fricking rain. Lots. I went through rain pretty much every day I was moving.

Yesterday I woke up at 5:30am and was laying there watching the flashing of lightning on the horizon when *whoooOOOooosh*, a big wind blew through the park! I quickly snagged the fly for my tent before it blew away and pulled it inside. I had to quickly think as to whether to try and spike the fly down and tough out the storm or get stuff packed up and ready to go.

Always wanting to be moving, I started getting stuff packed. Stuffed the sleeping bag in the stuff sack and then dropped it into the plastic garbage bag to keep it dry. I put the tank bag on the tank, strapped it down (normal), plugged in the power for the AutoComm, plugged in the charger, and then put the rain cover on it. I deflated and rolled up my sleeping pad, took my helmet and suit out of the tent and put them on the bike.

It's been dropping big drops and blowing off and on. About then a big wind blew through and rolled my tent. I ran after it and caught it the second time it rolled. No damage to the poles thank goodness. I got the tent back up to the bike, took the poles out, put the fly in the tent and rolled it up. I strapped it down to the bike and then broke the poles down and strapped it and the pad in place. The wind is blowing madly and it's starting to come down a little harder. I saw that my shorts were sticking out from the trunk so I opened it up and pushed it back in, closed and locked the trunk.

Everything's ready so I put my suit on and my rain coat over that. Since it's coming down, I headed over to the bathroom. One of the trailer residents is at the bathroom already and her husband shows up with coffee a minute or so later. Turns out that this is the tail end of a very heavy storm with 60 mph+ winds. With those winds, the ranger will come around and suggest people go up to the bathroom where it's safe. It seems that earlier this year, someone stayed in their trailer and it got wrapped around a tree seriously injuring one of the people (broken neck). Another pair showed up about 10 minutes later. They were getting stuff put in the trailer and getting coffee before heading over. There were only two others in the park at the time and they didn't bother to come over.

The rain poured, lightning was striking multiple times *crack**crack**crack**crack*! I waited for flashes to make sure the bike was still standing.

We chatted about different things while we waited. The rain let up a bit and it was getting light. About then I said goodbye and headed back to the bike. Everything looked ok, near as I can tell. The helmet is a _tad_ wet (I left it on the bike :) ). I pull my gloves on and put on the waterproof overgloves and head on out.

It's a drenching rain on the way back to the freeway. Within a mile or so, my waterproof boots have an inch of water in them. The rain is so hard, it's pushing the water up my boots and over the top. Otherwise my feet'd be dry (I've been in heavy rain before so I know). The water has run down my arms and into my gloves so they're wet now. Lightning flashed around. I was considering stopping I wanted to wait until I got to town (about 7 miles) first though. There were a few really scary close hits. After making the turn on the main street, I saw a lightning bolt hit something way down the street (I could see the touch down as a brighter, welding type spot vs the jagged lines). The rain was lightening up and since the lightning seemed to be receding, I continued on down to the freeway and headed west.

At the Tulsa exit, I made a quick decision. Ahead I could see lightning strikes and rain. To the right, I could see clearing clouds. It's also 2 hours shorter so I made the right turn towards Tulsa on the toll road.

I got up to speed and headed northwest towards Tulsa. It cleared a little but ahead I could see bands of clouds and rain. It kept raining to the first toll both where I passed along a buck. By the next one though, it had opened up and it was coming down hard. A real frog strangler. I pulled in to the toll booth and gave her my buck. She tried to ask me something but with the music going and the earplugs, I couldn't really make out what she was saying. She waved me off "nevermind" and I headed on out.

In Broken Arrow, just south of Tulsa, I pulled off to get some gas and into a little "no ethanol" gas station in a strip mall. As I walked around the bike, I could see some plastic from the bags protecting my gear in the trunk. Holy crap! The trunk was open!

My laptop, clothes, and books are in there. Heart beating fast, and thinking my laptop is lying in the road somewhere south of here I quickly checked and it all seems to still be intact. Thank you Givi for the way they designed the trunk. I suspect when I locked it in the campground, it didn't actually shut all the way. And there's a lip on the lock so it may have kept it mostly closed for most of the ride. When I took the stuff out, there wasn't any water in the bottom of the trunk and the clothes were a tad damp from the opening. The laptop and the books were double bagged to keep them from getting wet.

I do that on every trip. Everything gets bagged to protect from rain and dust. The only things that aren't bagged are the things like the tent, poles, and pad and the tank bag which has a cover I put on it when it looks like rain.

Anyway, I'm shocked everything is intact and happy too.

Riding in the rain through Tulsa was an experience. They have a bunch of construction going on so you had to move quick to stay on the right track. I missed one turn and was able to get back to 51. Eventually at the last toll both the rain had stopped sufficiently that I could remove my rain gear.

Another multi-hour ride in the rain. I could do without those, thank you very much.

I stopped at the first gas station when I got on 35 and tanked up, called Rita and snapped a quick picture. Then headed north. After Wichita, I started looking for a gas station as I was past half a tank. Unfortunately either there wasn't a gas station next to the freeway or on two occasions, the station was closed. The closer I got to Salina, the more worried I got about the bike. About 20 miles away, the light came on telling me I was on my last gallon. Fortunately I get about 45mpg so I was pretty sure I could make Salina without much trouble. I pulled off at exit 92 and gassed up. 4.7 gallons in a 5.1 gallon tank. I still had about 20 miles I could go before having to push the bike :)

So I got on 70 west and headed on home. I followed a couple of rabbits but there were only a few cops out and none when I was behind the rabbits. At one point, the rabbit was from New Jersey and a big pickup was following him at a good distance with me following the truck. A rabbit convoy :)

I finally got home at 9pm or so.

Man. No more August trips for me. Too much rain. It's good to be home though.