Whoa! A lucky meeting, and my first tornado sighting. (!)

Part of my learning curve:  the plains are not all 'dead flat'.  Some of this rolling hill terrain has been a surprising amount of work in view of my previous assumptions.  I remember crossing the plains in a car and can only say that on foot the variations in terrain become much more, and sometimes painfully apparent!  All is gorgeously green right now, what with the wet weather. 

Speaking of road angels!  In one town of about 350 population (Bartley) I sought out the public park and then crossed the street to inquire of the folks at work splitting logs as to whether they knew about the lawn sprinkler schedule (something to which one must always pay attention when camping on city property!)  The man replied that he wouldn't be turning on the sprinkler system as rain was expected(!)  I had asked the right person!  And before I knew it I was sitting with the family on their covered deck, enjoying a meal and some homemade brew.  Over the next several intermittently rainy days I was adopted by this town's maintenance manager and family and included in their week-end activities.  Also continued my walk to the next nearby town and was brought back to Bartley for another night indoors.  Believe me, it was not easy to say a final good-bye yesterday.

The night before my departure a tornado edged close enough to Bartley for the warning sirens to be activated.  While it was not headed directly toward the town, we learned that it had actually touched down in the town of Indianola, through which I had passed (and had lunch) on my way to Bartley.  A Colorado friend reported tornadoes in their area, too, in this past week.  Well, this is the season, I hear!

Top of the tornado

Being hosted in a corner of paradise.