Day 1 2010 - 500 miles of Fun

The 2010 Storm Chase has gotten off to a much better start than last year. Not only did we make it to the airport in record time, but both our parking lot shuttle bus and flight were right on time. We used the indoor parking at Espresso Park this time, saving big bucks by not valeting it. Jan (that's the male "Yon" like from Belgium) the shuttle driver held up the bus as we approached. He smiled as he gladly tossed our bags into the back, knowing he had another big tip coming. The 27 other passengers inside the bus were not so chirpy, giving us the "how dare you hold us up" evil eyes. The bus rolled out of the lot and everyone got back to texting on their Blackberries.

To ensure a good seating selection, John had paid extra for the "Preferred" boarding pass, one that allows you to check in 12 hours before the peons. We got seats just like everyone else, but with an attitude. The flight was nearly full and John ended up in the middle seat - a "Preferred" middle seat - rather than allow someone to sit between us as we plotted our strategy for the day. The guy overheard us discussing running and it turns out he was a runner too, who was testing out the triathlon scene. We discover he is a part time chiropractor who lives in Antioch. I was hoping he would offer us a "free" spinal exam at some point, but the seat belt sign was on for most of the flight.

Upon arrival at the Denver airport, we grabbed our luggage and raced to the awaiting Hertz shuttle bus. Once again the bus was ready to roll soon after arrival. Once again it was packed full. Visions of long lines at the rental desk passed through my mind. But wait! John is a "Gold Club" member. That is even better and more impressive than "Preferred Boarding". Gold members get off the bus first at their little "elite" island of special cars, leaving the peon drivers behind for a few slow laps around the lot before dumping them at the "regular" rental car desk. As the bus driver announced the Gold Club stop and opened the door,nearly the entire bus load of people got off. Being privilaged is not as cool as it used to be. At least there was one non-privelaged guy left of the bus to look down my nose at. Hah...he will be ALL alone at his rental desk.

Unlike 2009 we rented a more conservative vehicle than the Eco-Devastator, which used more fuel than the plane we flew in on. A mid-sized Dodge SUV was our choice. Plenty of room with just enough attitude. We had 560 miles to cover to make the twister party, slated for northwest Oklahoma, according to the progs. If we averaged 80 miles per hour we would make it just before the sun went down. It will be close, if everything goes as planned.

I immediately did an unplanned thingy. I entered HW 70 westbound. The Oklahoma storm thingy was east. Five miles and ten minutes later we were back heading the right direction. Three hundred miles into our race, we got a call from Chase Team Scott (our buddies from various weather service offices across the US). They were on one of the big storms that blew up and had seen their "first tornado of the day". Rub it in. To console ourselves we pulled over for gas at in Colby at the Fuel 'n Stuff gas station. A diet Mt Dew and a Strawberry Kiwi Juice later we were blazing south into the teeth of the storm....180 miles away.

After several aborted attempts and tracking down the right storm. Wait, can't say "abort" in Kansas. New law.... After several non-Pro-Life attempts at tracking down the right storm we tossed in the proverbial towel and headed back to Dodge (City). As we drew nearer to town we began noticing several signs of a strong storm nearing Dodge - dark clouds, inflow bands, lightning, heavy rain and the clincher -tornado warnings. Just as we had planned. Do a head fake on the Oklahoma storms and catch one sneaking up from the rear.

Despite not seeing any tornadoes emanate from the storm, it was a nice way to end a 480 mile drive, not to mention a clean car.