Our Kansas map is tattered in the upper right corner, right where Topeka would be. It was as though the storms that had gathered there this evening had ripped it to pieces. John and I should have driven to the location of the missing map that afternoon. But no. The storms we watched form and move off to the northeast did not look worthy. Fuzzy. Impotent. We sat in our vehicle, parked in the corner of the Flying J Truck Stop in Emporia. Tomorrows action was a long drive southwest; we had to decide. Drive towards Topeka and follow the storms, or head back towards Wichita to ready for Sunday.
There was a third choice - staying at the Flying J - which was also an option. It did have Oreo Bits at 2 for 3 dollars, sausage wraps and a clean restroom. There was also the mystery of just why that J was flying. Where was it going and why? Curious. But no time for such dalliances; we were off to Oklahoma.
Before we could confirm our reservation at the Holiday Inn Express, the GR-level radar taunted us with a red square, centered right where the storms we blew off, near Topeka. Tornado warning. DOH! By that time we were 20 miles down the road from Emporia. Being a toll road, there was no turning back for another 15 miles. The radar continued to mock us.
I guess it could be worse. Today, I understand, was the day of "The Rapture". May 21, 2011, the day the world comes to an end, or something. We appeared to have dodged that bullet, at least up through 2300 UTC anyhoo. Technically it was May 22 in some places, so I was pretty sure we were going to make it. While neither of us is particularly religious, or even a slight fan of Mel Gibson, we were, nonetheless, happy to see the day coming to an end. We were saved, or not saved, or whatever it was that left us here on Earth.
Being no expert on this Rapture stuff, I am not sure it meant the end of us all, or was it the time when God snags all the "true believers" and puts them in heaven, leaving the rest us infidels here on terra firma. If that were the case, we WOULD still be here, just short a few millions of those believer types. Since I don't know too many "true" believers, my life would pretty much remain unchanged. I guess the church parking lots, and for that matter most churches, would be pretty empty. Those of us not on God's "A" List would have to come up with other uses for these houses of God. Perhaps paint the roofs blue and convert them to I-Hops. It's not quite heaven, but at least us B-listers can enjoy some quality flap jacks. Fair enough.
Off to southwest Oklahoma tomorrow. Our OK map is in near perfect shape. Looking good. Well, except for the wet spot where my Diet Mt Dew spilled. Flash flood maybe. Nah.
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