Sept 15th to 17th - SD, NE, OK

Sept 15th – Wed – Madison
We went through one of the longest thunder storms that we have ever experienced last night. The show started about 11 and it was still rumbling and raining at 6:30. We have 2 vents in the bedroom area and a large skylight in the shower so they would all light up with the lightning. We hoped the rain would wash some bugs off the 5th wheel and truck and we were not disappointed. In the morning, there were large puddles in the campground but the rain had mostly stopped.
We went to Clem & Marlene’s and saw some of their summer projects – Clem’s out of welded plastic (gates & bird feeders) and Marlene’s out of fabric (quilts). Then we all went to a casino about 70 miles north in Waterton. We convinced Clem & Marlene to sign up for players’ cards and Marlene got $20 free play for her September birthday as well as the $5 free play that we all got as new members. We gambled for a while, had lunch at the deli and gambled some more. Marlene also received a coupon for a free drink for her birthday so she used her winnings to buy us all a drink before we headed back.
The weather was nice when we drove up but Clem had told us when we ate lunch that it was raining. As we drove back, it started to pour. The wipers could not keep up with the rain but we drove out of it by the time we got to Clem & Marlene’s.
I helped Marlene with her computer and then we joined the guys for a drink. Clem heard on the news that there had been 2.8 inches of rain in the area we drove through today. We all went for a late dinner at a restaurant very close to our RV park.

Sept 16th – Thurs – to York, Nebraska
We had an uneventful drive today and ended up completely out of the clouds and rain. We needed groceries so stopped at a WalMart where we also had a sandwich for lunch. We stopped at an information center just into Kansas but it was not run by the state and focused more on gifts than information. I did get a couple of pamphlets and saw enough things that I figured we should stay in York where there is a PA park – Double Nickel RV.
We set up and went into town to check out an advertised “dozens of vendors” farmers’ market. Guess it is a little late in the season as there were only about half a dozen vendors – but we did get some good looking fresh corn. We looked for a place to get my hair cut and ended up at WalMart where I got an OK (quite short!) overdue haircut.
We celebrated the sunshine with a BBQ steak and some of the very good corn.

Sept 17th – Fri – to Guthrie OK
We had planned to stay a couple of nights in York and travel to see the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument but a couple of things changed our minds. First, it is at least 70 miles each way to the monument and we had asked a few people about it and no one had been there to say if it was worth it. Second, and probably more important, the weather forecast included thunder storms in the area starting about 4 and going all night. Terry heard one mention of hail also and decided we better get out of there.
The temperature went up steadily as we headed straight south through the rest of Nebraska, through Kansas and into Oklahoma. We are not too far north of Oklahoma City in a PA park – Cedar Valley RV. We arrived about 5 as we got a late start due to our indecision this morning. I was hoping that we could play the 18 hole par 3 golf course right next door but it is closed right now. So we did the next best thing and got the laundry done! We are close to the laundry so we could go back to the rig and sit in the shade of a nice tree with a cool drink while we waited.
The temperature was still 80 at 10 o’clock so we definitely got to check out the air conditioner.