Rained Out

Since my last post earlier this afternoon, the weather has not improved at all. At around 4:30 PM, the rain seemed to be letting up and the sky brightened up a little bit. My Dad and I decided to try our luck again on the road and make at least some progress. We left the Starbucks where we were taking shelter and drove about 3 blocks before the sky opened up again. We pulled over into a Target parking lot and discussed what we should do next. 

The Target parking lot was flooded with over an inch of rain

We talked about our options. Should we try our luck on the highway in this weather? Should we wait a little longer to see if the weather would clear? Should we just call it a day? We had checked the weather in Starbucks, and the forecast called for rain, thunder, and possible flooding throughout the 150+ miles we have left in Missouri and through Lincoln, NE. The rain was really coming down and the thunder and lightning were really close. The bad weather showed no sign of stopping, so we decided to just play it safe and stay off the roads. We headed over to a hotel down the street, and here we are for the night. 

We have the unfortunate luck to be in the red area

When we checked into the hotel, a woman in line was just getting off the highway and stopping for the night. She said the roads were terrible and there were accidents all over the place. As I sit in the hotel eight hours after we first pulled off the road at 1:30 this afternoon, it is still raining hard with thunder and lightning. There is a flood and a tornado watch where we are and the city of Liberty even has an emergency operations center open coordinate its emergency response to the storm. I think we made the right decision - better safe than sorry!

Let's hope there aren't any tornados! 

Unfortunately, stopping so early today will cost us a day in the Tetons. It really sucks, but it's definitely better to get there in one piece! The weather tomorrow is supposed to be warm and sunny, and we are going to get up and on the road early to make up for lost time. Let's hope this bad luck is behind us!