After resting at Smithland, we knew the weather up ahead was going to be rainy, so we reserved a motel 6 outside of Grand Rivers. We had only gone about 4 miles since Smithland, and only had 4 to go, when a motorist rolled down his window and said there’s a severe storm coming our way. The sky was starting to blacken but I thought, hey we’ve done this before, we can probably outride it and reach our destination for the night. That was about the time Mariah got a NWS warning on her phone indicating a tornado warning was issued for the area, and everyone should seek shelter. Are you kidding me?!
Well, about every third vehicle in these spots is a pickup truck, so we flagged the next one down and asked if he could give us a ride to the hotel just up the road. The kind man, named Scott, looked like he was in a hurry and a little reluctant, but didn’t want to leave us there unprotected. He and his wife were racing to his mom’s house to avoid the possible tornado and she lived only about a mile away. No sooner did we get us and the bikes in the back of the pick up, that the skies unleashed and and started blasting us with wind and rain. There was no way we could have made it to the hotel, even driving, so Scott raced towards his mom’s house and there we were, meeting kind, helpful strangers once again. We waited out the most severe parts of the storm in their garage and then Scott offered to drive us the rest of the short distance to the motel. Once again, we washed and dried our clothing and gear and took warm showers. I can see a pattern forming: Rain, wash, dry, repeat. Yuk.