Thunderstorms

Anne and I have smart phones and there are lots of amazing applications that run on them. Our latest uses the GPS to find our location and then checks NOAA weather for the forecast for that area. Since we have a large desire to avoid tornadoes we have been paying close attention to the weather. Mostly it has been predicting some chance of thunderstorms no matter where we go. Well, today prediction became reality. We were already looking for a spot for lunch when the first rain squall hit, shortly followed by lightning flashes. We pulled into the restaurant parking lot not long afterwards and the coach was buffeted by high winds and the rain was horizontal and relentless. We ran for the restaurant and had to cope with run off that was already shoe high in some places. Fortunately, the storm abated over lunch, fried catfish! If you're ever in Lebanon, Missouri, we recommend Dowd's Catfish and Barbecue. The entire menu looked great and the catfish sure was!

Back on the road and a few small rain squalls were encountered and then Anne noticed a drip from the ceiling. There was a lot of silence as I tried to figure how the roof could be leaking when it had just been sealed four days ago. Tonight I found out why, the splice strip is no longer attached to the roof and flexing of the front cap and roof is tearing the sealant and opening a leak path. Looks like different fasteners are needed! There is always something!

We are about 30 miles from Saint Louis in a KOA park. We are staying another day to go into town and see the arch and any other attraction that meets our fancy. We have more time to kill before we arrive in Michigan as tonight we tried to get RV reservations and found all the parks are full for Memorial Day weekend and then Michigan International Speedway has a race June 11-13 and all the parks for miles around are booked. We have a reservation after the holiday to just before the race but then we're mobile again!

We are just experiencing high humidity again and remembering that we don't like it. Our coach air conditioner has a steady stream of water coming from it as it tries to keep our coach cool. Fortunately we do have 50 amps here!

If you see us on the road be sure to wave!