Road Trip - Metropolis, IL - Joplin, MO 05-30-13

Started out again from HIE in Metropolis, IL., heading for Tulsa, OK.  This is a photo of a standard HIE room with two queen beds.  Not only do I seem to sleep better in a queen, the two queens rooms are slightly cheaper.  That is because most guests prefer rooms with one king.  Odd.


You might notice that my "catch-all" basket  (on the far right) is mended with yellow duct tape.  I actually stepped on the side of the basket (don't ask) and broke the handle.  The duct tape is working well.

I drove through the town of Metropolis (HIE is on the highway) to reach US-60W.  And there were these signs.  I don't know who Noel Neill was, but Superman is another story.
 

See, I DID see Superman!  Compare the people to realize how tall he is.
 

There were a dozen people around, but they suddenly left and gave me this great shot.
 

And around the corner is an entrepreneur ready to supply whatever Super stuff you need.
 

I found the way to US-60, going through many small towns and past a lot of fields and pastures and boarded up small stores and gas stations.  This photo was taken as I drove 30mph through Karmack, MO. The flag on the left is in front of the volunteer fire dept. 

Things begin to look worse as I drove west.  The Weather Channel storm chasers keep talking about the little "hooks" on the leading edge of the clouds - they can become tornadoes.  I saw quite a few "hooks" today.  But no tornadoes.
 

Off to the SW the clouds were fat pillows dragging down close to the ground.
 

Oh, OH!  Those aren't bug splats, they are raindrops from the trailing edge of that black cloud.  But I see blue sky and in the far distance, sunlight on the pavement.

 

Then the road curved and another Oh, OH!  This looked really bad.
 

And I am driving directly for the rain.
 

Looks like it is moving NE while I am going SW and I'll miss it.
 

WRONG.  Here comes more rain.
 

And then a stretch of sunshine and dry pavement.
 

And then more rain.
 

Around a curve and there are wildflowers and cattle basking in the sun.
From then on things got seriously bad and I decided I needed to get off the highway since I couldn't see much of anything.  Some cars were running with their emergency flashers on and I realized how much better I could see them - I turned mine on also. It was pretty wild, probably the worst storm I have driven in - a deluge of rain, high velocity crosswinds, lightning and thunder (I could hear it over the rain and the road noise), and there was a dense "up splash" from the trucks still going 65 - 70 mph.  I couldn't take it and when the next off ramp came in sight I took it.  It was only a county road, no services, but there was a non-functioning gas station with nobody around but a couple of 18-wheelers.  I pulled under the canopy that covers the defunct gas pumps - I could feel my stress level drop as the noise from the rain on the car roof stopped and I peeled my hands from the steering wheel.  Right after me came three more cars who pulled up next to the "non" pumps under the canopy.  We sat there about twenty minutes until the storm lessened.   I could not take any pictures as all my attention needed to be on just driving - what could be seen anyway?  It was just a white screen of water.   I decided I had had enough and exited the highway at Joplin, MO, booked a room at the Courtyard Suites (same hotel group as HIE, but no cinnamon rolls),  and ate at Starbuck's - a bacon breakfast sandwich and a latte.  When I checked into my room I did a few exercises and some relaxation movements, which helped, but I am still tense.  Guess I should go to bed.  The weather projection for I-40 is bad, so I don't know where I will be tomorrow night.  Maybe still here!
 

US-60 is not an Interstate and has only slightly restricted access.  It goes through a lot of little communities and there are many driveways/country roads that enter on both sides.  In the towns they have "Signal Ahead" signs that light up.  In the grey rectangle it says RED in red when the light is red.  I've not seen this anywhere but in Missouri.  But then , I have been everywhere!