Augst 14th Thunder Storm and Update

It's a little after 10pm and we're all camped out in the WalMart parking lot along with about 25 other rigs so far. We're the tiny little one in the crowd and oddly enough have the largest crew. Go figure. We did patronize the Walmart for some juice, chocolate milk and sandwich fixings for tomorrow, but I forgot bread so I'll have to pop back in the morning to use the bathroom again and to pick up any supplies we need. We're only a few yards from a gas station and the main hwy but it's not too noisy I guess. All in all this is a good place to sleep.

The guys (Chris, Jordan and Dave) are all up top of the trailer in their pop up tent and it's just had it's first major test. A massive thunder storm blew through with strong gusts, driving rain and lots of thunder and lightning. It cooled things down a little which was welcome since it was a scorcher today and promises to be hotter tomorrow, and the tent canvas stayed in place so we're happy. At least we're assuming that it's ok, none of them have climbed down to complain yet.

The girls are driving me a bit nuts with their bickering but it looks like they're getting to sleep now despite fits of giggles and teasing each other. I'm hot and tired too so my patience is worn a bit thin. Steve's big complaint is that the engine cover gets so hot that it's actually burned his foot and given him a blister, ouch! That's something we're going to have to fix.

Ouch! Mosquito just bit the back of my hand. Driving today we saw literally miles of clouds of mosquitos along the road sides. They look almost like little smoke clouds until you look closer. But the open prairie was spectacularly beautiful all afternoon. It reminded me of the book “Have You Seen The Wind?” with the breezes stirring all the crops and grasses in waves like the ocean. We rode in front of the thunderstorm for more that 4 hours so we got to see some awesome cloud formations and also the full moon rose right in front of us and was a lovely shade of pink which Kate thought was very cool. I tried to get a picture but it's not easy of something so small and especially when driving. I love the open prairie and seeing the contrast of the grassy plains against an ever changing sky. The texture and colours of the clouds are so easily visible from our vantage point on the road and you can see storms coming for miles. Very awe inspiring.

I'm going to go now and have a quick sponge bath to freshen up. Tomorrow we'll be heading for Winnipeg.