Just reminded....

I have just been reminded that i was doing a blog of this trip. I will explain why i needed reminding.
George and I left Thursday noon for Chicago to pick up my brother, Bert. Our(my) objective was to drive straight through to Gunnison, Colorado. sounded simple enough to me. My Garmin said it was 24 hours and with three drivers... Before my trip started and during it, My brother, Jon, texted that there was terrible thunderstorms and weather and i should reconsider my trip. I am not easily dissuaded. I pressed on thinking the storms would travel East as they always did and i would arrive in Chicago after they passed through. After all it is 6 hours to Chicago.
George and i drove through rain showers but nothing intense. Simple driving, really. However, once near Chicago, one could see rivers over flowing and wet streets everywhere. I had to pick up Bert in South Holland, the first exit leading to Chicago fro the I-80. Bert lives in the city limits but his girl friend lives on the south side. Thank goodness!
Just as we crossed the overpass we noticed all the traffic going north, our direction if we had to go into Chicago, was at a stand still. More precisely, cars were backing up to the exit ramp and getting off. The intense rain, we missed, flooded the expressway and cars were backed up for a mile or more. no exit from the flood to the exit we got off at so no retreat for any already on the expressway. We picked up Bert and got on the expressway going away from the flood and on to Gunnison.
Our trip to St Louis missed the big rains. Just as i had surmised, the storm was past but not completely. We battled, and i mean, battled winds from the front right quarter all the way to St. Louis. I guess about 20-30 mph with gust above that. We drove with the steering wheel turned slightly into the wind to go straight. When we drove through and overpass and when we passed a truck the wind abated and we had to straighten the wheel. Immediately and passing said overpass or truck the wind hit us and nearly blew us off the road until we could return the wheel to the former position. This constant adjustment went on for several hours until St. Louis when we turned West and the wind became a headwind, much easier to manage. Missouri and Kansas we drive through at night. We saw nothing but some red lights denoting wind arms and little else. As dawn broke we had more, much more of Kansas to see which is flat lands as far as the eye can see. Really, the drive was getting long.
Did i mention we were towing a pop up camper? That little contraption was a diligent follower but cost bunches in gas. We averaged about 8 mpg. Here's looking at better mileage coming home.
more tomorrow or later tonight.