We were driving from Nashville, Tennessee to Colorado. Due to a heat wave across the South we decided to take the most direct route and cut straight through Kansas on I70. After we crossed into Kansas my husband asked if I knew anything about the state. Jokingly I said, "No, except I've seen The Wizard of Oz". I70 from the Turnpike to Topeka would be our first ever toll road. Who knew that this day would be our first for a whole lot of things.
As we drove on the wind started to pick up. Drizzle began to fall in the sky got darker. We saw the most spectacular lightning display in the distance, across the horizon. Our only concern was trying to capture the perfect photograph. The rain and the wind got very intense, and the sky went dark. At the end of the toll road there was a note on the toll booth that read, " No Toll. Find Shelter". We explained to the kid battening down the hatches of the toll booth that we were from California and understood earthquakes, but had no clue what to do in a tornado. He gave us a quick tutorial, and said we would have no problem because the tornado was behind us. Wow... was he wrong. All of the weather conditions became worse. We could not see where to go. Driving speed was now down to about 20 mph. It seem like we were the only ones left on the road. There were very few buildings and nothing but open space. Not even an overpass. Our radio and the cell phones were going crazy. "Tornado Danger – Get Low! Flooding Danger – Get High"!!!
Suddenly, we saw light off in the distance. My husband said, "That is where we are going". It was a small truck stop filled with more trucks then I have ever seen. The trucker that we pull behind said something that I will never forget and actually made me cry, "You are safe now, my truck is not moving until the morning". Eventually we were packed in like sardines, and I never slept better.
The morning was quite surreal. The sun came up and birds were singing. We saw the trees that actually blew up from the lightning strikes. We saw the freeway signs that were twisted like pretzels. There was a semi truck that was mangled in the ditch. And then there was someone on an overpass waving and American flag, because oddly enough it was the anniversary of 9/11
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