Day 10: Waylaid by Injury and Tornadoes

Augusta, MO to Washington, MO

Stats!
Miles traveled by bike: 14.1
Total miles traveled by bike so far: 312.3
Max speed: 19.2 mph (flat, flat, flat!)
# of tornadoes: 0 so far (fingers crossed, and we'll hide in the motel bathtub if we need to)
# of tornado warnings: 1
# of flash flood watches: 1
# of river flood warnings: 3
# of hours spent at doctor's office: 1.5

Yesterday Dean had a fall from his bike that wrenched his wrist, right as we were ending our ride. He said he'd sleep on it and hope it was better in the morning. It was worse in the morning. The B&B owner and everyone in all of Augusta warned us about a coming severe storm today and possible tornado this afternoon. We decided that with Dean's wrist and a possible tornado, that we should veer off course a bit and head for the nearest big city -- Washington, MO, about 15 miles away. They had doctors and motels, and medical attention and shelter were what we needed.

Dean refused the B&B owner's offer of assistance, and said he thought he'd be okay biking a short distance, as his wrist felt okay as long as he didn't twist it. We hit the road and he felt okay for most of the ride. There were some serious dark skies on our ride to Washington.

We got to the Urgent Care facility and I waited while Dean was with the doctor. While I was waiting, the nurses were talking about the coming tornadoes. They were supposed to hit pretty soon. Dean finally was released with a splinted arm (it was a "strain"), the weather looked okay, and it was less than a mile to the Super 8, so we hit the road.

We are now in the Super 8 watching the skies and the Weather Channel. There is a severe weather watch until 9 p.m. We'll head for the bathroom and lock ourselves in if it gets serious. Mom, Dad, Anita, and Roy -- we'll call tonight once it's passed.

One thing I meant to mention yesterday that was cool was that yesterday was May 24, 2011 and we were in Augusta, MO. On May 24, 1804, Lewis and Clark were in Augusta, MO. Very cool.





Also, here's a cool photo of a rock wall on our trail.

Keep your fingers crossed for us. We'll post more when we can.

UPDATE: We had a terrible storm and the tornado sirens went off, but it's now passed us and we are safe.