We arrived at Jeff’s house later than planned today due to some serious storms. The night before we left home, the storm sirens went off at 1:00 a.m. A radar-indicated tornado was barreling down I-70 straight toward us. We didn’t get the all-clear until about 2:45 a.m., when the storm cell suddenly weakened and took a left turn to the north. Due to the weather, we got to bed much later than planned, and since we anticipated driving 8-9 hours the next day, we slept later than planned the next morning.

Yesterday, when we got to Junction City, KS, we were treated to what Ted calls “active weather.” We drove through severe thunderstorms, beginning in the early evening. Lightning was flashing all around us and directly overhead; thunder was booming constantly; visibility was less than one-quarter mile; traffic on I-70 was going only 40-45 mph; and I was looking no further than the taillights ahead of me to stay on the road. Result: we stopped for the night at Hays, rather than going all the way to Colby as we’d planned. Fortunately, we called ahead to a hotel and had a room. Other people stopping at the hotel because of the storm were told there were no vacancies.

In spite of our later-than-usual arrival at Jeff’s house today, we were still in time for Zaque’s graduation party at the church. Each of the seniors in the church sets up a display and every family brings food to share. Zaque baked chocolate chip cookies for the event. (He let his hungry Grandma “sample” a warm cookie before taking them to the party. I gave them the Grandma Stamp of Approval.) We attended the same type of party for Alex and for Kyra when they graduated. Here are some pictures of Zaque, his display, and the party room.

We’re glad we could be here for Zaque’s pre-graduation party. After two consecutive nights of severe storms, we were also glad to sleep in peace.