SFO day1, 5-12-10

Starting miles = 23526.
I met up with John at hwy 52 and cr 42 in Rosemount at 0900.
The skies were gray overcast with a temp of 45. We headed down 52 towards Rochester. It started to rain just south of Rochester. It continued until we stopped for lunch in Waterloo, IA. It started again later and we drove in a light rain all day.
After lunch we continued down 63 to 137. Then 137 to 5. We took 5 all the way into Missouri. We continued down 5 to 139. In Hale, Missouri, the weather started to look BAD. There were pink/orange lightning strikes and black skies all around us. We thought we'd take a short-cut to 65 so we could get to Marshall. It turned out that the short-cut was't.... The bridge was out, so we had to turn around and try another route. We took YY south and we were going to take M over to 65. It started to rain, and RAIN HARD. It was so bad I couldn't see! I was surrounded by HUGE strikes of pink/orange lightning and it was CLOSE! I lost track of John, and ended up getting to 65 by way of WW. I knew that John was ahead of me somewhere but I couldn't see him. I waited at a gas station at WW and 65 hoping that John would ride by. I was there long enough for the weather to let up a bit. I figured John was still headed for Marshall, so I started south again. I met up with John a few miles down 65.
We stopped for the night at the same motel as last year. It rained all night and into the next morning.