After going through an unreasonably lengthy “pre-adventure”, the first official tornado chase in two years had begun.

(Not including a couple of hurricane chases…)

Since leaving the Wichita airport, we had stopped at Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and Five Guys before we finally got our asses on the actual road out into the open skies of Kansas.

As we rolled northwest on KS96 toward Hutchinson, it was almost surreal to be back on the open and empty plains after spending so much time in indescribably crowded, hot, and polluted Asian cities.

Great Bend Reunion

Great Bend Kansas. Population of about 20,000. We’ve probably been through this quaint town 25 times in the last five years.

On the south side of town, we stopped at a KwikShop gas station around 2:30pm. As I am pulling the rental Nissan into the gas station, I notice several cars that have a bit of a peculiar familiarity.

“…Hey guys, is that Andrew? It is! It’s Andrew Newcomb!!”

Uh Oh. I was far from prepared for this.  Before I could even get out of the car, I had a small huddle of friends I had not seen in quite a while.