May 14, 2000

	One of the many advantages of convoy chasing is that when you have 
nothing else, you have each other.  There are tales to be told, laughs to be 
had, things to be seen...
	Whereever we go out here, there are things to learn and adventures 
to be had.  The sky is HUGE out here, and our delight in having such a 
magnificent ground level view of all that is happening above is one we 
cherish; yes, even when it's NICE.  There is never "nothing happening" above.  
In the presence of oppressively fair weather and a slim-to-none chance of any 
severe weather occuring, we decided to take on the roles of tourists.
	As usual, the forecast team gathered and analyzed their data 
throughout yesterday and today.  The persistent High pressure "over our 
shoulder" and the impossible cap, no trigger, and cool temps dictated that 
today would be an off day.  We cleaned out the vehicles and checked their 
fluids, then charted a path to Dodge City... in the hopes of catching a Wild 
West show at a guest ranch prominently featured on the Kansas State 
Department of Commerce web page.
	When we got there we followed a road that was deeply rutted and 
obviously not well traveled to find ourselves dead-ended staring deeply into 
the eyes of a rather large buffalo.  Next to his pen, a large donkey gazed 
quizzically at our vehicles as if to say, "and they call ME a jackass!"   
Turns out the place was closed 'til after Memorial Day.
	There was some talk about going to Boot Hill, some talk of going to 
Fort Dodge, and other interests in visiting the Dodge City NEXRAD site, but 
one thing we can all readily agree on is getting something to eat.  That's 
exactly what we did.  A Kansas-style buffet won out over exploring the 
abundant American history in the area.  We're only human, and let me tell 
you, we can EAT when the opportunity presents itself.
	We're looking at that slight risk of strong thunderstorms east of us 
for tomorrow, a situation we ordinarily would not look too anxiously at were 
we not absolutely flat out from severe weather deprivation.  This is part and 
parcel of the chase game, and why we insist that people who chase with us are 
in love with the entire process.  And on the up side, we're learning LOTS 
from each other and eating extremely well.
	We have published pictures of our play day at www.mcwar.org and 
www.allandetrich.com.


Nancy Bose
Brian McNoldy

MESO     (http://www.mcwar.org)