I've experienced some pretty spectacular thunderstorms. Of course it's always more comfortable to experience them from inside the house cuddled up with someone I love, but that won't be happening again anytime soon. It doesn't stop me from having fond memories.
The worst thunderstorm that I've ever weathered was the time that I rode home from Argos, IN after an all day soccer invitational that my son was playing in. At one point during the day they stopped all the matchs and had everyone take shelter inside the school because of a tornado warning. After the storm passed, I thought it had blown itself out for good and I might as well stay for the last match of the evening since our school's varsity team was playing the championship game. The last few minutes of the match, I started seeing flickering off in the distance. Before I got back to 30 it was pouring and I rode the whole way home (76 mi.) with semis blasting past me which of course cut my visibility to zilch. I stopped at every single town between Plymouth and Fort Wayne to warm my hands and drip dry for a few minutes. Just a hint for all the motorcyclists, BP gas stations always have hand blowers! I saw some fantastic forked lightning that night, but couldn't really enjoy it due to the fact that my whole body was tensed into one giant knot and my hands were curled into claws. When I finally got home, I staggered up the stairs to my bedroom and remember thinking, "Wow! I am so tired I can hardly climb the stairs. Then I took off my leather coat and chaps off to find that they had soaked up about a gallon of water each. It's amazing how those terrible things you survive turn into a badge of pride in retrospect.
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