June 3 to June 5

Pretty flower

Wichita Mountains Wildlife Nature Preserve

These next few days were quite uneventful.  On June 3, we continued our trip north from San Angelo, TX toward Oklahoma City.  We found a place in Meers, OK for dinner, and it supposedly had the best burger in Oklahoma.  Personally, I could make a better burger on my own grill, so the $15 was not worth the meal.  I suppose most of that price was paying for the atmosphere.  Anyway, we stopped a few times along the way to photograph wildlife.  I used my telephoto lens to take pictures of a bison in a meadow.  Some of the guests were brave enough to get within 20 feet of it, but I wanted to stay near the van in case it decided to charge.  As we continued, we came across another creature, but I was not sure what type it was.  Either way, it decided to lie down in the grass as we approached it, so we were able to take easy pictures.  When we arrived in Lawton, OK for the night, we checked into our hotel, and a few of us walked to the casino next door.  It was a fun time with great people!!  We drove 399 miles.

Bison

Twistex Memorial

On June 4, we drove the guests back to the base hotel in Oklahoma City.  Along the way, we drove through the path of the El Reno tornado that occurred on May 31, 2013.  At its peak, it was 2.7 miles wide and was packing winds of 295 mph, as measured by radar.  Seeing the damage from that storm was surreal, and we also passed by a house that looked "too new."  Looking at the storm's path, that house was directly in the middle of the damage path, so it was a safe assumption that the original house was obliterated.  Many trees were still damaged, and it was evident that there was no hope for them to grow back.  We also stopped at the Twistex Memorial.  This memorial honors the lives of Tim Samaras, Paul Samara, and Carl Young.  They were killed when the tornado suddenly changed its direction, picked up their cobalt, and threw it 100 yards with them inside.  These chasers were well-respected in the weather community, and they will be greatly missed.  However, their research has helped make tornado predictions better than before.  Between dropping off the guests at the hotel and beginning our drive to Denver for the next tour, I drove 445 miles and stayed in Ulysses, KS for the night.