FINAL Road Trip Tally 7900 MILES 17 STATES 4300 PHOTOS CATALOGED 116 BIRD SPECIES IDENTIFIED 12 BIRD SPECIES ADDED TO LIFE LIST

After three weeks of brilliant weather and wonderful photo opportunities, the drive back home was characterized by weather: a haboob in Oklahoma followed by tornado warnings and severe thunderstorms. I was excited by the prospect of possibly seeing a great supercell or even a tornado. But it was mostly gray skies and threats of severe weather that followed me all the way home. The photos are reflective of the dull gray skies, which frankly were a nice contrast to the first part of the trip, providing different kinds of photo opportunities. It was impossible to exclude the sky from all of the pictures, and breaks in the cloud cover occasionally allowed patches of sunlight to appear in some scenes, especially in the mornings.

As I traversed seven states from Colorado to Pennsylvania, it was the weather that was the story. Colorado still had plenty of snow at elevation, including slushy patches on a few of the back roads of the mountains. I went from losing ten pounds of water hiking in shorts in Utah, to digging through my stuff for a sweatshirt and long pants the following day. The wind/dust storm in Oklahoma was more frightening than any adverse driving conditions than I have ever experienced in the east. I have driven in hurricanes, floods, and heavy snowstorms. But the 70mph winds and sudden zero visibility from the dust storm while driving on a highway, absolutely harrowing. I watched one semi topple into the median strip, and soon passed 4 others that had met the same fate. I drove behind a semi for about ten miles as its trailer swayed from lane to lane, and as my steering wheel tried to pull itself from my grip. Within 20 minutes of relentless white-knuckle driving, I got off at the first exit I could. Stopping on the side of the road would have been a treacherous choice given the few feet of visibility. Drivers were afraid to drive at speed for fear of hitting someone who had slowed down, and at the same time afraid to slow down for fear of being rear-ended. The highways were closed right as I exited, and soon, everyone was being directed to exit.

I chased two tornado warnings later that night, but saw only threatening looking clouds and lightning. What follows are the photos,, the scenes, the animals, the weather, and the kitsch that I spotted over thousands of miles through the center of America.

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Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park

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Kansas

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One Lonely Missouri Photo

Indiana and Ohio

Bird List Species Added On Final Leg of Trip: 4/23-27

Additional Species

FULL BIRD LIST FOR ENTIRE TRIP