Winter Weather

I joined a few local-area Facebook groups as part of our planning process.  One of them is for Dodge City, Kansas. I was particularly interested in Dodge City's Facebook group as we'll be there for my 60th birthday, so I hoped to learn more about the city where I'll be entering my next decade.  What I found out this week as they experienced a blizzard is that there are a lot of wonderfully helpful and compassionate people who live there.  The employees at one of the meat packing plants were stranded at the plant amidst the onset of the blizzard.  And people were stuck in snowdrifts off the side of the road where they ended up sliding to avoid head-on collisions with other vehicles.  People were worried about family members they hadn't heard from, and others were at home with no electricity or heat with babies with no way to get warm.  There were posts in the Facebook group asking for help, but there were more with offers to help in ways that meant something - a truck with a wench, a ride to a shelter, a message passed to say hey, your dad is with us and he's okay.  The folks in Dodge City came together to take care of each other in a time of crisis.  For many, it was their first time in blizzard conditions, and the people in the group helped first, then educated (but not in that negative Facebooky way people have) so the next time they'll be ready.  Of course there were some reports of how some tried to take advantage of others in need, but for the most part, the tone was positive.  

I wanted to share that because it had me thinking about the weather for our trip.  We're going places we've not been before, and until recently haven't really paid attention to regarding weather conditions.  So we've been tuning into the national weather more lately, and I'm always excited when I see one of our destinations on the map as it means I am getting my bearings for our itinerary.  But being that it is the middle of January, the temperature readings definitely make me glad we'll be traveling in the spring rather than winter!  

And just so you'll have an idea of what the temperatures are in the middle of the U.S., here's the high and low temperatures for today, Sunday, January 14, 2024, in some of the places we'll be spending a night or two.  We've already been advised to pack some winter clothes because winter isn't over in Michigan until it decides to be - no matter what the calendar may say.

And once we are home, I'll probably update this post with the summertime highs and lows and lament the fact that it's so much cooler than our home in Florida!

~ Cindy D.

P.S. DH's surgery went well this week; he is recovering as expected. Thank you for all the prayers and concern on his behalf.  We are thankful that he was able to have it done with time to heal and be ready to travel!