06/18/2001: Blair, NE
Lat: 41°32.800'N
Long: 96°8.541'W
Elev: 1059.7ft
25.69 mi.   11.3 mph   2.15.23 hr.

Shelter
Storm moved in just as we got into town, so we pedalled up to the campus of a lutheran university, dana college, that we had seen signs for on our way in.

Thought that we might be fortunate enough to rent an empty dorm room to get out of what looked to be some pretty ugly weather.

We were wrong about the shelter..

Most of the buildings were unlocked -- but it looked as if the place had been evacuated... Lights on, steaks thawing, stereos blaring. But two things were conspicuously absent: people and telephones.

Finally found both.

But, it was to no avail; due to an incident the previous week, campus security (apparently at the behest of some administrator) said that we couldn't stay the night.

So, we sat and watched the storm blow through from under the protection of one of the now vacant dorm's awnings.

And listened to the campus security guy's expoundings. An ex-marine from new jersey, he was upset about vietnam -- not the war, but the names of the service personnel who were listed on the wall, but didn't actually die in the war.

Conversation was like a constant competition: questions and queries meant to test us -- our familiarity with lewis & clark, media journalists, liberal politics.

Exhausting and annoying, really.

After the dimmest part of the storm cleared through, we biked back to the campground that we had seen and set up camp...

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