Great Trip, thanks guys!

This is Kelly posing at the weather balloon launch site. Now, that's a balloon... What a fantastic trip to the local NWS office.

But let me start at the beginning, it all started at the mall... never take 3 hyper little girls to a mall... whew, am I pooped. They ran from here to there and back to here again. It was insane. Mini-Dew was introduced to Limited Too and their outrageous prices. She had put ONE OUTFIT and accessories on the counter, and they rang it up... $111!!! That was the first store, so I told her she was cut off, and she promptly decided to return some of the items.

Then, off to the NWS. Kelly did a great job on the tour... very thorough in typical Kelly style. He showed me everything, and I was fascinated by all of it. I tried to soak as much in as possible, but there was so much to absorb. He even showed me some captured images from previous storms, so I could see what "real" weather looks like. I got to see what confirmed hail and tornadoes look like on the radar and now know what to look for when I am watching it. I would love to be a fly on the wall during a severe weather event. I love the "bat phone" connection they have with the NHC. It made me laugh, but it's got to be exciting when it lights up, even if I would have to vacate the area - lol. I got my own personal AFD (not really mine) but it was printed just for me... and see the process of drafting and analyzing the models and ensembles to pull it all together. Really awesome! I was amazed at how large the weather balloons are (that's a lot of helium) and how large they expand to (the size of a small house, just before bursting - that was the girls' favorite part, being on the roof, and seeing the "flour" covered weather balloon). I think they also enjoyed the snacks and Disney (thanks, Tim). Pretty awesome!

More tomorrow... like I said, I am pooped...

G'night...
~Dewdrop