LONG STORY SHORT By Jason Clark  Nearly 11 months into the Big Trip, we’ve had fairly good luck with weather. We’ve hiked in 100-degree heat, kayaked in a downpour, and dealt with one rain delay among the 12 baseball games we’ve seen. For 11 months, none of our plans had been ruined or canceled due to bad weather. But on Memorial Day weekend, our luck was about to run out. Friday, May 24 9 a.m. CDT | St. Francois State Park, Mo. It’s the first morning of our two-day stop at a campground near St. Louis, and Kristine is poring over radar maps and storm predictions. It’s not without good reason—we endured a severe thunderstorm in Hot Springs, Ark., two days earlier and narrowly missed a massive storm that produced tornadoes across Texas the previous week. “I know you don’t want to hear this,” she says, “but I’m getting really worried about Sunday.” She’s right. I do not want to hear this. Sunday is the Indianapolis 500, a sporting event near the top of my bucket list and the reason for our crazy, circuitous route this year. I have put more effort into making sure we’ll be in Indianapolis on Sunday, May 26, than I have into any other single stop on the Big Trip. I take a look at the storm outlook map on Kristine’s phone and see that she’s right about this, too: the forecast has gotten worse. The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued an enhanced risk for severe weather from southeastern Iowa to central Kentucky. And the campsite I’ve reserved for Memorial Day weekend—a beautiful spot in the woods with few neighbors but no cell service—falls right within that region.  The NWS Storm Prediction Center’s severe thunderstorm outlook for Sunday, May 26, issued on Friday, May 24. The NWS had high confidence that areas within the orange Enhanced (ENH) region would see several storms containing damaging winds, severe hail, and/or tornadoes. (Click the image to see the complete forecast.) 10:15 a.m. CDT | St. Francois State Park For the past hour, I’ve been searching for open campsites north of Indianapolis, just outside the region most likely to be throttled by storms on Sunday. Never mind how a storm might affect the Indy 500—I need to find a place to park our trailer where it (hopefully) won’t be hit by falling tree branches or wiped out by a tornado. But, as it turns out, a lot of people like to go camping on Memorial Day weekend. Throw in a sporting event that attracts more than 300,000 fans each year, and you’ve got zero available campsites. I search every state park campground and RV park within an hour north of Indianapolis and find no openings. I even look into extending our campsite reservation at our next stop, Chicago, thinking we could set up there for the weekend and make the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Indianapolis for the race.* But that turns out to be a dead end as well. 10:40 a.m. CDT | St. Francois State Park Finally, I find something: one spot available at a KOA Campground in Monticello, Ind., 90 minutes northwest of Indianapolis. It’s safely outside the region at enhanced risk for severe weather, and it should have cell service. But it’s a KOA. I’ve avoided KOA Campgrounds throughout our trip because they’re typically beyond our budget and they tend to come with more neighbors than nature. This one looks no different, but it’s our only option. I book it for $61 per night, double the cost of the campsite we’re running away from. 6:50 p.m. CDT | St. Louis After a day spent exploring the city, Kristine and I are sitting in the upper deck of Busch Stadium, waiting for the first pitch of a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs. This is our twelfth stadium and thirteenth baseball game this year, and it comes with a view of Gateway Arch, atop which we were standing just hours earlier. There are thunderstorms in the forecast this evening, expected to hit sometime between 7 and 9 p.m. CDT. There’s no rain or thunder yet, but the Cardinals decide they won’t take any chances. They delay the game indefinitely due to inclement weather in the area.  8:30 p.m. CTD | St. Louis It starts sprinkling, an hour and 15 minutes after the scheduled first pitch. A Major League Baseball game must go for five innings minimum to be official. An average game in 2024 takes just over two and a half hours; it’s reasonable to assume that the Cardinals and Cubs could have played the five innings before a single drop of fell. 8:58 p.m. CDT | St. Louis It’s pouring. There’s lightning nearby. We take shelter with other fans in a stairwell until the Cardinals announce that the game has been postponed and rescheduled for July 13—when we will be in Colorado, 900 miles away. So much for seeing a game at Busch Stadium. Saturday, May 25 10 a.m. CDT | St. Francois State Park, Mo. It’s a bit humid but an otherwise beautiful day as we start our drive to Indiana. We leave behind dozens of partying families and potentially thousands of buzzing cicadas as we embark on a 5.5-hour journey through rural towns and farmland on our way to the Monticello KOA Campground. 12 p.m. CDT | Collinsville, Ill. We stop for lunch at a White Castle. It’s our first meal from the first-ever fast-food burger chain. And it’s disgusting.** 6 p.m. EDT | Monticello, Ind. We arrive at the KOA Campground and find that, despite having two bars of cell service and access to Wi-Fi, none of it is useable. The campground is packed, and there just isn’t enough bandwidth to fulfill the digital needs of so many people. Also, our expensive campsite is unremarkable at best: a muddy patch of grass and pebbles with a great view of a garden shed. As we set up, a group of campers speeds by in golf carts, honking horns and whooping. This very much is not our style of campground, but we should be safer here, at least. 10 p.m. EDT | Monticello, Ind. The only functional Wi-Fi in the campground is at the camp office, so we drive over to get one last look at the weather forecast and finalize our plan of attack for Sunday. It looks like it’ll be dry in the morning, stormy in the afternoon, and stormy again in the evening. We may even get a dry window that would allow for some racing, but that’ll depend on whether scattered showers between the storms miss the track. One thing is certain: It’s going to be a long day.  The NWS Storm Prediction Center’s convective outlook for Sunday, May 26, issued on Saturday, May 25. The ENH region has expanded south and east, but Indianapolis—and our original, non-KOA campsite—still fall within it. (Click the image to see the complete forecast.) Sunday, May 26 5:50 a.m. EDT | Monticello, Ind. We load up the truck with camp chairs, rain jackets, and our backpacks in preparation for our 90-minute drive to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The green flag for the Indy 500 isn’t until 12:45 p.m., but we want to arrive by 8 a.m. to allow for the time spent sitting in traffic, picking up our tickets at will call, and sitting in more traffic on our way to our parking lot. 8:50 a.m. EDT | Indianapolis Motor Speedway We park just in time to set up our camp chairs in the parking lot—where tailgating is already in full swing—and watch the first lap of Formula 1’s Monaco Grand Prix on my laptop. The cell signal is choppy but sufficient for us to watch Kevin Magnussen collide with Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg, causing a red flag and a long delay. 9:50 a.m. EDT | Indianapolis Motor Speedway The cell signal gives up, so we put away our camp chairs and head over to the food trucks in search of breakfast. We find bratwursts and turkey legs but nothing we want to eat at 9:50 a.m. We decide to head into the Speedway, hoping to find food options comparable with those at Silverstone.*** 10:30 a.m. EDT | Indianapolis Motor Speedway We do not find food options comparable with those at Silverstone. The only place that serves something refreshing is a smoothie stand. We pick up a couple of those and begin making our way to our seats. 11:17 a.m. EDT | Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Speedway makes an announcement:  The first storm is on its way. 11:30 a.m. EDT | Indianapolis Motor Speedway We find relatively comfortable shelter in one of the tunnels to the track infield, well before the storm would arrive at the Speedway. Our hunger unsatisfied by the smoothies, I head to a concession stand sheltered by the grandstands to get us lunch. Kristine holds our spot in the tunnel. 12:45 p.m. EDT | Indianapolis Motor Speedway The line for food isn’t terribly long, but it’s slow-moving. I’ve been in line for an hour and made it halfway to the concession stand. Fortunately, I have good company waiting with me: a local farmer whose family has a long history of attending the Indy 500. (Brendan, I hope your crops survived that storm.) 12:50 p.m. EDT | Indianapolis Motor Speedway The tunnel where Kristine is holding our spot has started to flood. Fans who shrugged off the Speedway’s warning and didn’t find shelter now flee from the downpour. Hundreds of people pack into the tunnel. Kristine gives up on our spot and dashes over to join me in line.  The flooding never got too bad thanks to the drain, but space grew limited as more and more people packed into the tunnel. 1:30 p.m. EDT | Indianapolis Motor Speedway We finally get our food: a McDonald’s-level-quality cheeseburger, a dozen fries, and a can of Coors, all for $26. We eat, sit on the ground, and play cards. 2:04 p.m. EDT | Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Speedway makes another announcement: “Lightning has cleared the area around the Speedway. Gates have re-opened, and spectators may return to the grandstands.” Relieved, we make our way back to our seats. 3:48 p.m. EDT | Indianapolis Motor Speedway Our butts firmly planted in the grandstands near the start/finish line, the pre-race festivities finally begin with driver introductions. Over the next hour, Indy’s traditional celebration of Memorial Day unfolds, starting with the singing of “America the Beautiful” and ending with a magnificent flyover during the closing words of the National Anthem.  We can’t remember the last time we were so excited to see sunlight. 4:45 p.m. EDT to 7:45 p.m. EDT | Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speed! Crashes! More Speed! More crashes! A dramatic last-lap pass for the win!**** 8:30 p.m. EDT to 9:30 p.m. EDT | Indianapolis Motor Speedway No speed. No crashes. Mostly just sitting in a parking lot with traffic at a standstill. What had already been a long (but ultimately enjoyable) day was not even close to ending. We watch tailgaters in the parking lot with envy, hoping traffic will let up in time for us to get to a restaurant before everything closes. 10:15 p.m. EDT | Zionsville, Ind. We arrive at one of the last remaining open restaurants near Indianapolis, a Buffalo Wild Wings on our way out of town. But when we open the doors, we’re greeted not by a hostess but a hand-scribbled note: “30 minute wait, 1 bartender, 1 server.” We’re fourth in line for a table, but we decide it isn’t worth the wait. We find another Buffalo Wild Wings on the way to our campground and set out for that one. 11:05 p.m. EDT | Lafayette, Ind. The second Buffalo Wild Wings looks more promising. Fewer tables are occupied, and more servers are working… but nobody attempts to show us to a table for nearly 10 minutes. Still, once we’re seated, our orders are taken fairly quickly. After eating nothing but smoothies and fries all day, we are finally going to get a meal. 11:24 p.m. EDT | Lafayette, Ind. Buffalo Wild Wings has never been the pinnacle of service, and they sure are taking their time tonight. 11:37 p.m. EDT | Lafayette, Ind. Still no meal. Apparently some burger patties have to be defrosted. 11:45 p.m. EDT | Lafayette, Ind. Ugh. 11:53 p.m. EDT | Lafayette, Ind. Our food arrives. Four hours after we left our seats at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, we’re finally eating. Monday, May 27 1 a.m. EDT | Monticello, Ind. Lightning flashes in the distance throughout the 45-minute drive back to our campground. After we get there, rain pummels the roof of our trailer and thunder rolls overhead. But the NWS issues no severe-weather alerts for our area. We’re safe.  The NWS Storm Prediction Center’s final convective outlook for the evening of Sunday, May 26, issued that afternoon. Ultimately, the most severe thunderstorms of the day migrated a good ways south from us. (Click the image to see the complete forecast.) When you put so much effort into planning a trip, you try not to think about the many factors outside of your control. You can only hope that everything, especially the big stuff, will work out OK. Up to this point, our Big Trip has gone mostly as planned. Sure, there have been disappointments—I would have preferred to see Banff National Park without the haze of wildfire smoke, for example. But there have been at least as many lucky breaks. Our Sunday at the Indy 500 included both. It was a long day, much of it spent waiting or hurrying up to wait. Still, all things considered, we were very lucky to avoid further delays and see all 200 laps of the race on Sunday. And we were lucky to get as exciting of a race as we did. We had to move our trailer to a mediocre campground, take shelter with thousands of strangers, and wait until midnight for dinner in the process. But ultimately, the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 was worth the effort. The traditions were meaningful, the racing intense. The atmosphere was unforgettable. And most importantly: When our day finally ended at 1 a.m., it was with our trailer undamaged and intact. * Even with the ominous forecast, we knew the Indy 500 organizers wouldn’t announce any race delays or postponements until the day of the race, and we wanted to make every effort to be there in case they managed to hold the race on Sunday despite the forecast.
** We try local food wherever we go, including regional fast food. Whataburger was good (but not as good as In-n-Out!). Buc-ee’s was an experience. White Castle was a disgrace. *** The host of F1’s British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit, offers some of the best food I’ve seen at a race track. I still occasionally dream about the massive bacon-egg-cheese breakfast sub sandwiches we found there. **** It was truly a fantastic race, and the finish was incredible. Our seats were close to the track, which meant we couldn’t see much beyond what happened directly in front of us, but the sounds and atmosphere were amazing. Without a doubt, it was worth the wait.
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