Review of "SLT Photo Tour #2" by Silver Lining Tours

• Review by: Kyle and Rod Boone
• Tour Operator: Silver Lining Tours
• Tour: SLT Photo Tour #2
• Year: 2018
• Validated: This review has been validated.

General review

We are a part of the lucky group that got to see 8 tornadoes in one day (June 28, 2018) in South Dakota and Montana. We began our tour in Denver with a helpful orientation for the 6 of us by leaders Roger and Caryn Hill of Silver Lining Stormchasing Tours. The next day we set out on our adventure - in one week we traveled 3500 miles and into 9 states (North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming). Roger and Caryn used multiple sources of data (including monitors in the front seat) to track tornado and super cell conditions in real time. On Monday (June 24) Roger and Caryn announced that we had to be in North Dakota by Thursday because the conditions would be perfect for tornadoes - and they were right! On Thursday, June 28 we had the experience of a lifetime, and shot hundreds of photos that day. But in addition to tornados, throughout the trip we were able to photograph amazing super cell formations, as well as the small towns and prairies in the states we passed through. Roger and Caryn were incredibly knowledgeable and passionate, and knew how to drive to position us so that we would intersect the path of tornados and the super cells to obtain the best views. They were attentive to safety, and passengers need to be in good physical condition to be able to quickly hop in and out of the van when conditions dicate it. Also, because we were truly chasing storms, most of the time there were not formal dinners, but rather eating "on the fly" (convenience store stops). In the afternoons they would book comfortable hotel rooms for us depending on where we were headed. They went to great lengths to provide us with the most memorable experience - this is not just a job for them, they are incredibly passionate about storms! And their enthusiasm is infectious - we are ready to go again!

Vehicle review:

The van was OK - 3 rows of seats, and the leaders had us rotate each day so that we had equal time in each of the seats. On one of the days we were behind slow cars and were not able to get ahead of a hail storm, and we experienced a broken windshield and a broken window, as well as dings all over the roof and hood - but we were well protected and the van was indestructible and we were able to keep going!

Tour guide review:

Roger and Caryn used multiple sources of data (including monitors in the front seat) to track tornado and super cell conditions in real time. They were incredibly knowledgeable and passionate, and knew how to drive to position us so that we would intersect the path of tornados and the super cells to obtain the best views. They were attentive to safety, and passengers need to be in good physical condition to be able to quickly hop in and out of the van when conditions dicate it. In the afternoons they would book comfortable hotel rooms for us depending on where we were headed. They went to great lengths to provide us with the most memorable experience - this is not just a job for them, they are incredibly passionate about storms!

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