Hail, hail, walk and roll

So it was like this today:
I “slept” in a municipal park in Syracuse, Kansas last night. Actually, I lay there like a frozen slug, because after the heat of the day, 27 miles in 105 degree heat, a cold front blew through and it got very very cold, and the winds were around 35 to 40 miles per hour all night long. I was ensconced on top of a picnic table to avoid bugs, and all night long just could not get to sleep, with a heart heavy from things on my mind. Because the time zone changed at Kendall, from Central to Mountain time, the sun rose extra early, at around 4:45, and so I was just lying there watching I come up. If I had not been so much the zombie, it would have been a nice sunrise. As it was, my glazed eyes only saw bright light.
I headed out of town. I did not get more than a few miles when the already cold air got even colder and some very impressive dark clouds began to appear on the horizon. I was not privy to any weather forecast, but had seen a few days back that it was looking all clear for several days. I should have known better.
I was amazed at the the cloud formations taking place. I was running around clicking away with the camera, getting all kinds of great shots, when I realized that there was an “oh crap” moment coming and the storm was heading my way.
I grabbed my rain suit, and had just put the jacket on, and began putting the pants on. I heard a sound like slapping, first one then a bunch of them. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that someone had thrown something at me, and when I turned to see it, it looked like a baseball. I was puzzled at the contextual problem with that scenario, and then it occurred to e that it was hail. Very, very big hail, the size of baseballs, and it was falling all around me. Pop, pop, pop, it was exploding on the road., I turned around to face forward to grab my hat and “bang”, a ball of ice the size of a lemon slammed into my left temple area, raising a large bump. I dove to the ground as the hail fell harder and more profusely. I was trying to shield my head from any more of them, and was successful, but my arms and back and legs got hammered pretty hard. Ive never seen anything like it. The road soon became full of balls of ice , some large but most of them the size of marbles. It was raining down like gumballs, clattering loudly and in increasing intensity.
A car stopped across the road from my position. The driver opened his window and asked if I wanted to get in. I told him I was okay where I was, and I was. To get up would have meant getting hit in the face or head by more of it so I figured I was better off where I was, safe under my cart. The driver told me that he had seen some as big as grapefruits up the road a bit and to be very ,very careful.
Later, after it was over, and I was walking again, I saw some of the large ones he was referring to. They had melted down a lot but were still huge. I ate one. Tasted like ice.
In the end, I did 23 miles in a steady and cold rain, with the temperature around 55 degrees. What a difference from the day before. It was the single worst day of this entire trip, weatherwise. Worth mentioning, I guess. I hope never to repeat it.