Yesterday The Gods Were Angry

My sister Susan and I drove down to the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs yesterday, and at first, the weather seemed to cooperate. Although there were some clouds around, the sun was out and lots of tourists were heading up and down the trails. Susan is always blown away by the stunning scenery there, and commented that the place was well-named.

 

However, as we drove further into the park, the clouds began to look more ominous, although the rain did hold off as we drove through Manitou Springs, and then back through the park to I-25. In fact, the weather seemed fine until we crossed Monument Hill, when it began to look like we were about to head into the eye of an intense storm. No problem - how bad could it get, right? Wrong! 

Taking photographs while driving is my forte, of course, although I have to admit that when you do that, you often make small mistakes, like driving through red lights, with varying degrees of consequences. In any case, I took the photograph on the left as the rain started, but soon put away the camera for the day, since it began to pour, the wind became intense, and it started getting difficult to see. Then a rather large vehicle passed me in the left lane, which resulted in a huge amount of water hitting the windshield, so much so that the windshield wipers couldn't clear it. I was totally blind for what seemed like hours (granted, that is an exaggeration, but you know what I mean) before the windshield cleared. Next came a warning on my cellphone that said we were in an area with an active tornado, and recommended heading to the lowest floor of your dwelling, which at that point was problematic. Soon it started to hail, and cars were just stopping in the middle of the interstate underneath overpasses to avoid damage to their car, which also made things exciting. Once we got back to Denver, the storm began to ebb. Gone but not forgotten. Did we anger the Gods during our trip through their garden? Are they already sick of the tourist crowds? Do we need to make some human sacrifices? Time to check license plates for Californians the next time we visit.