Lightning + Winds = No Fun

So B and I are driving home from being in Orange County for doctors appointments. It's about 4:00ish and the thermometer reads oh somewhere around 102. Good times. As we are getting closer to our city, there seems to be some "commotion" up ahead.

"Is that rain?!" B says. Ummm nope, looks like dirt.

Up ahead the visibility is practically a zero with all the dust/dirt/sand that is swirling about across the freeway! Trees are bent over and some are even broken in half! The both of us are just amazed at this mini tornado that is whipping across the freeway talking about how the weather is so weird. I mean, the thermometer has now dropped almost ten degrees.

All of a sudden we see a flash of light...huh?! Lightning?? Really? Now I am no meteorologist but in all my experiences, lightning has been coupled with rain not dirt. Maybe we were seeing things.

So what do we do? Get off the freeway? Pull over till it passes? Nah, we just keep driving...right through it.

Geniuses we are.

B sees another flash of lightning as we get closer to our exit. As we round the corner and start to exit, I notice smoke right about where that flash of lightning had been. "Hey look, a fire!" Captain obvious strikes again.

Apparently the lightning struck a utility pole and some trees which caused a fire near some homes. No bueno. Home please!

As we pull into our neighborhood we notice a few of the neighbors standing around outside. Rubber neckers. It's not like we can see the fire from where we are, people. Umm, Bri, the garage door won't open. Aww man, the electricity is out! Tornado, fire, now no electricity. Do you know how hot it will be inside?! Guess that explains the neighbors in the street. Nice.

The temperature had dropped into the high 80s at this point so we decided to hang out on the porch, since there was a small tornado nice breeze anyway and wait for the power to come back on. After about an hour, preggo decided she had had enough. B was content playing his PSP but my book wasn't interesting and I was getting hungry.

We picked up our good friends and neighbors and headed to Chipotle for dinner. Chipotle fixes anything :) Plus I convinced myself I couldn't really cook without power anyway (yes, our stove is gas, but whatever!) Power was restored by the time we got back. Thank God! Sweating in my sleep didn't sound appealing!

All in all, an interesting day. Thanks for the calls from those who were concerned about us...we're ok! Most excitement I've seen in a while! Here are a couple pics of the fire just because...

No, I wasn't near the fire...they are "borrowed" images from Google :) Oh, apparently thunderstorms are now a possibility this weekend. Looking forward to that.