We made it back to sunny SoCal in one piece on Wednesday evening. Jim and I had a great time traveling together again. It had been quite awhile since we traveled together. Sunday evening I got an urge for a chocolate shake so I bundled up and walked across the parking lot to the McDonald's. After braving the cold, I was told that their ice cream machine was out of order. Very disappointing!!!

We woke up Monday morning to 11 degrees!!! We stopped in Greensburg, Kansas and talked with a lady who lived thru the F5 tornado that wiped out the entire city in May of 2008. It was quite interesting talking with her. She and her son rode out the tornado in the hallway of her house. The tornado was preceded by fist size hail. She remembers hearing a roar approaching her like a train and then all the windows in here house blew out. The walls shook violently for a couple of minutes as the tornado was over a mile wide. Her house was destroyed, leaning on wall.
Seven people died in the tornado. A couple were hiding in their basement when the tornado lifted their house up off it's foundation. Then they were killed when a car landed in their basement. Amazing!!

We drove all day to Monte Vista, Colorado where we stayed in the residence of Jim's friend Wanda. Wanda lives on a 40 acre farm and raises alpacas. Alpacas are a small relative of the llama, primarily raised in Peru. They are raised for their fiber which is spun into fiber used to knit sweaters and scarfs.

Tuesday morning we woke to an outside temperature of 2 degrees. After breakfast, we went out and helped Wanda with chores, including feeding the alpacas. They are very skittish at first, but eventually would eat out of our hands.

By the time we made it out to do chores the temps had climbed to a blistering 13 degrees. Jim borrowed this stunning hat from Wanda. I was wearing a long sleeve shirt, a hoody sweatshirt, and my warmest jacket. Add to that a wool cap and gloves.


This great looking red barn was apparently built by the original owner back in the 1860's!! Look how clear the sky is in the background.

We drove all day Tuesday, mostly through mountains, and ended up in Gallup, Nm. Wednesday we drove home. It's good to get away, and always good to get home. It was a great trip.