USAiled Away

The title should read “Blown Away” but I am working with a theme here.

It was so windy.  I cannot even describe how windy it was.  Let’s see if some pictures help…

We tried to stop on the side of the road, but it was so windy, we ended up eating inside!

The wind is blowing Holly's shirt! They were so disappointed the bubbles didn't work in the wind...

This last picture was taken somewhere in Kansas, at a memorial-type park saluting the brave men and women who died on the Santa Fe trail.  They had a strange pavilion with a creaky, circular staircase that led to the roof.  I decided to go up and see what kind of view there was, but regretted it instantly.  I was carrying Josselyn, and Holly tried to follow me up the staircase.  She made it to the top before my mom noticed and I almost got blown off the stairs heading down, trying to hold on to both kids and keep my balance.  I ended up passing Joss to my mom just so I could come down the stairs!

The girls trying to climb the staircase

Every park that we stayed in in Kansas had a storm shelter, and Elaine and my dad even claim they saw a tornado!  They didn’t take a picture, or wake anyone up to witness this claim.  I am still mad they didn’t wake me- it was a TWISTER!  Oh, the “twister” references- too many to catalogue.

Later, on our way out of Kansas, we stopped (yet again) at a Walmart for supplies.  Elaine went to the pharmacy for Advil Cold and Sinus (remember I was worried about my singing voice?  It turned into a full-fledged sinus cold which I immediately passed on to the sole driver- you’re welcome Dad!) while I grabbed groceries.  She came back however, ticked because after she had waited in line for over 15 minutes, she was informed that she couldn’t purchase cold meds without ID.  We switched places, but were confused- ID for an OTC med?  I handed my driver’s license to the girl who stared at it like she’d never seen the colour blue before.  Where are you from?, she whispered.  Uh, Ontario.  Like it says in fairly large print all over the card.  “Ontario… CANADA”.  “Oh”, she breathed, “it’s so beautiful, I mean, ours are so boring- look at all the cool stuff on it, and stuff, and, well..”

Could the ease in which Kansas driver’s licenses are able to be forged be part of the reason amphetamines are policed?  Apparently you can’t buy more than a certain amount of the active ingredient found in cold medications per month without a visit from the DEA.  I sort of would have assumed that the logistics of housing a meth lab in an area frequented by roof-raising twisters would be enough to dissuade the average mom and pop drug lord, but what do I know?

Even gale force winds can't keep kids from their Freezies