Day 3: Part 1 - Tumbleweeds, Turbines, and Tornadoes

I was shocked out of deep sleep this morning by the shriek of a tornado barreling through Oklahoma City. Its strange song filled the hotel room as I tried desperately to recall the tornado safety drills from childhood. The eerie whistling hum rattled my head like it wanted to erase my brain. We mustered the courage (or stupidity!) to sneak a glance through the window. It was a ghost storm. Within five minutes it was over. There was no damage to the hotel or our car, so we crept back into bed, half dazed and slept.

The alarm clock buzzed its awful buzz at 8 AM. We were ridiculously tired from the night’s scare, but packed and prepared for the long drive ahead – only to realize down the road that the storm had knocked out power and it was actually 6 AM, not 8.

We passed miles and miles of farmland. Mostly cattle. The wind pawed at us like a playful kitten. In the dark navy sky, huge glowing forms appeared one after another. Windmills swinging their massive white arms. Row after row in every direction. The lonely tumbleweeds raced along and welcomed us to the "Land of Enchantment", New Mexico.

Check it out:
Tornadoes skip across Oklahoma