Tumbleweed!!!

After a fabulous week in Colorado I have returned safe and sound to the great state of Iowa. I probably don't need to inform anyone that it was rather windy today. Turns out it was windy from the moment I left Colorado Springs to the moment I pulled into my driveway. This made what should have been a fairly boring but mindless drive home somewhat of a challenge. Especially in the beginning.

Monday I was driving back to Juanita's place from a coffee shop and saw a tumbleweed, which I was pretty pumped about because I had never seen one before. Juanita was surprised by this because "they are everywhere". In the short time from Monday afternoon to Wednesday mid morning, I went from loving tumbleweeds to hoping I never see one again.

As I drove down I-76 today (which on a side note has to be the most desolate stretch of road I have ever been on) I saw a tumbleweed. And in a moment of excitement in my car I said "TUMBLEWEED!" (Yes people it's THAT boring out there). Then I saw another and announced it again (what can I say entertainment is hard to come by out there). Pretty soon there were three at a time. . .woohoo. . .then five. Soon I felt like I was in a tumbleweed mine field. Tumbleweeds coming dozens at a time flying across lanes of traffic and me flying down the road just praying that they will tumble out of the way before my car meets them.

As I am dodging tumble weeds like Mario dodging banana peels I see a fairly large tumbleweed come into the left lane. Okay if it just keeps moving it will be out of the lane by the time I get there. As I come closer the wind dies for a just a moment and the tumbleweed pauses in the road. SPLAT! The front of my car makes contact the with the weed. Now tumbleweeds don't have a lot of substance to them however they are very branchy. When the tumbleweed met the front of my car. . .it got stuck. So now I am flying down the interstate at 80 mph with a giant tumbleweed stuck to the front of the car like a spiny. . .spidery looking hood ornament.

As anyone who has been to Eastern Colorado/Western Nebraska can attest to there aren't a lot of places to get on and off. So I had to drive down the interstate for a good 10 miles before coming to an exit where I could pull over and remove the weed from my car. After narrowly escaping being shmucked by a semi getting back in the car, the car was weed free and we were on the move again.

Like I said, if I never see a Tumbleweed again I will die happy.