Our First Real Sandstorm

We had an almost entirely uneventful drive back across country last week, Praise The Lord!!!  The only interruption along the way was our first real sandstorm.  We were only about an hour outside our hometown, when along the distant horizon something dark and looming began making it's way in our direction.  At first I thought it was a grass fire as the wall of clouds ahead had large black streaks coming up from the ground, but upon further inspection we realized it was just the mud in the clouds, swirling around.  It is almost rainy season here, and we have learned that just before or after rainy season, it's usual to have these short lived dust storms.  The winds come so strong, and there is little to no vegetation growing here, so the amount of dirt and sand picked up and tossed around is incredible!  We decided to pull over and take some pictures, (and we got a short video, although it's too big to upload), and its a good thing, because at 4:00pm, the entire sky grew dark, as if the sun had just set and we couldn't see anything in front of us.  We sat in the car for about 30 minutes before heading on our way.  Needless to say all the kids and adults were glad to see the sun come out on the other side of the storm!

 Before

 During

 After