What I see when I drive up the mountain~My Trip

I thought today I would take you on my journey, from the desert up through the mountains, to the horse ranch where I board the herd. I took all of these photos with my Canon. The Nikon wouldn't have handled the low light. These were all taken on Saturday, when a storm front moved in. Clouds backed up along the way (see http://rav4adventures.blogspot.com/ for more photos) and were lifting up out of the canyon. It was a very unusual sight and several other motorists stopped to take photos and then jump back in their cars! It was extremely windy along Highway 74 and the clouds were quickly moving. It started to pour when I stopped to snap some of the photos and I quickly scrambled back into my warm car and continued my journey. I drove up yesterday and while there were clouds, they weren't as spectacular as these from Saturday. It rained the whole time I was at the ranch yesterday and 3 more days of rain is forecast, then a clearing break later this week. Oh, I should add: This highway, while beautiful, is DEADLY. There is at least one accident a week on it. Drivers who are not familiar with its twists and turns and who take it too fast pay dearly for their mistake. Yesterday, while driving up, I noticed several spots where drivers had spun out in the dirt. And, driving back down, I saw a car full of teenagers (4 of them) which had spun out and rolled. They appeared to be okay, but badly shaken up. There is NO cell phone service for most of the road because there aren't any cell phone towers nearby. Apparently, however, some passing driver had raced down the mountain and alerted the Palm Desert fire department as to their condition because I passed two fire trucks and a paramedic ambulance heading up the hill. The nickname for Highway 74 is "the killer highway". I ALWAYS take it slow and pull over to allow the speeders to pass me by. Besides, who can speed up that road and not stop to appreciate its beauty? Sometime I'll have to have hubby with me and he could then take photos of all its twists and turns. It was the road in the movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."