Hail and another accident on the highway

And, suddenly, overnight, our weather changed.  We drove to Costa Mesa Friday night for a 4 hour camera class on Saturday and I awoke about 6:30 a.m. to...pitter patter, splat!  SPLAT! Splat, splat, splat on the banana tree outside our hotel window.  Eh?  That wasn't rain!  It was..............HAIL!  Yes, hail in Orange County!  HAIL in Southern California, by the ocean!  And, it lasted for quite a while, then a huge thunderstorm rolled in and it rained and rained and rained.  Good thing our class was indoors!  HA~Everything outdoors was fresh and clean and it was almost COLD in Orange County!  I learned how to do a lot of neat things with my camera like change the ISO setting, take night photographs, and I can even shoot movie-quality videos now!  I can't wait to try it out when one of the herd is down in the arena, or I can set it up on a tripod and let 'er roll!  This camera has all kinds of neat settings and the class was just about how to use it.  (Canon EOS 7D)  Unfortunately, on the way down the hill to our home, we were stuck for 2 HOURS due to another motorcyclist going over a curve on Highway 74...sigh...when will they ever learn?  SLOW DOWN!  There were 5 firetrucks, a tow truck, an ambulance, and a helicopter.  Apparently the motorcyclist hit the railing speeding down the mountain.  His motorcycle stayed on the railing, but he flew out and over it, 100 feet down the mountain.  A passing car stopped to see if they could help and that tied up traffic until the CHP, firetrucks, and ambulance and tow truck arrived.  And, the firemen had to climb down the mountain to get the guy and haul him back up.  Cars were backed up for miles.  Several of us got out and watched a massive thunderstorm over Joshua Tree, just to pass the time.  What a weird day...thunder and hail in Orange County and a thunderstorm over Joshua Tree that evening...at home here, we have the air conditioner turned OFF and all the windows open.  What a difference 24 hours can make!  It was 113 degrees on Friday.  I don't know what it was here in the desert today, but it's nice to be able to open up the windows and let the air in!