Mt. Redoubt has been rumbling for a while. Then it finally blew. Ash was not headed our direction so we became complacent in checking to see wind trajectories each time this volcano "burped." Saturday when we were driving to Paul and Devon's house for dinner, my phone rang; it was Allison (Kira's friend that we car-pool with.) Her mom and I previously discussed volcanic happenings and decided to keep each other informed (since we don't watch TV regularly or listen to local radio). Allison's call surprised me. She said that ash was blowing our way, that it tasted bad and was stinky. Since we were passing their street and we didn't see any ash, I asked where she was at physically. At a park on a few blocks from where we were, Allison was tasting ash, but we couldn't see it. We decided to continue on to Paul and Devon's since we had food that still needed to be cooked. I decided that I would go home and shut off the computer and get our dust masks, contact solution/glasses, and panty hose. While I was driving home, it became darker and I could see the ash falling on my windshield. With tiny bits of volcanic rock falling on my windshield, I couldn't run the wipers without scratching the windshield (so I didn't). The ash did not fall very long and we had minimal disruption to our night. We took the precautions necessary for protecting our eyes, lungs, car engine and computer. The pictures you see show the ash in various places. Later we will probably be able to post the pictures of our family in dust masks.
