fazil can graduates!

my brother-in-law, fazil can, graudated from university this week. it was an extra special occasion for ben, since it came exactly ten years after his graduation from the same university. we were very happy to attend and cheer him on...

...and celebrate with him after.

next stop, northeastern university!

on our way home however, we encountered some more excitement. we were heading up the highway when we noticed stopped traffic and some cars turning around to drive back down the highway, the wrong way. soon enough we discovered why: a huuuuge hail storm/rain storm trapped us on the highway for at least 45 minutes.

river of hail down the highway

it was a bit scary at times when the hail got really heavy, and the current running down the highway started getting worse. but luckily we waited it out without incident.

when it ended and traffic began to slowly move (many cars were stuck in the foot or so of hail that had accumulated in some parts), we discovered getting home may not be as easy as we had hoped. we ended up at the top of the hill only to have to turn around and go back down as the way was blocked with traffic & flooding.

the hail had plugged all of the drain pipes and there was a small river running down the other side of the highway.

luckily ben's navigation skills steered us up and over the mountain behind our house over back roads, away from traffic.

when we got home, we saw on the news that just about a block from where we'd been stopped (and passed by on our way home) was entirely washed out, and we were very fortunate to have waited out the storm on higher ground.

highway underpass entirely filled with water, and some cars

top of truck submerged in water

all in all, an eventful day! we were glad to make it home safe & sound.