Saturday, August 31, 2024 – Ride With Kathy and Friends, Got Caught In Storm

Hey Darlin',
Had a good night sleep, was up with the alarm so that I could be ready for our 9:00 start time this morning. I timed it perfectly, and was hopping into the saddle right on time. At the last minute, Sue decided that here horse wouldn't behave well with mine and Eddy Ray's, so we went ahead for a while, then met up with them about 20 minutes later. We let her go first, which seemed to be her concern, and I stayed in back, so it all worked out. We made our way backward on the Kimble trail that I took the other day, took the Hill Loop Trail, and made our way down to the Paddle Creek Campground. I was hoping to get down there to see it, and frankly, it was much more to my liking than Elkins Creek. Of course, it's primitive, but there were highlines and a vault toilet, but no water except for the creek, which was all but bone dry right now. There is also apparently a very sharp turn coming in that I would have to negotiate, but I met a guy there named James who said that the long rigs just go to the end of the road and turn around, which makes it possible to make the sharp turn. Plus the campground is apparently free! Good to know! Even though it was barely 11:00, the gals decided to have lunch there, and while we were eating, we heard thunder and saw dark clouds coming in. Of course, last night when I checked the forecast, it said the rain wasn't coming in until 3:00, but no one checked this morning, and boy, did it change! We decided to skip our trip to the water hole and head back to camp, and Eddie Ray was very concerned about his awning in the wind (apparently this is his third awning!), so the two of us ended up speeding ahead to try to get back in time. We didn't quite make it. We were still about a mile out of camp when the skies opened up, thunder and lightning and wind, the whole deal. We stopped long enough to put slickers on, which at least kept our torsos dry, but my legs and boots were drenched. We managed to get back at about 12:30, and fortunately, all awnings were okay, but it just kept pouring for another half hour or so. I put Flash under the awning just long enough to get his tack off, then put him in the little paddock I put up for them. I made myself a little salad for lunch, then sat in my chair to relax for a few minutes, and fell asleep for two hours! Not sure what that was all about, but there you go! Went over to visit with Kathy and friends again for a bit, then saw more gray clouds coming, so I put all my tack away in the back, it had mostly dried in the sun that appeared after the earlier rain. Sure enough, another stormy round came through, so I watched an old Clint Walker movie until the rain was gone, fed the horses, visited with Kathy again for a bit, ready for my shower and bed! Love you, sweetheart! Good night!

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