Determined OR Just Plain Stupid?

We've had such an amazing fall of riding, I really hate to see it end!! This past week the weather had turned drastically.....rain, cold and even a touch of snow and frost. Winter is fast approaching and so is deer season. With just 1 ride in last week late in the day, I was determined to get out this past weekend, rain or shine. The weather man promised me it was going to clear up, so Rocky, Bear and I set out at about 2:30 on Sunday afternoon with what my husband says is "Misty wet with rain" conditions. I thought to myself...."ah, it's just a little mist....I'm not sugar after all....I'm going!" =] I also thought, hummm...Harold won't let a little rain get in his way of a good afternoon ride, right? And SURELY, I'm as tough as Harold!! ?????

As I unloaded Bear, it felt promising.....still a very dark and dreary day, but I thought it was certainly better than being stuck indoors. It was almost empowering....refreshing. "This will be fun!" I convinced myself. I stuffed 2 extra pair of gloves in my pocket, snapped on my water "resistant" pants and blaze orange gear...and away we went.  

We started out down the road to a foot path leading to the back of our bay, where there is a marsh crossing. (yes, it's still sprinkling...I thought you would be able to see it on the water...but guess not.) It didn't occur to me that my poor dog will have to swim across this frigid cold creek when I chose this route. But his tongue was hanging out of his mouth, so I figured he wouldn't mind a little cool down. =] He leaped acrossed it like a champ..only getting his under belly wet. No worries!

This shows the bay where the creek meets it. 

We headed to the deep woods, hoping to get some protection from the rain by the cover of leaves over us.....yeah....what WAS I thinking??! All the leaves were on the ground! Due to high winds the past week....there wasn't hardly a leaf left in the trees. DARN IT. Oh well...quit your whining Denise...Harold will hear you.

I was a little worried about my saddle getting wet, but thought...oh well, Harold wouldn't worry about  such nonsense, so quit being a girly-girl and get on with it. RIDE!

I took some video, so you could hear the rain, but it didn't show up very well. 

We live in Cedarville and it got it's name for a reason. =] Lots of Cedar, Pine etc. 

I love this creek. Usually this time of year, you'll see random people stop here to see
if there are salmon coming to spawn. But by now,
they are pretty much done.

Heading home.......looks pretty dreary here, but honestly, I was having a pretty good time.
I must admit to looking for the cloud with the silver lining. =]

I ran into two cars on this stretch (1 hunter and 1 lady heading home from work) - I am sure they thought I was a crazy lady! If I had been a man, they would have thought I was just TOUGH, right? =] I visited with the one gal in her car who stopped because she wanted to see Bear. I was able to promote the breed - pretty cool....you just never know when an opportunity will come up...even on a day like this!

I was about 90 min into my ride and starting to feel a touch chilled.....but toughin' it out! =] I always say the sun is always shining when you are on the back of a horse. 

We are now within 10 min of the trailer and guess what? The rain stopped. What a great ending!

Before loading Bear in the trailer, I just had to let him eat some grass for a job well done and putting up with my insanity...I mean cowgirl toughness. =] 

What was really neat about this ride, and many others when I ride alone like this....is....that in taking pics and thinking about sharing it all with you, I feel like I have company on my ride. Makes it really fun!

So thank you for going on this ride with me, Rocky and Bear! Hope you enjoyed a ride in the rain...ok, ok....in the sprinkling rain! =] Geesh!