A wild day at Lake Padden

The hardiest of the hardy

When I woke this Saturday morning and checked the weather, I wondered who, if any, would be joining Lily and me as we drove off to Lake Padden, where we were scheduled to meet for our 8:00am walk. I knew Cindy would be there, she's the leader, but despite the wind and rain, thirteen of us showed up to brave the elements. And spend time together while making two loops around the lake. If it was simply awful, we could always skip the second loop.

So we set out in wind gusting well above 25mph, while the rain was only spitting at us occasionally. We knew that would change. By the time we were halfway around and in the shelter of the trees, it was like a different world, with the sound of the wind high above us and little rain. But when we came out of the trees, the wind and rain hit us, causing those of us who had taken off our rain gear a chance to pull it all snug around us again.

Some of us called it a day after the first loop, but the majority went on around a second time, with the rain a little stronger and the wind a little less. I was not soaked when we finished, but going out for coffee somewhere didn't tempt me much, as I was not totally dry. Lily and I went off to the Farmers' Market before heading home. At least I got my steps in for the day, and now I can lounge around and enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers once again without any guilt.

The sheltered part of the trail

This picture shows the far side of the 2.6-mile loop, where we cruised along in relative comfort. By the second time around, however, we were glad to finish our Saturday morning adventure without any trees having blown down on us, and without the heavy rain that we knew was coming. And it's here now, as I finish up my post. We've had almost an inch of rain already today! Nice to be inside again.
:-)