A rainy weekend

It rained all day Friday and intermittently on Saturday. I was off on Friday and stayed home writing reviews, but by Saturday I was restless and so where the dogs. They were anxious to get outside and get some exercise.

While I'm glad we got the rain we did, I'd have preferred getting it during the week, so that my weekends were free for hiking and the outdoors. We got so much rain that all our rain buckets were filled. When was the last time we got so much winter rain? This will do our plants some good, and it's a much-needed relief for our drought. I'm seeing plants finally sprout from hard seeds that I planted back in 2008!

I managed to get the dogs out to the river inbetween bursts of rain. That was probably not the best place to take them to, but the trail I go on is secluded, and te few times I've taken the dogs here, I come across USBP agents, or dog walkers on the other side of the river. I took all four dogs. We parked at the Palominas trail head (the same trail head parking lot for the border trail) for the river trail and walked down the wet wash. Sand here was damp but no water was flowing. The river was a little bit swifter than normal, but even the banks were at normal range.

Naturally, the girls jumped in and wanted to play fetch. The boys stayed at the bank and watched. Even the swift water, which got to their heads, was not enough to keep them out of the water. They could still feel the bottom but the current was pulling them. Plants and twigs were floating past the dogs and Minnie couldn't decide which sticks to grab before coming out of the water.

Clouds were heavy and it did sprinkle on us. That didn't bother the dogs. I had my red rain coat on, but I didn't want to be caught in a deluge. We walked back to the SR92 bridge and waited out the heavy part before going home.

Despite the wet weather, once again there were many raptors in the trees, but they all didn't mind our temporary visit. My shoes were caked with mud when I got home, leaving them on the porch to dry out. I don't even want to take a longer look at what the van looks like.

We didn't quit go a mile out and back, but even I was glad to get out some. It rained again some more once we were home and it rained all night into Saturday. If the rain had been snow, we would have gotten quite a few feet, much like Chicago and the East Coast has gotten.