Fall has BLOWN in!

The winds of Fall. They range from a 15 mph breeze to 40 mph blasts! And yesterday we rode in both. Linda and I thought about skipping the idea of a ride, but then admitted that sadly, summer is gone. Long gone. Those hot days that some folks whined about are gone and those of you who live for cooler days are dancing happily right now. While I whine and pile on extra clothes.

But nevertheless we did ride. Thunder the wonder horse discovered a nice herd of deer as they bounced out of the cottonwoods along the little creek. They were sheltered from the wind there. There were several does, fawns and one big buck. We seldom see deer in there so he had to get all excited and racey. He snorted and blew, his eyes bugged out, his tail was high and he was just a bugger! But I still enjoyed the deer. They must have spooked up a coyote because we saw him running in the opposite direction and crossing our path up ahead.

So on up the hill we went only to have a lone motorcycle come racing over the hilltop above us. He did see us and he was gone in a flash! A man on a mission evidently. The trail wasn't dusty at all thanks to the rain overnight. The wind swirled around us and the horses and they felt as though they were walking on eggs. Why do they always do that on blustery days? We just meandered through the sagebrush, up and down hills, having a good time. Occasionally we managed to get out of the wind.

But wait, here comes the biker again from the distance. He went straight up a hill and then back down again, and took off up the draw, and was gone. Man he was fast! I had wanted to go up that draw but thought better of it in case he came racing back down. It's a busy day when I see anybody out there. I am usually all by my little lonesome.

The view from the top of the hill was gorgeous as we came back down towards the pickup. The wind had blown out all the clouds. The air was clean. I could see forever! The Snake River wound around the squares of green and brown farmland. A driftboat of fishermen hoping to catch something for dinner caught my eye. The trees were a gorgeous red and yellow, some still hanging on to that last bit of green. A view that is pretty tough to beat and it all made for one great day!