The Saga of "The Missing Sock"

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Well, Mother Nature finally caught up with us.  We've been so lucky on this trip.  Yes, we've had some searing heat, a little rain, and some wind, but we've never really gotten wet or caught in any severe weather.  Sometimes it really looks like it's going to be a rotten day out here, but it doesn't rain at all, the sun comes out and it's a beautiful day. We've gotten very spoiled...until today.
It started out quite gloomy with  clouds hanging down very low in the valley. It didn't look like a good day to go riding at all so we decided to go to the Jackson Recreation Center for a swim & hot tub in the morning and then do laundry in the afternoon.  Laundry has not been an easy task on a motorcycle but we stuff wherever we can stuff and off we go to "The Missing Sock". It's important to note here that Rick needs to wash both pair of his jeans so he wore shorts and we took our rain suits out of the bike because we really needed the room. 
Well, several hours later the chore is done.  It still looks pretty threatening, but it isn't raining (and hasn't rained) so we load up and head back to the campground.  It's also important to note that the "The Missing Sock" and home base are about 16 miles apart. 
About one mile into the ride, it starts to sprinkle.  About three miles in it starts to rain.  We just get through town and it starts to rain really hard.  We are both cold and soaked by this time so we figure we might as well just keep going.  At first I started hearing these really loud raindrops against my helmet. I'm thinking, what in the world?  Then I start to feel like someone is pelting me with stones.  It's hailing!  Most of them were the size of peas or a little smaller but some were almost the size of garbanzo beans!  We were both hollering "ouch!" every few seconds but found out that didn't help.  Poor Rick is having to drive.....in shorts!  He was a little protected by the windshield and bike but definitely took the hits. It hailed for probably 5 minutes and then thankfully, it stopped.  We proceeded to the campground and were never so glad to see our little camper.  We were wet but safe and that's all that mattered. Another large storm and colder temps (low of 36°) rolled in later that night but our camper kept us mostly warm and dry.  I'm thinking it's time for hard walls. :)  Happy hailing trails.