old lady river riding

sabbath afternoon i loaded up 5 of the 6 junior girls and headed to valentine nebraksa. we went through overcast skies, rain, mist, hail, and finally when we close, it lightened up. the weather is so fickle. we thought it was smooth sailing. however, but the time we were driving up a steep road to the top of a bluff over the niobrara it was sprinkling again. you have to picture a big truck....you know the double seats etc, with a horse trailer behind with horse.(trailer could hold at least 3 or 4) plus the obligatory dog in the truck plus the cowboy brother, the girls and the old lady sponsor. the trailer wasn't going to make it up so it was unhitched and the cowboy and his sister(one of the junior girls) alternately drove and rode the horse--dudley.
by the time we were on time we had only a few minutes to enjoy the view before it rained heavy duty. the cowboy road is horse down lickety split leaving the sister drive everyone else down on the slickery up and down road. got stuck on a little rise and had to figure out that it was not in 4 wheel . backed up several times to get a running start but it was no go until it was put in 4 wheel low and then it was no problem. it was right at sunset. the view was pretty while it lasted. we made it safely back to the cabin on the gumbo/sand road.

The next day it was sunny enough and warm enough to go kayaking. we stopped on the way down the river to see the step falls pictured above. it is the perfect river for a beginner and old ladies like myself. most of the time you can touch the bottom with your paddle. there were a few wavy places and one place where there was a whirlpool, but you just had to go around the island on the left and you were home free.

the girls all got sunburned. they wanted to. they were in swimsuits and shorts.

half way back home we ran into rain again. girls didn't care. they were all asleep in the back of the van. no wonder. they slept on the hard deck outside the night before. they only had their sleeping bags. there were soft beds inside. but... well, we were there for the adventure. i didn't need that much adventure. i slept on the bed. inside my sleeping bag. i have done my duty sleeping on hard floors over the years.