Break from the Heat~

 Or so I thought!  The forecast was for lower 80's & slightly less humidity.  By the time I'd driven to Silver City it was already warmer than I'd expected.  Happy Trails was busy, I waved to Mari Jo & took off down the trail.

At Happy Trails~

I'd taken my usual two bottles of water, but I stopped just over a mile out to take the first of my electrolytes.  Even in the shade of the trail, it was much warmer than I like & no breeze at all.

Soybeans getting huge~

The corn is well over 5 feet tall now & completely encloses the trail where it's planted on both sides.  Again, a perfect block to any possible breeze.

The Walnut Grove~

Seeing the Walnuts & the shade they provide, made it seem cooler, but it wasn't.  I thought about turning back at the Hwy 34 underpass but decided to continue on.  The last mile or so of concrete is always such a nice reward after seven miles of limestone.

Arch at Malvern, looking north~

Riding all the way to the depot, I stopped under the shade of the arch to log my stats.  Any shade at all was welcome - but the only breeze - was the one Smokey made!

View from the north picnic area~

The southern picnic covered area was occupied, so I rode on around to the far end.  On a Sunday, I was actually surprised there weren't more riders out.  I made my usual call to Butch.  He was in the middle of a reset, on a strip of land between the Columbia River & Columbia Slough, just outside Portland, OR.  His weather, in the low 70's with a nice breeze off the water, made me very envious!  As we were talking, I could see a large line of thunderheads off to the north.  The weatherman had forecast storms later tonight, into early tomorrow morning. 

Silver Creek west, from the trestle~

The weather forecast was wrong.  By the time I was back at the trestle, the clouds had moved in.  With them, the almost constant, rolling sound of thunder.  I was more than thankful for the cloud cover though.

Tall Bellflower~

Here & there were the Bellflowers, still in bloom.  I've found a couple of these in our woods, so I hope to have more.  Native American's used the crushed root for coughs.  I felt a couple drops of rain, so picked up my pace the last few miles. The air was positively stifling...  No breeze, very still & humid.

Just two miles south of Silver City~

Once I was back into an open area, I had to stop to get a photo of the amazing clouds sweeping in.  There was no doubt now - rain was coming fast!

I got back to Happy Trails, loaded Smokey & went inside to say goodby to Mari Jo.  She was closing up shop & said if I hadn't shown up soon, she'd have gone looking for me.  So nice of her!  I'd driven just to the top of the first hill out of town - when the rain hit!  A torrential downpour!  I put the wipers on full blast just to see at all.  I drove out of it, but a steady rain followed me back to Glenwood.  I had just enough time to put Smokey away when the heavy rain hit.  

We've gone from very, very dry, to getting at least some rainfall every other day.  The grass is so green & growing so fast, the mowing continues to be non-stop.  At least I don't have to water! :-) 

(Interesting stats from Omaha.  April through June 6.00 - rain.  July alone - 6.30)