RE: Oregon Dunes Weather

["Darlene M. Anderson" <darlene.anderson2@gte.net>]

I am one of the afore mentioned "crazy teammates" and I'll be the first to attest that the weather was 
HORRID!! However, the ride was fun. Mostly because I happened to finish just before the terrific rain and 
hail storm hit. Another of our illustrious teammates wasn't so lucky though. Rhonda Guilford and Ramona 
Thacker were still out on the dunes when the storm hit, but said that strangely their horses were calm 
throughout! Rhonda was ready to be finished though! Her little horse, Newton, figured his mom had lost her 
marbles dragging him around in the sand all day. The FeatherB was inclined to agree with him. 

There were 2 that started the 75. One pulled at 35 miles and the other went on to finish, but did not get a 
completion. 11 started the 50, 10 finished. Linda Johnson won and BC'ed. (was there any question?). 3 
started the 25 and all three finished (Another Fish Creek teammate, Sally Christopher, rode the 25). There 
were lots of sore horse's rears on this ride. The horses really had to work out on that sand. 

This was actually a cool ride! It was warmer than where we live (Northern W. Wash.) so it wasn't too bad to 
ride in the rain. The wind was blowing like crazy on Friday but decided to let up on Saturday. Not to say it 
was perfect, because it was anything but. I've ridden in worse weather.

The hardest part of the whole thing was, of course, the sand. Mostly wet and soft. The single best part of this 
ride for me was the 10 miles of ocean front beach riding!! With the wind! It was so awesome...you could 
really move out if you rode right where the waves washed up. Feather thought the white foamy stuff would 
really drag her out to sea. After leaping over it a few times she just ignored it. It was so strange though 
because if you watched the waves wash up under the horses you would get dizzy! Donnie Scott ( another of 
our Fish Creekers) said that his horse, Ed, actually wanted to lay down! He started to get dizzy from 
watching the waves coming and going under his hooves! It was funny. Unfortunately for us, we only got to 
ride the beach once because of the incoming tide.
Ride manager, Tony, fed us steaks for dinner. What a treat! We all received beautiful embroidered hats, t-
shirts, and a voucher for $10.00 off next season's ride entry. ( a bribe to ride again in the wind and  rain 
perhaps?) :-)

Anyways, in this "Crazy Teammate's" opinion, this was a great ride! Wind, rain, hail and all!! What can I say? 
We endurance riders are nuts! I'm sorry to see this season draw to a close. FeatherB doesn't agree with me 
at all. Told me that 680 miles was plenty enough for her!!

Take care all,
Darlene M. Anderson
Stanwood, WA



--------
>From: connieh@aa.net
>To: darlene.anderson2@gte.net
>Subject: RE: Oregon Dunes Weather
>Date: November 19, 1998
>
>Is anyone in Oregon?  If so, what is your forcast for the weekend on the
>coast?  My crazy teammates are headed that way.  We planned to go - but
>have had the experience of riding on the coast in heavy rain & wind.
>Not fun & lots of sand to be inhaled by a hard working horse, so caution
>will prevail unless we hear something positive.
>
>Thanks-
>Connie H & Jasrada (hoping OD would put us at 250!)
>