Dancing In The Rain

We were visiting Bend on vacation. My husband and I decided a day of caching would be a great way to experience and explore all the many beautiful parks Bend has to offer!! Plus, it would be a fun thing to do with the kids. We started off our morning letting the kids paint ceramics with their cousins. It's a tradition for us to all go.

After they were done, we headed on our way to pick up the first cache, thinking we could probably fit a few in. Finding parking near the park was dreadful. It was a warm, gorgeous day and many people were floating down the Deschutes River, playing Frisbee with their dogs and enjoying the beautiful day. We finally found parking and got out of our car and started over the bridge. The kids climbed up the side to view the ducks and people on the river. A few big raindrops plopped down on us, but nothing us Oregonians' can't handle. I was quick to say that a little rain wouldn't hurt us and it would soon pass. Our gps set us right over to the rocks and after helping the kids up the rocks, the rain really started to pound down. We thought we could wait out the rain, knowing it was just a quick summer rain and would soon pass. The kids climbed under some big rocks and Mike and I leaned over them to help shield them. The kids are used to the rain and don't normally mind, but wow, this was no ordinary rain, the drops were huge and mixed in, was the biggest hail our family had ever seen!!! After trying to wait out the hail, ten minutes later we decided to make a run for our van. Mike and I had enough welts on our backs and couldn't take much more. We dashed back to the van, drenched to the bone!! Everything was flooded. Reece and Grace made it first. By this time, Grace was hysterical. She crouched down by the van and Reece, being a true man of valour, covered her with his own body so she wouldn't get wet or hit by the hail. My heart melted at his sweetness and show of character.

We all laughed (later) and vowed we would come back and get this cache. We did the next day and kicked ourselves! We were sitting right on top of the box the whole time, but were so consumed with trying to avoid the huge hail that we never did see it!!!
This is one cache this family will never forget and still laughs about!!!