A wet one

Before I left for Carlsbad last weekend, Charisa texted me the following: "Wahooo Rain forecast for Saturday!" She comes from Chicago and various other places that actually have "seasons" and "weather", and obviously, sometimes she misses those things. I come from Southern California, and do not share her enthusiasm for rain, wind, cold, etc.... Well on Saturday, despite a little water on the ground and some windy conditions we saddled up and hit the roads for a ride. Not 10 mins in, we got hit with a drenching and even some hail on our way to pick up Alan. Kevin and I were riding side-by-side and I just kept my head down looking about 5ft in front of me. I told him he had to warn me of anything coming up.

Totally soaked, we got to Alan's and the rain stopped. We rode for the next couple hours in what would have been rather pleasant conditions had my feet not been totally soaked and frozen. Sunlight broke through and some dry roads were had. We hit the store in Rainbow, CA for some refueling and our luck changed again. A slight sprinkle had us heading indoors to "wait it out." That sprinkle quickly gained momentum and soon turned into this:

5mins of "waiting it out" turned to 15min. Then the temps dropped noticeably, and the hail started

15mins turned to 30mins then the lightning and thunder came, a nearby transformer was struck & the power in the store went out.

It was time to call in the meat wagon. Ken Bauer (Charisa's dad) to the rescue! Clearly I was happy to see him. He to see me... maybe not so much.