Mammoth goes to Belton Lake. Again

Cedar Ridge Campground

Sun Aug 30 - Thu Sep 3 Site 31

1. Planned distance: 202 miles
2. Map time estimate: 3:28
3. Adjusted estimate: didn't calculate
4. Actual distance: forgot to check
5. Actual time: (return trip) 3:34
6. Gas stop in Temple, ~10 minutes
7. Average mph trip: unknown

There was absolutely NO prediction of rain on my weather app. Weather Underground said 20% chance of showers which at this time of year is equivalent to zero. So what happened on departure morning?

Rain, thunder, more rain, and a lot of it.

We were due to head out right after church for a 4-day camping trip with Edward. There were no weekend reservations available, so the best I could do was Sunday night - Wednesday night. But we figured that was better than nothing. (hint: it wasn't)

Nearly everything was ready the night before so we didn't have to do much slogging in the mud to finish up. We were taking the boat again, and it was already hooked to Mammoth's massive hitch. Actually it's a little-bitty hitch, but the word 'massive' sounded better. I finished up the last-minute stuff while Ed was churching. All that was left was changing clothes, unplugging, grabbing snacks and dogs, and heading off into the sunset. Or rain clouds. Whatever.

I'd been listening to a very interesting book while I was jogging, and I happened to put the earbuds in my bag, to take along, so temptation overcame me to plug them in. I put an earbud in one ear and went on listening while I was driving. (The truck doesn't have bluetooth) So I was pleasantly distractedly driving for the better part of the afternoon.

But nothing could distract from the disaster which is Dallas traffic. The entire bleeping freeway was closed down on I- 635 loop south about four miles before our exit. We couldn't let the phone re-route us on account of Ed had to freeze the route on his phone to prevent Google from taking us down Interstate 35.  (We despise Interstate 35)

We were stuck in traffic for at least ten minutes, maybe longer. But after that pain-in-the-neck episode, driving was normal and boring. We arrived at around four p.m. or so, and Edward arrived shortly afterward. Steak, salmon, and skewers for supper (how boring and predictable of us!) And a pleasant family sit-down with recorded episodes of Impractical Jokers and Outdoor Man for entertainment.

I missed the sunset but the moon was making a nice picture: