Winter rain storms are perfect weather to take Kila running on the golf courses. Some call it trespassing, I call it watching her romp in the rain on a beautiful carpet of grass, with no one out to be bothered by our interloping.

Immersing myself in the wet and cold is an immensely refreshing change of pace, with the added benefit of getting me ready for the conditions we were about to face on the 4th Annual Low-Overhead Highly-Flexible Ski Trip.   Riding the canals in the rain a few times got me well prepared for Wolf Creek last year, and the powder-shock was likely to be the same this year with us driving in on top of 7 feet in the past week.

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I aint complaining, just saying.   Watching Red Dye #5 choke away 2 winnable games at Nationals in 2000 in rainy Blaine, MN taught me to appreciate the disruptive affect cold weather has on Phoenicians.

Beckie and G out of town gave us time to play.   The tape gun tightened up the cuffs of my snowboard pants and kept them out of the drivetrain, the pockets of my $5 Coat held my beers; Monday it was Red Mtn Ranch and Tuesday back to Longbow for the first time in 6 months.   Unfortunately, two big days in a row was too much for Kila’s aging front right paw and she has been a little gimpy the last two days.   But it was fun while it happened!

Longbow is about 9 miles total, and other than the brief stretch over the 202, totally RocketDog friendly.   Kila sets her own direction on the golf course as I follow the tight rolling cart path up and back, synching up every so often at her or my whim.   No people, no houses, and only one entrance – nothing but Kila and me in a giant oasis playground.   Its flowy and serene, and even a bit of a workout on the bike.   With time and Kila’s endurance constantly in short supply, I forgot how much more fun it is than Red Mtn Rachn.   Kila can still handle it, but I need to take her after several easy days.   We’ll keep having fun together, I’ll be smarter for her.