Part Three: The Good Lord Intervenes

I tell Wayne just to go back to the truck.  I give him my cell phone.  I say, "If you have any trouble, just let Jet loose and tell him to FIND me."   I tell him I will blow my dog whistle if I find the keys. 
I take Yoko and Kilt with me.  Now I am on my way to marker #18.....what?  Again?  For the third or fourth time now?  And, it's an eighth of a mile between markers.  I make it back to the bench at marker #18 and repeat the whole looking around the area again.  I even ask the girls to FIND the keys without any keys to be even able to show them.  They think I'm nuts, but are having a good time sniffing on the trail. 

At about marker #15 I see Jet running FULL speed towards me!  Holy Shit...my mind starts racing that Wayne isn't feeling well.  As soon as Jet reaches my feet limping fiercely, I hear Wayne yelling in the distance.  I'm thinking I would like to be anywhere but here at this very moment.  I may need a pacemaker if we ever get out of this predictament!

Wayne FOUND the keys.  Must be some sort of miracle.  A devine intervention. They were in some soft sand covered in leaves at about marker 14 where I put his fanny pack around Yoko's neck.  When I leaned over, they must have fallen out of my pocket.  And, since I was carrying a bag with an apple and food in it along with a leash, I didn't miss them.  As I am walking along towards Wayne I take a picture of the sky.  This is what I see.  Oh yeah....why is Jet limping so fiercely?  Because he has a cockle burr stuck in his right pad.  I remove it and he is his ol happy self again.  Back to the sky.

I felt that the Good Lord had heard me.  It looked as if his arms were reaching out to us.  Viv, my FB friend across the pond calls these types of clouds...Mare's tails.

I did stop and get ONE more picture on the trek back to the truck much to my husband's dismay.  The sun was going down quickly and we still had an hour drive to McNally's.  But, how could I resist this beautiful log to get a photo of the Anaya Five :0)  The "dogs" happily obliged me.

I lied....TWO pictures. Trouble posed next to the river and looked so dang cute.

I fibbed...this is the last photo before the truck.  HAPPY BC's and the sniffin' Jack and Lab.

As soon as we got back to the truck, they all had another round of Jack in the Box hamburger patties.

And, thankfully, they were "dog-tired".....but not as "dog-tired" as I was. 

On our way to McNally's now.  I called and changed out 4 pm reservation to 5 pm.  We raced up the North Fork of the Kern trying to get to McNally's before dark.

YEA!  Made it at 4:45.  Still light enough to get a few pics.  Brand new sign with Johnny's brand on it and a little history of the place.  LOVE it.

Out back looking towards the bridge over the river.

The bridge across the river.  Lots of fun memories.

Fall colors looking UP the river

Yea!  Our favorite waitress, Mercedes, and our favorite seat at the window overlooking the river.  Let the feast begin.  Thank-you Lord.

All of the walls are covered in deer and elk.

Wild turkey, pheasant, and quail with all of the trimmings.

Trust me.  We are thankful for another year!