I'm sorry you guys weren't able to make it. Rendy 2018 was a great success and it was the biggest one ever. It looks like the next one is going to require a special use permit because we are definitely starting to exceed the 75-person limit.
Phil and I arrived around 2:30 Thursday afternoon with low, threatening clouds looming over us. We decided that since we were tent camping, a sheltered location would be ideal. We found a suitable little spot, and no sooner had we pulled into it than the rain began to spatter down. I hustled to rig up a high line so we could hang our tarp and perhaps get our tent up before the real rain started, but it was hopeless. I threw the tarp over the line, but before I could get the corners tied off, the heavens opened and Phil and I were forced to retreat. We sat in the truck for a good half hour and more while rain and then hail pelted our foggy windshield and created ever-widening lakes around our tires. I was thankful that I'd packed my rubber muck boots with my raincoat. We got the rain tarp up and then put two more tarps on the ground under our tent. We'd read the weekend's forecast and we were determined to stay dry.
Once it stopped raining I put Finn and Sputnik out on a picket line to eat grass. We've been in such terrible drought in Colorado, these boys hadn't seen grass like this since last year! You can see our little tent in the background. And it did stay nice and dry all weekend even though we had very heavy rain Friday night--as in several inches.
The first thing Phil did after setting up our tent was to scope out the thunderboxes. Dwite is in the background with the kids he brought.
Phil and a few other folks got the tents up. It was cold, wet work. It was too damp that night to start a campfire, so it was a rather cheerless start to the Rendy. We were supposed to hold a NAPgA board meeting Thursday night, but the rain delayed setting up camp, and everyone was too cold, wet, and hungry to face down such formidable topics as amending by-laws and scheduling meetings with the Wild Sheep Foundation.
Friday morning we set up the Rendy store. The shelves are a bit bare here, but things got added as the day progressed. It was a very successful store this year and ended up raising around $3500!
The army tent was so long it wound up encroaching on Finn and Sputnik's tethering area. It turned out very well for them. Since it was a high traffic area, they got loads of attention from everybody who walked by. Finn especially lapped it up.
The board meeting ended up Friday morning, which was supposed to be when our work project took place. Kent was in charge of the work project but he had to be at the board meeting (where we elected him vice president!), so the work project got canceled. The clouds were heavy and threatening, so no one felt like leaving camp to go for a hike. Instead, they hung out and chatted in groups while the board met in the tent. It was nice that people had time to meet and get to know each other. Often times the Rendy ends up being overbooked with activities to the point that no one gets to socialize as much as they'd like. This one wasn't like that.
After lunch, everyone gathered round to hear Marc Warnke talk about hunting with goats, transporting goats, keeping them fit, etc.
Marc and Matt Lyons also talked about the various saddles they've used, and showcased their own design.
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