Coon Bluff

Keith and I had made plans to take the dogs to the river to swim on Thursday. But this morning I got a text from Alex (Keith's brother-in-law) that he and Chris were going to the river today, in case we'd like to join them. When he added they were making hot dogs, Keith started hunting for his bathing suit. I did have a late morning appointment I couldn't miss, but promised we'd head for the river once it was over. And so we did.

Alex had already found a spot; he and Chris had, in fact, been here since 10 in the morning. But when we got there, we found that a local herd of wild horses already had the run of the place.

It's possible they were hanging out here because it was almost deserted (of humans). Besides our car and Chris', there was just one other.

However, the presence of the horses was making both Chris and Keith nervous. Keith was afraid they would attack us; so was Chris, who for some reason had been traumatized by a YouTube video of some woman being tossed into the air by a buffalo. The fact that horses and buffalos are two different species with very difference habits and temperments didn't seem to be of significance to him. So, to keep the peace, we went to another spot maybe a hundred yards upstream.

Keith relaxed in the shade and hung onto Lilly's leash so I could concentrate on Ella. We had to keep the dogs on the leash because I didn't trust them not to investigate the horses.

Alex and Ella have a "game" in which Alex splashes water in Ella's face and Ella drinks it. (When we got Ella home, she peed for like five minutes.)

Chris and Keith catching up. (And, yes, Lilly did get to swim.)

But then, the horses, who tend to be as curious as any intelligent being, wandered to our new swimming spot to check on us. Luckily, Chris and Keith were so deep in discussion they didn't notice.