Squelch, squelch!

We looked at the weather forecast last night, a weather warning of heavy prolonged rain. We heard the wind this morning, should we walk the last section or should we catch the bus to Bude instead of walking. Decision made, we'll walk. We set off at 9.05 in the dry walking down the puddly Lane back to the coast where we finished yesterday. As we reached a field of cows, a hailstorm started and I suggested we head for the Hawker's hut but that meant going in the opposite direction and my husband, M, wanted to keep going so we did. We only had two steep river valleys to cross today but climbing down a valley which is running with water is quite precarious. At some point M's rucksack waterproof disappeared and must be blowing around North Cornwall somewhere. We managed the eight miles in exactly four hours in time to catch the bus to Exeter. Our goretex waterproof jackets did not keep us dry, our waterproof trousers didn't fare much better and we were not wearing our winter boots so that's where the squelch, squelch came in as we walked along. They have just said on the local news that some areas had 2 inches of rain today. No photos taken today, everything got wet, even the banknotes in M's wallet. We arrived home after 2 long bus rides with a stop in Exeter for a hot drink and flapjack to warm us up. I picked this dahlia from the garden when we arrived home, it is rather mud splattered, just like our day but we live to tell the tale and look forward to more adventures on the coastal path.