Mid-Summer Travels & A Tropical Storm! - Dominican Republic

All this Hurricane Sandy business has taken quite the effect on the public. Subway and busses were shut down Saturday evening, as well as bridges, tunnels, schools, and universities (horay!). My boyfriend kindly invited me to his place to whether the storm, so I cleaned up my apartment, locked the windows, and packed a bag for the next day or two. I was surprised (though maybe I shouldn't be?) to see that the gas station was out of gas! It must be serious then.

Amidst all of the fuss, the panic reminded me of my trip to Dominican Republic last summer, while I was caught in a tropical storm by the beach...on a horse. I had gone down there with a friend on vacation and we thought it would be fun to go horseback riding by the beach.

And it was a ton of fun! Until the clouds started stirring, and the sky got darker and darker, and the wind picked up quite a bit.

We stopped for a little bit so the horses could take a rest and we took a few photos. The horses didn't seem to be phased by the quickly changing weather.

We really noticed the problem when we were a mile or so away from the stables, and the tide rose higher and higher. We hid in a little hut to get out of the rain for a while.

As the storm picked up, we decided that it was time to try to make it back to the stables and back to the resort. So we galloped through the rain on the beach, in the pouring rain and super strong winds. I lost a contact on the way back- absolutely terrifying. Thank goodness I know how to ride, or that would've been awful. There were a few people who have never ridden before- she had quite the first experience!

 Stay safe everybody! What are your storm stories?