Friday, April 9, 2010

3644.8 *People Notes*

Day One: Early morning start, heading east out of Seattle, light drizzle. Then came the rain. Then the sleet. Then the slushy 'winter mix'. Then the interstate was closed due to an accident many miles ahead of us and we were at a dead stop watching the snowflakes begin. Then the snowflakes became inches of snow right before our eyes. Then more inches. Then we were told that Snoqualmie Pass was not passable at all unless you had chains or four wheel drive. We had neither of those. We eventually got turned around.


Day One (still): Mid-morning, heading west into Seattle, light drizzle. Approximately four hours into the trip we were roughly six miles from where we had started. Newsflash: this might be a long trip.
Day One (umm, yup - still first day): Late morning, heading south toward Portland, pouring rain. Early afternoon - same. Mid-afternoon - same. Late afternoon - same. Sometime late that day we made it to La Grande, Oregon and the rain finally let up. That was a long day.

Day Two, Three, Four...



This was a sunset in the rearview mirror (Wyoming, I think) and the sunrise the next morning from the same location...

Day five, six, seven...amazing how little entertainment is needed after a week on the road!

Happy Trails!

3644.8

When my people told me that we were leaving the Left Coast and heading to the other Left Coast I had no idea what they were talking about. When they explained that we were leaving Seattle and heading to the southern Gulf Coast of Florida I was okay with that. When they said that I wouldn't be able to go to the dog ranch anymore I was devastated for a full 3 or 8 seconds until they explained that I would get to go to the 'real' beaches again - then I was dog-wiggle, butt-waggin' happy! Then when they said 'let's pack up and go on a road trip again' I was dog-slobbery, paw-prancin' good to go!

They might have left out a couple of teeny-tiny little details about the trip...like the part about passing through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. And the part about the road trip taking FOREVER - in dog time I think this road trip lasted about two months.

All I can say is that the beaches had better be worth it!! Ughhh. Happy Trails!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Cowtown - Not for Dogs! *People Notes*



A few months ago, in a moment of weakness (or stupidity), we decided to sign up for the Cowtown Marathon in Fort Worth, TX. We could have registered for the kids 5k, the 5k, the 10k or even the half marathon...but we registered for the full 26.2 mile marathon. What were we thinking? What were we thinking? What were we thinking? What were we thinking? (Let it be known that with age does NOT come wisdom.) So we flew to Texas the last week of February in the hopes of getting that pesky little marathon item checked of our 'to-do' list.

The more the merrier, right? And so the Cowtown blossomed into a family and friends event which boasted participants as young as 4 (granddaughter, Kayla), runners in the 5k, 10k, half and full marathon, invaluable support on the sidelines and at the finish lines, travelers from Seattle to Alabama, fantastic coordination of lodging, homemade meals, poker party, birthday party, bowling and an absolutely fantastic week spent in Cowtown at the Cowtown!
I have to give a special shout-out to Marie for the best homemade spaghetti dinner EVER!! Thank you, thank you and thank you! What time is dinner next year?
Yes, we did cross the finish line of the marathon. Yes, we were still standing. Yes, we were extremely tired and sore for several days afterward. Yes, we accomplished our goal of FINISHING! Although we never set a specific goal of a set time to run 26.2 miles let me just say for the record that my personal goal was to finish in LESS time than it took me to go through labor and childbirth. And let me just say that I did NOT make that goal! Thanks, Erik. Thanks a lot.

See ya'all next year at the Cowtown!!! Happy trails.