My First (and Probably Last) Marathon

I did it! I achieved one of my lifetime bucket list goals: to run a marathon. This actually feels like a great achievement not because I managed to run 26.2 miles, but because I spent four months steadily working up to it. I ran three to four days per week for FOUR MONTHS! Some people are amazing runners and that kind of volume is not a big deal. I am not. I run because I want to, because the time alone allows me to work through my thoughts without distraction.

Anyway, back to the marathon. Emily and I chose to run the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. The race started at the Space Needle, ran through the 99 tunnel onto the Via Duct and past Pike Place Market. We ran through Pioneer Square and Columbia City to loop around a beautiful park on the waterfront called Seward Park. Finally we ran along the water to the I-90 bridge, over the water and through the tunnel then back to the Century Link Stadium. The morning was overcast and cool with a bit of misty rain here and there, in a word: perfect!

Mile 15 was particularly powerful. It began with a series of pictures of people who had died of cancer or were dying of cancer, people who had runners honoring them. After an appropriate break were pictures of military men and women who died in service with their names, ages, and date of death. I forced myself to stop reading their ages and look only at their faces. So many were so young. They died before they even had a chance to live. The pictures were followed by a long line of military members with American flags.

Since it was the Rock 'n' Roll marathon, there were bands set up along the course. The most memorable were a drumming troop set up under an overpass which made the beats reverberate through our bodies, a mariachi band on top of an overpass, and the Army band set up at mile 25.5. The Army band had the greatest energy and totally made the last little bit of the race amazing. I crossed the finish line all smiles. (Our time wasn't 5:44, it was 5:17)

 It was a great experience. Em and I limped away from the race with sore knees and hips, but I couldn't have asked for a better running partner. She waited for me through numb feet and tight calves and we worked through some knee pain together near the end. Thanks sister for your patience and friendship. Much love!

Adventures in Costa Rica (Part 2)

Because this trip was long and exciting, I thought I should break it up a bit. Part 1 was coastal Costa Rica. Here is Part 2: the mountains, cloud forest, and San Jose.

Places visited:

Arenal (La Fortuna)

Monteverde

San Jose

Pacuare River

Activities:

Proyecto Asis

Arenal Oasis Night Tour

La Fortuna Waterfall

Sky Adventures Park

Rios Tropicales One Day River Rafting Tour

The drive to Arenal was up a steep, winding, crazy, narrow road through beautiful mountain towns. La Fortuna is a small town in the shadow of the volcano. The first morning, we went to Proyecto Asis, a rescue for wild animals that people have “saved” or tried to tame. They have peccaries (wild boar) of two varieties. Both are kind of cute hairy beasts, but smell horrible. They have a musk gland that shoots milky liquid 3 feet in the air. And people had these as HOUSE PETS! Whaaaaa?!! Next we saw spider monkeys. Jesica and Hercules are friendly. Jesica likes to touch people. Anyone near the cage can hold her hand or she will touch their shoulder or arm. We saw more spider monkeys, aggressive white face monkeys, a baby porcupine, parrots and macaws. They had a very cute, but mean grison which is like a weasel, some coatis and a racoon, along with a huge orange iguana that had been hit by a car. In the back, there was a baby sloth! He was so cute, just munching away on his leaves. Hummingbirds were everywhere and a small non-aggressive crocodile variety had moved into the pond. We fed the animals. The monkeys will always be there, but the birds, small peccaries, coatis, porcupine, and raccoon will be rehabilitated and released. Carlos was an awesome and passionate tour guide.

The night tour jungle tour we booked was unbelievable! It was led by Gerald of Arenal Oasis. The tour started with him teaching us about the noise blue jeans poison dart frogs make and where to find them. We saw three of the tiny frogs! Then we started up the trail finding an assortment of frogs, toads and spiders. When we got to a pond, Gerald stopped us and made us wait while he dealt with two fer-de-lance snakes which are highly aggressive and venomous. He let us see them in pairs and took some pictures for us. He chased off the male which was easier said than done. It bit his umbrella a handful of times while snapping at him, it’s body raised 3 feet in the air. The female didn’t move. He moved us to the opposite side of the bridge and shoved her with his umbrella. After a minute it became apparent that something was wrong. Her spine was broken a little further than mid way up her body. Gerald moved her to an island and we moved on. We saw four more snakes including another fer-de-lance and a banded snail eater that evolved with a single fang designed to dig snails out of their shells. There were see-through glass frogs, red-eyed tree frogs (one jumped on Mike’s face!) and a big crab. Near the end, the guide spotted a cicada in metamorphosis. Super gross. Best tour of the trip.

La Fortuna waterfall is very developed and commercialized. The path is a mostly paved staircase down to a huge falls with a pool at the bottom. The water pressure and current were strong so we could only be in a small portion of the pool. A smaller lower pool offered a different vantage. We took a dip then climbed the 550 stairs back to the car.

We drove the winding, dirt road to Monteverde. It’s not far, but at 25 miles per hour with rough roads and driving rains, it took 3.5 hours! The rains started right after our waterfall visit and continued all night. We found the farm I booked on AirBnb easily. The owner was very chatty (all in Spanish), kind and welcoming. She let us into our cabin, which had a small kitchen, two beds, bathroom, and eggs and tortillas for breakfast. We took a nap then headed out to see the estate.

Finca Lluvias de Gloria is beautiful. It’s about 7 hectares. Ermida, the hostess, grows all sorts of crops intermingled: potatoes, coffee, herbs, corn, fruit trees, beans, etc. She also has 2 pigs, a cow, and chickens. Her primary export is coffee, but she grows all sorts of food to sell at the market. We saw a male maut-maut bird. She made us a beautiful dinner of fish, potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, sweet potato, onion, tomato, avocado, plantains and these cool tree growing fruits(?) called tacacos.YUM! There was so much food. She and her daughter ate leftover, beans, rice, stewed meat and corn tortillas. Whaaat?

The following day was Sky Adventure day! The tour began with an hour and a half walk along a trail with hanging bridges accompanied by a naturalist who explained about how the cloud forest eco systems work. Dad would have loved it. We learned about Ficus trees that are hemiepiphytes, meaning they land on the branch of a tree and use it as a base while growing. Once it is rooted, it starts to engulf the source tree, strangles it, and feeds on it. This creates wild hollow trees. We saw a male Resplendent Quetzal bird. He was gorgeous.

Next was zip lining above the canopy. We took a tram up to an overlook with a view of the volcano and Arenal Lake. We stayed with the same group all day. They were really fun. There were two older canadian ladies and a group consisting of an Indian, an Arab, a Russian, and a Brit. Very fun. The longest cable was over half a mile high above the canopy. It was pretty much like flying. The tour included a visit to the herpetarium to see snakes, lizards and frogs. The side with the venomous snakes was closed.

We did a night walk with Kinkajou. It was ok. The guide moved really fast and we had crappy lights, but we saw an armadillo, two green pit vipers in trees, a stick bug, a tarantula, and three glass frogs. If you're looking at doing a night tour, choose Arenal.

We spent a day transitioning to San Jose, the capital. The following morning, we got up super early and walked a km to the Gran Hotel Costa Rica for Rios Tropicales to pick us up for rafting at 6 AM. The drive to the operations center was two hours. They fed us a typical Costa Rican breakfast while we waited for the group from Arenal.

It was another twenty five minutes drive to the put in site on the Pacuare River. Rios Tropicales split us into two groups, English-speaking and Spanish-speaking. Our raft included me and Mike, a German girl, a French girl, and two French Canadian girls. Our guide was great, 15 years experienced and loves the river. The four girls were neither experienced or strong paddlers. Regardless, we had a great time. The river was beautiful. Pristine jungle bordered both sides. We saw waterfalls, crashed through Class I-IV rapids, and generally had a great time for the three hours we were on the river. The water level was perfect, not too low, not too high. Lunch was served back at the operations center before a two hour drive back to San Jose.

The rain was POURING down in San Jose. We opted just to get soaked to the bone and walk back to the apartment since we were already damp and needed to shower anyway. My sandal broke part way back and I was glad I had my sneakers from rafting. It didn’t stop raining that night, but lightened a little.

The last day in Costa Rica, we went for a run to a park I’d seen on a map then headed out for breakfast on a busy pedestrian street in the city. We went for a walk to explore downtown San Jose a bit and bought snacks for the airplane ride. We decided it was time to leave and caught a bus to the airport. It was direct and so easy. Do not eat at the airport. Lunch was super expensive, disgustingly greasy burgers at Smashburger. We paid $27 for 2 burgers and one side of fries. Just don't do it.

If I had it all to do again, I would have planned to stay a night or two on the Pacuare River. It was just so beautiful. I would visit less places. We put 850 MILES (1380 km) on the rental car in 10 days. With a max speed limit of 80km/hour, that's a lot of drive time. Next trip, I want to go diving. There's an amazing island way off the coast with hammerhead sharks

Celebrating 30 in Costa Rica (Part 1)

Last month I turned 30. 30!? To celebrate, I wanted to go somewhere and do something awesome. So I chose Costa Rica, based on activities and ticket prices. I can’t believe 30 years of my life have passed already. It’s a good time to reflect on whether I am where I thought I would be at 30. The answer is a resounding no. In my childhood, teens and even into college, I never thought I would be as brave or adventurous or free as I am. I would have thought I’d have a boring engineering job and be wrangling a kid or two. Instead, I’m successful, highly independent, with a job I enjoy most days, a few great friends, and a partner who keeps me smiling and laughing. All told, I’m very satisfied with my first 30 years and I hope that the next 30 years bring as much adventure, variety and intrigue.

Because this trip was long and exciting, I thought I should break it up a bit. Part 1 is coastal Costa Rica. Part 2 is the mountains, cloud forest, and San Jose.

Places visited:

Playa Agujas

Dominical

Osa Peninsula

Manuel Antonio

Activities

Danyasa yoga classes

Nauyaca Waterfall

Corcovado National Park hike

Costa Rica Surf Camp lesson

Manuel Antonio National Park tour

The day we left, Mike and I woke up at 1:30 AM to catch a 5 AM flight to LAX. When we arrived at the gate in LA for the flight into San Jose, Costa Rica, the flight board read “Canceled”. The Turrialba volcano had minorly erupted, rocketing a plume of ash a kilometer into the air. As such, flights into its airport were being rerouted to Liberia, Costa Rica, about three hours Northwest. I called Budget and changed our rental car pickup to Liberia. Car insurance of $28 per day is mandatory. WTF. Below is a map of all of the places we visited and roads we drove in 12 days.

The roads in Costa Rica are two lane highways with speed limits that change constantly. No one really seems to care about them though. The drive from Liberia to Playa Agujas took about 3.5 hours in the dark. It was terrifying. Semi trucks with angry looking lights bore down on us. The road wasn’t recently paved and a little rough. Plus, passing on a two lane winding, jungle road is not ideal.

In Dominical, we found our resort after a whole bunch of U turns and backtracking. Turns out the road Google Maps (BTW, Google Maps Offline is the greatest!) wanted us to take was UNDER the highway. Villas Rio Mar is a great three-star resort at a really reasonable price ($69 including breakfast). The grounds are beautiful and immaculate with a variety of tropical plants and iguanas roaming free. We were upgraded to a suite in the back of the resort with two king sized beds and air conditioning. It was huge, much more than we needed. The resort has a nice pool, tennis court, concrete mini-golf course and an outdoor “gym”.

Checking out the town, we walked along the beach briefly and looked at some of the shops. A flash and a rumble later, rain poured from the skies. To escape we stopped at Tortilla Flats for ceviche, nachos and fried plantains. Afterward, we walked to Danyasa, a yoga studio in town to see about classes. There was a class in an hour. Yoga was a large class, candlelit, on a second story balcony with a tin roof and netting around the sides. The studio had mirrors on one side, fans, and cool overhead lighting. The class was excellent, taught by a student who was studying there for a month. Thunder continued to rumble through the class.

The following morning yoga class at Danyasa was taught by a girl named Serra who was everything an amazing yoga teacher should be: lithe, flexible, beautiful, with a septum ring and half her head shaved. The class was phenomenal, by far the best I’ve been to (and I have a few teachers I adore). She held poses long enough to make me work, emphasis on form was key, and she even sang a cappella for us in savasana.

On a recommendation, we found Nauyaca Waterfall. Since we had a 4x4, it was an 8 km round trip hike up a steep road to get to the falls. We saw the largest stream of leaf-cutter ants I’ve ever seen and a spotted paca, which is a weird little rodent similar to a capybara. The falls were incredible, double layered. Since we went so late in the day, we were the last people there. The upper falls are taller, stronger, impressive. They crash over large, faceted boulders, spraying mist everywhere. Mike had to climb all over the rocks, of course. The lower falls are beautiful, still powerful, but more demure with a big pond to swim in. Once we jumped in, the rain began to fall. It poured harder and harder until everything we brought was soaked. Climbing out, there were frogs and lizards all over the place. Once we were back on the trail, there was no more rain or even evidence that it had rained. Curious.

On my birthday, we caught a very early breakfast before jumping in the trusty Terios for a drive to the Osa Peninsula where there is a large, highly biodiverse national park called Corcovado. Once we finally arrived in Jimenez and found someone to talk to we learned that you need a permit to hike there and hikes start at 6 am. Luckily, we were given a map and found there are a couple of "community trails" to hike. Le Tigre was about 8 km down a dirt road into a town or village. There were cowboys on horses nodding to us as we passed. We passed a closed ranger station and ran out of road. At the ranger station there was an overgrown path leading up and around the back. A grizzled old man with a machete walked up to the car, told us “pura vida” and asked what we were doing. I told him we were going for a walk up the trail. He nodded and left. Strange.

Before I could overthink it, I grabbed my camera and headed up the trail. Within a short distance, I looked up from the trail to see a large black body hanging in a low palm. I followed it up to see the neck and head of what I believe was a rat snake. Eep! I kept a bit of distance and contiued walking slowly and quietly trying to see a sloth or band of monkeys. At the end of the trail is a lookout with nice views. We saw birds with red bodies and black heads and wings, little gold birds, lots of leaf-cutters, a few butterflies and some lizards, but no more snakes or mammals. The walk down was uneventful. Overall, it was a very sweaty, slow, quiet walk in the rain forest. 

By the time we made it back to the car, the thunderheads had rolled in and I was starving. We stopped at a cool patio restaurant (part of a resort) on the side of the road with amazing views of the Osa peninsula and a toucan in a tree. The rain began while we ate. It was lovely. That evening we caught our last Danyasa yoga class. It was all about alignment. Hard class, but well taught. As I lay in savasana, the rain pounded the tin roof, lightning flashed and thunder crashed around me. Powerful! I believe the next 30 years will be just that.

We booked a surf lesson in town for the last day in Dominical. It wasn’t until 1pm so we went back to the resort. Determined not to miss out on the amenities, we played tennis for an hour then swam in the pool. We chatted for a long time with a retired gentleman with a fascinating life story. He’d recently lost his wife to cancer and this was his first time back to Costa Rica without her. I may have spent too much time in the sun. All too soon, it was time for check out.

Costa Rica Surf School provided a fabulous surf lesson. Surfing was exhausting and fun. The sun was blazing over 3-4 foot waves. Our instructor was named Ezekiel. Mike was able to get up after a few tries and did his own thing for most of the lesson. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out when to paddle, when to stand, etc. I did ride several waves though. Yay me! The lesson was 2 hours with a 15 minute break for water, mangoes and bananas. We were exhausted afterward from fighting to get out past the break. Check out our sunburns!!

The next stop was Quepos, about an hour North up the coast home to Manuel Antonio national park. After Corcovado and reading reviews we decided a guide was worthwhile. Ours was not. His scope was handy, but he mumbled so softly Mike couldn’t hear him and I only caught about half of it. We saw bats, crabs, sloths, lizards, deer, white face monkeys, howler monkeys, and beautiful blue morphos butterflies with their drunken flight. We also saw a coati and a capybara. There were some adolescent white face monkeys wrestling on a lookout tower. The sloth picture was taken using the guide's scope. That cute little monkey in the picture below is pretty dangerous. They're mean little beasts. The one pictured was actually that close. The camera is not zoomed. Playa Manuel Antonio is gorgeous, crescent moon shaped with light lapping waves. There were tide pools on one side. Mike found a cool spotted eel swimming from an inlet to a pool and some sea slugs. My sunburn made being in the sun a little less than pleasant. We did a bit of hiking and headed for cooler climates.

On the road to Arenal, there was a sign with a crocodile on it before an overpass with a lot of tourists staring over the side. We decided to stop and I’m glad we did. The brown river below the overpass was full of huge prehistoric beasts! I counted 27. A group of college kids bought a bag of frozen meat and started throwing chunks into the water. The crocodiles churned over each other looking for a treat. The last bit of meat appeared to be a hip joint from a cow or other large mammal. It bounced off the head of one croc and another caught it. With a snap of it’s jaws, the joint shattered with a sickening crunch. They make dinosaur noises too. Scary!

Ragnar Zion: Running through the Desert

Last week I had a second chance to complete Ragnar Trail at Zion Ponderosa Resort outside of Zion National Park in Southern Utah. Ragnar events are relay races of both road and trail varieties. The trail events have a central village where everyone stays and three (green, yellow, red) trail loops of varying degrees of distance and difficulty. Last year, Mike and I met up with a group of friends to take on this race. Mother Nature slapped us down good and hard with torrential rains that began about 10 hours into the event and didn't stop until the trails became dangerous muddy slip-n-slides and the race was called off. This year was different. It was 86 degrees and sunny on Friday and a bit cooler on Saturday. Perfect! I was runner 7 and Mike was 8, which means we were the last two in the lineup. It also meant that we cheered our first runner out of the gate and had about 8 hours to wait until I could go do my first loop.

In Ragnar trail runs, each team has to provide a volunteer. Ours has been my awesome mom for the past two years. Since we had so much time, the three of us drove into the National Park to do a bit of exploring. We hiked up the Canyon Overlook Trail which had phenomenal views of Zion with shear red rock cliffs bracketing a surprisingly green desert valley. Beautiful! On the way back to the car we walked up a dry riverbed for a bit more secluded hike and enjoyed the less dramatic, but equally interesting scenery.

My first loop was green which you would think would mean it is easy. No. That is not at all the case. Green is a hilly, winding 3.4 mile course down into and back out of a canyon. It traverses out to a great view of Checkerboard Mesa then starts long switchbacks down. The switchbacks aren't nice long downhill sections. They're hills, up and down and up and down. Who planned this trail!? The run ends with tight uphill switchbacks that 95% (72% of statistics are made up on the spot, right?) of people ended up hiking. I completed the loop in 44 minutes, which was longer than last year. In 2015, green was the only loop I completed before the race was canceled. Boo.

One of our runners has a bad back, but thought she might be able to complete parts of the race. She jogged her long (red) loop with her fiancé as a pacer, but had to give up her green and yellow loops. Another runner sprained her ankle. Therefore, Mike, Jessica and I each ran an extra 3-4 miles for a total of 18.5ish miles.

The second loop I ran was red. It's about 8 miles. I started my run in the dark and scared Mom half to death by jumping on her for a hug while she was volunteering. I'm sweet like that. The run was exactly what I wanted. It began with amazing stars and moderate inclines for a few miles. Then the sky turned dusky and slowly brightened until I was running into a gorgeous firey orange sunrise. I decided at some point I should run rather than stopping every three minutes to take pictures, so this was not the full grandeur. I completed the loop just as the best colors faded. Mike took the bib for back-to-back green and yellow loops while I went back to the wagon for a tiny bit of sleep. Sleep isn't really a thing in Ragnar since the race goes through the night until all eight runners have each run all three loops. Their motto is "Run. Camp. Sleep? Repeat." Pretty spot on.

 Because the injuries slowed us down, the last six runners ran in pairs to finish in the allotted time. Jessica and I ran green. A mile in, a big fat snake decided to make his move across the trail before someone stepped on him. I panicked, turned around, and ran smack into Jessica who laughed at me, rightfully. Since the snake was taking his dear sweet time in disappearing, Jess led me in a wide arc through the woods. My hero! We had some good adrenaline for the next half mile.

At the transition point, Jess passed off to Heather and I continued on the yellow route (4ish miles). Yellow is the loop that has the best views. So I was very put out at having missed it last year. Heather and I run similar paces and did a great job of pushing each other through the heat while keeping an eye out for snakes. The views were everything I had hoped for. It was a beautiful run with some good up-hills and fun down-hills.

We passed off to Mike and Matt to run the last red loop. Mike was feeling better and killed it, finishing a half hour before he thought he would injured. We ran across the finish line as a team. It was a great experience and my team mates really helped make it so. They're such impressive man and ladies. Who knows, maybe we will be back next year.

A Park City, UT Ski Holiday

Park City is known for its incredible skiing. I spent my youth learning to ski the soft snow of The Canyons and Deer Valley Resort.  My dad taught me everything I know about skiing. He has drilled into my brain how to react to different obstacles,use my poles, and most efficiently navigate the moguls. I'm ever improving and quite proud of my abilities. I was his prize student... until Mike came along.

Mike is the son Dad always wanted. He's athletic and quick to learn any new skill, unafraid and strong. This week's adventure marked the 10th through 12th times Mike has skied in his life. Unfortunately, we only have a couple of ski days per year. Last year he was slowly, though fearlessly, making single turns down tight chutes among the pines in Centennial Trees (a double black diamond). It was slow progress. This year I was racing to keep up as we both strung quick tight turns together, weaving our way through the evergreens. Amazing! What took me years and years to learn has taken him almost no time. I'm both proud and envious.

This trip held a family ski day for the first day. My two sisters, dad, step-mom, Mike and I spent a whole day skiing groomers, moguls and trails through the trees. The day was beautiful and sunny, finishing with smiles and tired legs all around. We sang whichever songs were in our heads as we glided along. I love my family! Aunt Kristen held a dinner and craft party for the girls afterward.

Day two was a smaller group: Mike, Dad, Lorrie, and me. This day was more moguls and trails than groomers. We skied a hidden ridge line and visited my favorite little cabin in the woods. The cabin is really nothing more than a tiny wooden shelter, but it marks the beginning of a natural half-pipe which is by far my favorite spot on the whole resort. A note about Lorrie: Lorrie is my step-mom. She's unassuming and quiet, but should NEVER be underestimated. She's incredibly smart, for one. She's also like Mike, good at everything she tries. She takes on every trail, bowl, ridge, chute and run with determination. She doesn't care about being fast. She simply goes and conquers. By the end of the run, she's smiling triumphantly.

Our final day started out with a 3 mile run through the North Fields of Heber City, which is where my mom used to run when I was a kid. The sun was just starting to lighten the sky when Mike and I headed out. As we jogged among horse pastures, the low clouds on the horizon began to glow pink and purple against the incoming golden light. The run ended before the sun breached the valley though Mount Timpanogas was basking in the morning rays.

Lorrie couldn't join us for skiing the third day. We spent almost all of our time in Centennial Trees and Triangle Trees among the aspens and pines. In total we had three beautiful days with spring conditions. It was low 40s on the mountain, mashed potatoes at the bottom, with varying texture elsewhere. Every day graced us with sunshine, intermittent blue and moody skies. Another weekend full of happy memories.

A Stay in a Beautiful Mt. Hood National Forest Fire Lookout

This week my partner in crime and I stayed at Clear Lake Butte Lookout outside of Government Camp, Oregon. There are about 2000 active fire lookouts in the US. Of those, many can be rented in the off season when they aren't being used. Because of how unique they are and the amazing views they offer, booking is extremely hard. Dates become available six months ahead of time. These dates are almost immediately snatched up. I was lucky and found two days together, probably because of the poor timing. We stayed the 6-8 of January which were Wednesday and Thursday nights. That's right, after two weeks off for Christmas, I went back to work for two days before taking off again. My boss was remarkably not upset about it.

The weather promised to be cold and blizzard while we were there. We rented snowshoes and packed our bags with extra camping gear, not sure what to expect. When we arrived at the parking area, the weather was pretty good, mostly clear and sunny. The lookout is about 4 miles in along roads maintained by snowcat for snowmobilers. The path in is well marked as long as you adhere to what the website reads and don't decide to follow directions Google Maps gives you. Google knows, right? Wrong. Google told us to turn right about a mile too soon. So we followed that road to the next turn enjoying the solitude and beautiful scenery. Google said to make a left. There was no left to be made. We walked forward and backward a thousand feet or so. Nothing. We took the Mike route and headed into the forest in a foot and a half of powder.

Using the GPS on my phone, which said we were on the right track, we followed directions until we clearly weren't going to find a road. Then instead of trying to maintain this route, we just aimed for the lookout. Somehow this worked out for us. We wandered through a couple of miles of deep, untouched snow. The huge evergreen trees were sagging under the weight of the snow on their branches. It was silent, beautiful and unique. Mike did most of the trail breaking up the side of the mountain. He's kind of amazing like that. By the time we found the lookout, the sun had just set. It had taken us about 3.25 hours to walk in.

The lookout station consisted of three buildings: the lookout itself, a wood shed, and an outhouse. The lookout is 40' tall and maybe 15 feet square. Inside are a kitchenette, a desk, a wood stove, drawers and a bed, with windows making up all the walls. The views were astounding! We could see Mount Hood majestically towering through the clouds, two beautiful alpine lakes, thousands of acres of trees and snow. Once Mike had the fire roaring, the building warmed up very fast and stayed as warm as we let it (which was a bit too warm the first night). There are games, puzzles, cards and magazines stocked in the tower. Solar panels power a single overhead bulb and a mini-fridge. I cooked smoked salmon chowder for dinner and we played Phase 10 before bed.

We awoke in a cloud. The tower was completely socked in by fog.I made breakfast and packed a day bag while Mike shoveled the ice and snow from the stairs. (As an aside, I realize as I write this how very much we've fallen into traditional roles: I make food, Mike does the work. Hmmmm.... Really, I helped! I brought up firewood, shoveled the catwalk, and shouted encouragement. See? Helpful!) We saw two snowmobilers who stopped briefly outside. They were our only visitors. After yesterday's exertion, Mike thought it might be a good idea to recon our way out since he had to be back for work Friday afternoon. We walked right down to the road we started on following a perfectly groomed road all the way there. It would have saved us a ton of time, but would not have been nearly as special or beautiful. The day ended up being a typical Pacific Northwest mixture of fog, sunshine, clear skies, clouds, and snow flurries. It was warm enough that we snowshoed in t-shirts.

When we returned to the lookout, Mike chopped enough wood to ensure the next couple of guests would be well-stocked. We watched the sun set over Timothy Lake. The snow dusted trees glowed in the light. It was gorgeous! Seriously, look at the picture below!!!I made turkey and sweet potato chili for dinner. Before bed, we carefully navigated the icy steps to the ground and stargazed. Without light pollution, the sky was clear. We could see a billion stars and the dusting of the Milky Way. Mike let the fire die during the night so he could clean out the ashes in the morning. It was still around 60 when we awoke.

As we strapped on our snowshoes, the first bit of sunrise was coloring the sky. It lit the horizon and accentuated the perfect sliver moon right above it. So beautiful. We walked out in the dark without our lights. The snow made it bright enough to see. The walk back to the car took an hour and 20 minutes. Our route in was so much longer, but I'd say worth it. Mount Hood was radiant in the morning sun on the drive out of the forest. We will absolutely be going there again! If you're reading this, go book a lookout tower for a night or two. It's worth it!! Oh, we did get Mike back in time for work. He even had time to shower first, luckily for his coworkers.

Running the Las Vegas Strip at Night

A week or so ago, Mike and I flew down to Las Vegas to meet two of my friends and two lovely sisters for the Rock and Roll Half-Marathon. The race is run after sundown on the strip. They actually shut down the entire road so I could run among the glittering lights, gamblers, and strip clubs. Ok, it wasn't just for me, but it was really amazing watching 45,000 people assemble to run 10k, 13.1 miles or 26.2 miles together. There were live bands and DJs along the way to keep us pumped up. We ran, walked, jogged and tripped our way down the strip in our highlighter yellow Brooks tops.

Emily, Mike, Shelley and I stayed together through the whole thing. The last 4-5 miles were really tough. Mike had been sick and could barely train. He was hurting. However, he's an amazing man and finished the whole thing. The four of us crossed the finish line together holding hands. Jessica and Sylvia were just a few minutes behind, nursing their own injuries. My family is freaking amazing!