Camping trip to Willamette National Forest May 09

This past weekend, Addy and I went camping.  I had decided to go somewhere in the valley and found out online about Willamette National Forest, which is 50 miles East of Albany (3 hrs SSE of Portland).  There are many different campgrounds at different elevations most having opened only a week or two earlier and the ones at higher elevations still being closed by snow.  We left home in the evening and didn't get to area until dark.  I hadn't really decided on which campground to stay at, but had somewhat randomly decided to stay at a smaller one called House Rock.  The gravel road down to the campground was a little scary in the dark, and we didn't really know if it was going to be nice or not.  We got the tent set up and crashed for the night.  When we woke in the morning, we found that we have hit a gold mine.  The campsite was right on the creek that rushed past, separate from the other sites by trees with a fire pit, picnic table and room for 2 tents (not that we needed it).  I started a fire using the teepee method, which Addy criticized and said that she was going to make the next fire using the log cabin : )  

After breakfast burritos and coffee, we were ready to hit the trail.  We walked to the camp hosts RV and they pointed us in the direction of the trailhead.  The first item of interest was the camp's namesake, House Rock, which is a cavern that settlers, indians, and others would use to take shelter.  It was pretty neat, but nothing compared to the overhang at Silver Falls.  The next point of interest were some falls that fed the creek that went past our campsite.  Again, not the most impressive falls, but still gorgeous with a rock wall backdrop and the sheer volume of water.  From there, we joined the Santiam Wagon Trail which is a trail that follows the old wagon road from Albany to Eastern Oregon, past Sisters.  The trail follows over 29 miles of the old road through ridges, valleys, and rivers.  It was fun to imagine, for a moment, what it would have been like to be the people traveling on the old wagon road.  Having to cross the rivers with your cargo and keeping your horses under control and all the difficulties they may have faced.  We hiked for a few miles, enjoying the sun, beauty, and quiet.  We didn't see a single other person out all morning.  It was just Addy, Jackson, and me.  It was just what I wanted and needed.  We decided to turn around after reaching a outcrop that afforded some great pics.  Jackson was beat, too.  He panted the whole way back.  We went back to the site and ate lunch, lounged in the sun by the creek and read our books.  

I still wanted to check some other stuff out in the area, but it was further away, so we jumped in the car and went sight-seeing.  The drive itself was gorgeous: ridges of fir trees, river valleys, and snow capped peaks.  We stopped at a waterfall lookout and were amazed again at the volume of water coursing over the cliff.  There was a placard that said it was twice the volume of Multnomah Falls.  There was a hiking trail that we followed down to the next falls.  The water was cold and blue from the snowmelt and kind of scary, because it was so fast.  After Addy snapped-up some great photos, we drove on south through more of the national forrest.  I wanted to check out a natural hot spring that I had seen online.  The hot springs were near a beautiful reservoir.  There was a cooling tower near the dam.  I read the placard and it was actually installed to cool the water coming out of the dam back down to the temperature it was naturally before being warmed in the reservoir.  This helps to keep the habitat intact for fish and other fauna.  It was pretty interesting.  We hiked back to the hot spring and it was under construction and disappointing.  We drove back to camp and had some burgers for dinner, relaxing around the fire with cold ones.  Addy made the fire and it worked much better than mine, of course.

The next morning, we took our time eating breakfast and getting things together to pack up.  Once everything was dry and packed, we drove to the trailhead of the hike that I thought I was leading us to the day before, Rooster Rock.  The trail was in the Menagerie Wildness, which I read had many rock formations and was popular with rock climbers.  The trail proved to be pretty intense.  It was a steep grade and continued that way the entire climb.  I believe it was an elevation gain of 1800 ft in 2.1 miles!  We took breaks, mostly for Jackson as he was already tired from the day before and would laid down as often as we would let him, and enjoyed the weather and views of the valley.  We didn't see anyone, again, until we made the summit (3657 ft).  There were a group of rock climbers scaling Rooster Rock itself.  We enjoyed the sun and the view, but unfortunately had forgotten the camera in the car.  The hike down was much easier (but we felt it later!) and Jackson led the way to the car.  

We had lunch packed, but decided to wait and have a picnic by the lake we had seen (by moonlight) on the way to camp on Friday.  We stopped at a viewpoint at the western end of the reservoir/lake and laid out a blanket on the bluff.  The weather was truly amazing and we just laid there in the sun on the blanket, reading and wishing that we didn't have to go back home and that the day could go on and on.  Eventually, it was time to head home.  Luckily, this is just the start to the summer.

Pear Blossom Run 09

Easter weekend, Addy and I went down to Grant's Pass (GP) to see her family and to participate in the 33rd annual Pear Blossom Run.  This is something we had planned on doing since we started doing registered runs.  Addy's dad, Mark, was on the cross country team in high school and ran the race in one of its first 10 years, when it used to be 13 miles (half marathon) instead of the 10 miles it is now.  He runs now and is on our Hood to Coast team, so he thought it would be fun for us all to run the Pear Blossom together.  That was months ago, by the time of the actual race, there were many more family and friends involved, which made it even more fun.  

We drove down to GP on Friday night after work.  We were going to get in late, so we stopped for dinner in Eugene at the Eugene City Brewery.  We hadn't been there before and when we arrived, we discovered that it is actually owned by Rogue Brewing.  Which was great, because one of Addy's favorite Rogue beers is actually one that is brewed there.  It is the Honey Orange Wheat by Track City Ales.  It is a great wheat beer: fresh, a little citrusy with a great balance that you could drink all day.  I had their seasonal IPA which was great as well.  We finally got into GP and hung out with her mom and dad for a while before we all hit the sack to be rested for the run in the morning.

We got up early, since we had to meet people and the race was actually 45 minutes south in Medford.  We met up with the rest of our group at the race.  The people running the 10 mile run were: Me, Addy, Mark (her dad), Jessica (her sister), and Andrew (her cousin from LA).  Several others had decided participate and do the 2 mile walk: Kim (her mom), Kacie (her aunt and Andrew's mom), Jeremy (Jessica's boyfriend), Brittany (her cousin from Bend), Diana (her aunt and Brittany's mom), Deanne and Aaron (Jessica's friends since high school).  I was meeting several of them for the first time and it was everyone's first time meeting Jeremy.  Everyone was in good spirits and excited to be out doing something good for themselves together.  The weather was perfect for a run.  It was in the low 60's and partly cloudy, with low humidity.  The course was supposed to be flat and fast, and the participants are mostly from Southern Oregon, which I now believe should be called Runner's Home.  There is a history of great runners from here, the most famous being Steve Prefontaine.  The University of Oregon is in Eugene and has a serious track and field team, several of who come to run this race.  

Back to our race, we got lined up, the muskets fired, and we were off.  I felt great for the first 4 miles, pushed myself through the next couple of miles, then found a pace setter that I stayed with for several miles, eventually passed them, and at the end was pushed to my limits by a friendly competitor.  It was my best race to date.  I found my pace setter and thanked her and congratulated her, then walked back to cheer Addy on to finish.  She had a great race too, as did her sister and cousin.  Her dad unfortunately strained his calf, but finished strong, with his daughters running with him through the finish line.  

Results: 

Brett         1:10:35     7:03 min/mile pace    123/1270 overall place

Addy        1:26:52     8:41 min/mile pace     604/1270 overall place

Andrew    1:29:46     8:59 min/mile pace     717/1270 overall place

Jessica    1:42:50    10:17 min/mile pace   1039/1270 overall place

Mark         1:50:02    11:00 min/mile pace   1136/1270 overall place

The winner was a 29 year old guy, who finished in 49:21 (4:56 pace)!  He is a crazy distance runner who 2 weeks ago ran and won an ultra marathon (50 marathon).  After the run, we all went to eat at the local pizza joint that Addy grew up on, Abby's Legendary Pizza.  There were 15 of us there and we all got our fill of pizza and beer and had a good time talking and relaxing.  From there, a small group of us adults went to a local place with good beer and hung out there talking some more.  Then we decided we wanted to head back to addy's parents' place and grill out.  We had carne asada, kim's awesome "chopped-upped", and margaritas.  It was a fun afternoon in the sun with family and some crass humor.  A great way to kick off the spring.

The next day, we did what we always do in the morning at addy's parents' house.  Get up late, drink a pot of coffee, hang out in our pajamas, and talk about whatever comes to mind.  Its so great and relaxing to just be there enjoying each other's company with no agenda and no pressure to do anything else.  Eventually we did get going, since we had plans to go to addy's great grandma's back in Medford.  It was a full house with us, addy's aunt and her family, and jessica and jeremy.  We had a great meal with her grandma's famous spiral cut ham as the main dish.  After we ate, her grandma wanted to play give-away games.  She finds treasures at the local thrift store and wanted to give away some as gifts.  She would have a guess a number closest to the one she was thinking of, or guess how many macaroni's are in a jar, or pick a card our of the deck and the high card won.  The gifts were anything from fake flowers to books to nice quilts.  Everyone won something and then some wheeling and dealing ensued.  The were many alliances that were formed and just as quickly broken.  It was a lot of fun and had some hilarious moments.  Unfortunately we had to leave earlier than we would have liked since I had to work in the morning.  It was a great weekend and it was really fun getting to meet some more of Addy's family and I always enjoy hanging out with her folks.  I can't wait till the next time we all get together.

short run 4/20/09

Man, I do not like taking a break from running!  Its always twice as hard to get started again.  Well, today I said enuf was enuf and went right after work (it helps that it was absolutely f-ing gorgeous in Portland today).  Just decided to see how far I could get on the Springwater from our house in 30 min, then turn around and come back.  I made it to Utmalia and 17th (in Sellwood), which is about 4 miles.  I took a little breather there and stretched, then headed back.  I did a total of about 8 miles in less than 90 minutes.  Not bad, but my pace was all over the place.  If I'm going to run the 1/2 marathon like I want to, I've got to get out there and put in some solid 10 mi runs and a few 15 milers to get comfortable with 13.  Well, I've got till June 13th (Helvetia Half) to get in the groove.  Wish me luck.

Brad's Birthday Weekend 09

This past weekend we celebrated the birth of my best friend, Brad Webster.  His birthday is auspicious in that it is the first day of spring as well as being the day after my dad's birthday.  So, friday night finally rolls around and we head over to Phil's apt. to do what Brad wants to do . . . get wasted playing a board game.  But not just any board game, a game that he has been toting around for years.  Its called Pass-out and he is psyched.  We head over to Phil's bearing a cake that Addy has made for Brad and our favorite appetizer, jalepeno poppers.  The cake is incredible and hilarious, because it is decorated as a Four Loko can.  For those of you not in the know (unhipsters), Four Loko is a malt liquor energy drink that tastes like Hawaiian Punch.  It is 11% ABV and is Brad's new drink of choice.  This was probably the secondary theme of the night, as when we showed up, we found a case, literally, of Four Loko in Phil's fridge procured by the host and Brent, new friend and Palio employee.  

Shortly after we arrived, I got a call from Andrew letting me know that he and Tyler were at the train station.  I went and retrieved them quickly, so we could get this party started.  When we got back to Phil's, we started the game.  It is basically a monopoly board, but instead of properties on every square, there are directions on who needed to take a drink (ie. green team, blue team, all drink).  The squares where you draw cards were of 2 types, just like in Monopoly.  Either say a tongue twister correctly the first time (the object of the game was to do this correctly and collect 10 of these cards) or some kind of choice card (ie. everybody smoke, get out of bar free, take 7 drinks and go straight to the bar).  It was a fun game and we had great teams.  The teams and game changed a little throughout the night as some other friends came by and took the place of other friends (Faith, Red, Donald and Krista).  I was the first to follow the literal direction of the game and passed the f out on phil's rug in the other room.  Apparently, gameplay continued for a while and much fun ensued.  There aren't many pictures, but the ones I have are not PG, so you'll just have to imagine.

Sunday we met up for breakfast at the Cricket, one of my favorite breakfast spots in Portland.  The wait for a table of 5 sucked, but we stayed and I felt bad for the ones that were hung-over.  The food made it worth it, though.  May I recommend the Saint's Hash, a bowl of diced potatoes, cajun seasoned, with 3 eggs, peppers, onions, and hollandaise sauce over the top.  The flavors all combine delightfully to create a somewhat creamy, spicy taste.  The portion is perfect and the flavors keep me coming back.  After breakfast, Andrew, Tyler, Addy and I went back to our house to get cleaned up and just hang out for a little bit.  Once we were all feeling a little restless, we headed to Powell's.  We all found something and then decided we wanted to spend a little more time out and about and enjoy the sun.  We ended up on NW 23rd, people watching, shopping, and enjoying the weather.  We grabbed lunch at Laurelwood.  I really like their beer and the food is good.  Plus it is really nice, but laid back.  Once we got a taste of good beer, we wanted another, so we went to the Horse Brass to play some darts, while having great beer.  They always have some of the best and most varied taps in town.  We stayed there getting beat by Tyler at darts for a while, just talking and having a good time.  It got late and we got hungry, so we ended the evening at Dots.  Their food is awesome if you are looking for some greasy, gut filling, mouthwatering grub.  Especially if you enjoy said food in a hipster diner with low lights and a staff of hipsters who are convinced they are the coolest kids in town.  

It was a great weekend and it had been way too long since we had seen andrew and tyler.  We all made plans to see each other again soon.  Hopefully we actually follow through.  

Portland Shamrock Run 2009

This past weekend (March 14th, 15th), Addy's parents came up to Portland to visit.  The is the first time her parents have seen the house.  It was nice to have them up, I always enjoy hanging out with them.  The occasion was the Shamrock run on the waterfront on Sunday.  Addy, me, her dad, her aunt and uncle were all registered to run.  

Saturday I had to work, but Addy and her folks got to go thrifting together at a few goodwills before I was off.  Addy made out (she always does) with a couple pair of jeans and hand-bags.  When I got home, we sat around for a while and talked until we got hungry and decided it was time to get some food.  Last time we were in Grant's Pass, they took us out to a new pizza joint called Circle J.  They had some great pizza and good beer on tap.  So we decided to return the favor and get them some good pizza and, of course, some portland microbrew.  So, we went to HUB (Hopworks Urban Brewery).  If you haven't had the Cascade Mountain Range, it is AMAZING!  

Sunday Morning!  Time to race.  The weather was absolutely crummy.  40 degrees, overcast, and raining.  Man, it was cold!  We got there almost 2 hours before the race started.  It was dark and cold and I parked too far away.  The volunteers were still setting up the tents when we got there.  We went to pick up our t-shirts and of course, they were already out of small T-shirts for Addy.  The cool thing is we all got free tees from last year, because they had a bunch left.  After we got our race bibs, we went to find a warm, dry place to spend the next hour.  Unfortunately, Addy and I still don't know downtown that well.  So, the only place we could find was a Starbucks.  Also unfortunately, it was tiny and also full of people already.  So, we ended up standing outside in a doorway for most of the time.  This did nothing to help our warm-up for the race.  Addy's dad and aunt and uncle were all running the 5K so they started 30 minutes before us.  It was so windy out that the finish line actually blew down before the start of their race.  Addy's mom was awesome and stood at the finish line, holding our stuff.  She was a sport for standing in the rain the whole time.  Thank you, Kim!  

Soon it was time for Addy and I to line up.  There were SO MANY people!  The announcer said that there were a total of 20,000 people running in the different races!  The line went as far as I could see in both directions.  The horn blew and we were off!  Our first 15K race.  The first 2 miles or so were through downtown and it was pretty cool to run through downtown with so many people and the streets blocked off for us.  We ran south past PSU and up the hill toward OSHU.  This was the beginning of the 2.5 mile climb up Terwilliger.  Addy's uncle had run the 15K before in past years and said that the view was great on the run.  I believe that if the weather was nice, it would have been gorgeous.  But it was terrible out, so I was really just focused on getting through it.  As we climbed, the rain actually turned into freezing rain because of the altitude change.  That's right, we ran through freezing rain and up a f-ing hill for 9 miles, for fun.  Anyway, the top of the climb was at the half way mark and I had to stop the portalet.  Five minutes later and five pounds lighter, I felt much better and started on the decline.  I knew I had to make up some time because of my pit stop, so I tried to lengthen my stride and focus on passing people while keeping my pace steady.  The view of the Willamette while running down Barbur with 8,000 other runners was pretty cool and made up for the crappy weather a little bit.  According to the Garmin, I run the last couple of miles at a pace closer to 6 min/mile instead of the 7:30 min/mile I was aiming for.  I was glad to finish and found a place to wait for Addy, so I could see her finish.  I didn't have to wait long and saw her finish strong and ran over to give her a kiss.  

As we were making our way back to where Addy's family was waiting, we ran into our friends and teammates for Hood to Coast, Faith and Krista (Donald was with them for encouragement). They had run the 8K and finished with good times.  We introduced them to Addy's dad since he is running Hood to Coast with us as well.  It was awesome to see them and get part of the team to meet before we all run together in August.   

After the run, we went to get a big breakfast at Macadam's in John's Landing.  We had a good time talking with the Vials and hanging out.  We played Tripoley the rest of the day back at our place and bbq'd a big dinner.  Mark and I kept checking the time till we could check our times on the race website.  Finally, halfway through Amazing Race (best show, ever), they finally posted the times.  Mark and Addy did great, but I was not able to make up the time I lost in the portopotty on the second half of the race.  Oh well, I guess I'll just have to post good numbers at the Pear Blossom in a month.  

All in all, it was great to have Addy's parents up and I'm glad we ran, even in the terrible weather.  

Daytrip to Bloomington w/Mom and Dad

On Monday, we got up and drove Zane to the airport, since he had to get back for his wine exam (tough life, huh?).  Then we kept heading south and took a little trip to the town of my alma mater, Indiana University.  I really only have one family of friends (the Shackey's) that still live in Bloomington, but I love them, so I try to make it down whenever I visit my parents.  First place we stopped was Oliver winery.  I was really pleased to see how well they are doing and how they have evolved.  When I used to go there during college, they had only about a dozen wines and specialized in semi-sweet, "picnic" wines.  Now they have many more varietals and even some reserve wines.  The quality of all of their wines have increased and I enjoyed this tasting more than any of the other times I've visited.  From there, we headed into town and met Eric for lunch at Upland Brewery's brewpub near the square.  Similarly to Oliver, their beer has evolved since I lived in B-town.   I remember their Wheat being good, but it is GREAT now.  And all the beers I tried were good, as was the food.  

After lunch, I gave a driving tour of the campus and some off-campus things that we part of my life when I lived there: apartments, parks, restaurants, etc.  We got out and walked around a little, too.  I wanted to show Addy the building where I spent the vast majority of my undergrad career, the Chemistry building.  It didn't have the effect on her that I somehow expected, but she reminded me that I am a big nerd and she didn't even have to take any chemistry courses in college.  We snapped a couple of photos, enjoyed the weather and then headed out to Amy and Eric's house to meet up with them.

It was great to be able to see them and hang out for a while.  It is great to see such good, nice people prospering and having such a good life.  I'm sure they are plagued with their own day to day struggles, but they are both healthy and have a beautiful boy that they are proud of and raising to be a good person.  We got pizza from my 2, that's right 2, favorite pizza places from college.  For those of you in the know, Pizza Express breadsticks are still amazing and they are still using Que Bueno.   But I have to say that Aver's is actually making better pizza's now.  The Cream and Crimson was WAY better than the supreme we got from Express.  But it was all good and exactly what I wanted to eat when I was visiting.  And of course, Amy had to make brownies for me.  If you haven't guessed already, I gained 10 lbs on this vacation, even with the 10K!

Vacation home to Brett's parents' house in Indiana 03/09

Torkelson graciously drove me, Addy, and Zane to my parents house.  Along the way, Addy got to experience the true boredom that comes with being in Indiana (IN) for more than a day.  It was the worst time of the year to be "sight"-seeing, since there is no snow and no green.  It is a flat, brown wasteland.  As you can tell, I miss it.  The only thing I miss from IN is my friends and family.  If you haven't noticed yet, almost all the pics from this trip are of people, there are almost none of the countryside or buildings.  Those of you from IN know why, and for those of you not from there, if you ever drive thru (I don't say visit, because there is no reason to) you'll understand.  

After hugs, the weather was so great, we wanted to be outside, so we all took a walk around my old grade school campus (which is in my parents' backyard).  The constant thing in life is change, right?  Well that was bore out in that walk.  The campus looks completely different than from when I went there, and I realized that I don't know anyone currently enrolled there.  Just to top things off, I saw one of my swimming teammates and was grateful that I had the support to move away.  After the walk, we went out to get a beer at Kokomo's microbrewpub, Half-moon.  Then went to see my grandma in her new apartment.  I hope I get to live in a place like that when I get older.  She's got a cafe, bar, soda shop, home theater, spa, gym, pretty much all you need in one building.  Plus a pool of friends that you get to see everyday.  I hope she really likes it.  In her apartment she has a plaque that has a message from my grandpa to those he left behind.  It made me weep.  I've still got some feelings of guilt about not being at the funeral or having seen him for a while before he died, but more than that, the words just reminded me of how selfless and refreshingly honest he was.  I hope that I live my life in a way that would make him proud.  

For dinner, Dad treated us with "Dad's Famous Ribs and Chicken" of course with mashed potatoes.  This is one of my favorite meals at home and I think he just keeps perfecting the recipe.  After dinner, we gave Mom and Dad their birthday gifts, which included a Wii Fit.  That occupied us for the rest of the evening.  

The next day we got to have my mom's famous egg casserole that is my favorite breakfast at home.  Zane and her had prepared it the night before and it was great! (as always)   In the afternoon a bunch of my extend family came over to visit and it was so great to see everyone.  This is without a doubt the thing that I miss the most, since I haven't lived in Indiana.  I have a big family on my mom's side and I grew up spending a lot of time hanging out with them.  Either in a big get-together setting like this or just spending the night with my cousins.  I'm so lucky to have such a great, supportive family and hardly get to see them.  The upshot is that is that the time I do get to see them carries that much more weight for its being rare.  I love and miss you all.