Newport

 I think I'm far enough off our trip to Oregon that I can write and not grimace in horror.  That perhaps makes you think that it wasn't the best, but it was. At least most of it was.  Like 52%. Luckily that made the whole trip completely worth it.  So come with me as we explore the Oregon Coast...

Our primary reason for the trip was for bird watching.  We took our binocs and scope and all of our birding gear.  The highlight of the trip was to be the pelagic ocean bird watching on Saturday. A full eight hours on a boat watching ocean birds. WooHoo!

We left our home Wednesday evening and got to Boise very late.  We got a decent deal on a hotel from Hotwire.  It did not meet the high three star rating we were expecting.  It was a low two. Maybe. But since we got there at 1 and were leaving at 8, we decided it was okay enough.  Ick. The next morning we headed out early.  

Welcome to Oregon!

We decided to make all of our stops on the way there.  We knew on the way home we were just going to want to be home and not stop. I'm glad we did it that way. Because seriously, ya know?  15 hours is a long time in a car...

We stopped at a rest stop and were walking around and came upon this tree.  Can anyone tell me what these are? My first thought was limes, but they were very hard. The ones that had dried on the ground looked like little turds. Share your knowledge if you know-

We stopped here at Multnomah Falls.  No matter how many times I've been here, it is still so beautiful.  Except for the tons and tons of people.  Sort of obnoxious, actually.

We drove around the outskirts Portland.  I wish we had been able to stop and visit people, but there just wasn't enough time.  There was however time to pull off the free way to stop at the Lego store.  We have a serious addiction to the Lego people...

This is the view off the balcony of our hotel when we got there.  Oh, the beauty and grandeur!

Then the sun came out and it was gorgeous! Breathtaking!  Unfortunately, for a good portion of our visit it was foggy and rainy.  But we powered through and made it work.

 This is about the day that my stomach started to be sick.  I thought I had picked up a bug where we had lunch on our drive the first day.  Either way, that makes for a HORRID traveling experience! Always know where the bathrooms are... anyway...

We did a small bit of hiking around right on the coast.  The lighthouse was awesomely gorgeous.  By the time we got there, it was crazy foggy and we couldn't see much. See the fog rolling in??

We went back on Sunday, it wasn't open then...

We hit the aquarium, it was pretty sweet.  I find fish to be kind of gross and icky.  But it was set up pretty cool and we were able to see lots.  My favorite is the kid looking through the floor at the stuff under us.

 What a silly buggar!

Newport 

 Tide Pools

Then came the glorious day that we were to spend eight hours ocean bird watching.  We had prepared.  We had prepared so much! We had both gotten rain jackets, we got some prescription strength motion sick patches for behind our ears, we had studied our birds... we were ready to roll!

We had to get up at 5:30 to be to the boat by 6:15.  My gosh, that's early!  As we got on the boat I thought that this might be a little crazy. Totally out of the norm for what we are inclined to do.  But we tarried on and got on the boat. When we got on the boat, they gave a little spiel about going to the back of the boat to puke so that it didn't come back in anybody's face. 

We drove (?) along the land for about 15 miles.  I was so glad after about 45 minutes when I didn't seem to be getting sick.  The patches are working, huzzah! Here is the view as we were leaving the bay. If you squint, you can see little black birds.

Then we turned away from the coast and headed out to sea! Good bye land!! Look how calm the water looks.  Those waves are deceiving! The further out we got, the bigger the swells got.  It didn't take long after we turned out for people to start getting sick.  I still thought I was doing pretty good.  For about another half an hour or so.  I found it hard to walk on the boat, even to stand was difficult, so I mostly sat in the same spot.  

The further out we got, the bigger the waves. Ugh. 

I finally couldn't handle it anymore and stumbled to the back of the boat and lost it.  Several times.  Oh, yeah! Remember how I mentioned earlier that I had some sort of food poisoning/stomach bug? Well, throw that in there, too!  Something I don't wish on anybody. Seriously. I kept thinking as I went back to the railing to dry heave then back to the two foot square bathroom, that I wish I had some secret information to give to whomever was torturing me. Just so it would stop!  

After coming out of the bathroom once, I found Jake at the back railing.  He eventually threw up four times. I'm not sure how many times I lost it.  A lot. And you couldn't eat anything.  It would just come right back up. 

I think about a third of the people on the boat eventually got sick. 

 

When we stopped at halfway, the sun had finally come out and it was so nice out. I must have looked extra pitiful because one of the boat's crew brought me a "pillow" and I laid down and crashed for a bit.  When I came to, this is what I saw:

He was so sick, too. So sad he was!

The ride back was much calmer as we were going with the waves versus against.  It seemed to go quickly as well, thank goodness.  All in all, it was pretty cool to see birds that we probably for sure will never see again. 

When we got back, we didn't want to do anything. It almost killed us to walk to the truck.  When we got back to the hotel I took a picture to remember how pretty it was the day I thought I was going to die. Kidding. Sort of.

You would also think that spending the day puking would make us not want to eat, but we were starved. So we ordered a pizza and it was one of the best pizzas we've ever had! And we ate pretty much the entire thing. It was a small.... Do you believe me?

The obligatory writing in the sand...

We found an awesome place to go hike. And look for birds. We saw several new species in this little park.  So awesome! This was one of our favorite places we went while we were in Oregon.

On a different day we explored Newport some more...

Another awesome lighthouse

The last two nights we were there, we camped.  I must admit I was not looking forward to this part of the trip.  But it turned out to be my favorite part by far.  We were out away from everybody, it was quiet, and lots of birds!.  But holy stinkin cold. We were less than half a mile from the beach, so we got a lot of fog, mist, and wind.  But when the sun went down it was perfect. 

We took our bikes with us with the intent of riding all over town.  Looking on GoogleMaps, it looked like it would be a nice town to bike through. It wasn't.  It was so super hilly and the "bike lanes" left a little something to be desired. Like a lane.  Anyway, we took them out a little bit while we were camping.  It was SO cold, but the trail was so cool. I took these pictures on my bike, so sorry they're a little blurry.

The best hot chocolate ever. Hot chocolate packet on the left, multicolored marshmallow packet on the right. Yumm!

Then. It was time to go home!  Did you know it takes 15ish hours to drive from the Oregon Coast to Wyoming?  I does. And it's a really long 15 hours.  We only stopped a few times along the way for lunch and bathrooms. I don't remember where this was... somewhere in Oregon...

We stopped in Burley and spent the night at my stepsister's house. And showered. It was lovely!

I know we had just spent almost a week in Oregon, and it was so beautiful, but I must tell you.  I think Idaho is beautiful, and I was beyond glad to get home.

Did I mention it took 15 hours to get home?

Fall Creek in Swan Valley

Palisades

And where else in the world do people ride their 4-wheelers to the library? And park them like they're cars no less? I love Wyoming.

HOME!!

We were still in birder mode when we got home. Jake digiscoped this within a few minutes of us being home.

It was such a fun trip, and the good times far outweighed the bad moments. But next time we're budgeting in flights so we don't have to drive so far!

Tooting my Horn

When in the course of human events, it occasionally becomes necessary to toot your own horn. 

 Here is where I used to wear my belt, on the last hole.

 Six months, 700 miles on my bike, and a low cholesterol low carb diet later...

Here's where I wear my belt now.

On the last hole!

 

 I'm not sure this is the most flattering shot, but see how my tshirt that used to be quite snug, is now quite loose!

Here's how I keep my belt from flapping around, a hair tie!

TOOT!! TOOT!!

Violation

So the other night we took the laptop out on the deck. Because it was gorgeous and lovely outside in the evenings!

Rather picturesque, wouldn't you say?

We were out there for about an hour watching The Offices.  Around ten, the mosquitoes became immune to the citronella candle and swarmed us.  So we went inside to finish the current episode.  We had been inside for about ten minutes when I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye, just outside the window. When I turned, Jake was looking, too.

"What was that?"

"Somebody's in our yard!"

At first I thought, "Oh, that's interesting." Then I snapped and thought, "What?!?!"

So I looked, and he was gone.  Assuming he was walking through the yard, I ran to the front window.  He wasn't there. But then he came walking around the corner of the house.  I shouted at Jake that he was out front.  I could hear Jake rummaging for something but I didn't know if it was a flashlight or the gun.  

The guy walked right up to the garage and turned the doorknob.  He was interested when it turned, and kind of did a back track and did it again trying to push it open.  Luckily, it was dead bolted!  He continued back around to the back, making a full circle of the house. I saw him out the bedroom window.  

Ya know how when you have somebody come to your house for a service call like the cable guy, or a roofer, or the gas man? And before he starts working, he kind of does a quick overview of the situation, whether it's the roof or where there's trees, or whatever?  Well, that's what this guy was doing.  He stood there and was looking at the roof and the house.  I don't know how he didn't see us watching him.  

At this point, we were headed back out onto the deck, Jake shined the flashlight directly in his face and said something, I don't remember what. And the guys said, "Just walking through."

Whatever! This guy was not walking through! I think he stopped at our house because we didn't have any lights on and it looked like there wasn't anybody home. Because it was still pretty warm, all the windows were closed.  If they had been open, he would have heard Jake and I calling back and forth to each other.  

He turned and kept walking into the darkness.  I called the Sheriff (Alpine doesn't have a police department anymore),  and they got here pretty quickly.  While we waited, we stood on the deck and the front porch watching to see where he was going. About ten minutes after all of this, we saw him cross the highway in the opposite direction. 

I know he didn't actually get into the house, and he didn't break anything, he didn't hurt us, he didn't do anything really.  But I am still freaking out about this.  I am afraid to leave the windows open at night. Which is horrible because the house needs to cool off at night.  I'm afraid that while we're sleeping, he's going to come back, mad at us because we called the police on him.  I'm afraid that while we're gone, he's going to come back and force his way in.  

The first night was the easiest because I knew he had taken off in the other direction.  Subsequent nights haven't been as easy. What if he keeps trying?

Is this totally irrational??? It could have been so much worse.  I know in my head that we are more than likely never going to see that man again.  I know that it was more than likely random. We're the house on the end, the first house you come to. The first house you try the locks to see if you get get in.  He was non-confrontational. He kept moving, he wasn't aggressive. 

While I was training for my ride I often rode by this old, run down house by the lake.  One day I saw a guy standing next to the house.  He was pretty clean and well dressed, wore a hat, and a plaid shirt.  I wondered if he was the homeless guy that lived in the house.  Well, this guy that came through had on a plaid shirt, and he sort of reminded me of this guy.  

I wouldn't swear that it was him, but it has definitely crossed my mind.  Was this guy looking for somewhere to sleep for the night? Had he done it before and that's why he tried it?  I am not super reliable on locking the doors (I am now!).  But why would he try the garage and not the house? 

Once again, I know he didn't get in, and I know that we are okay. It's just the thought that someone even tried!

Help me! Please tell me nice thoughts and help me get over this.

A Good Wife

Okay, I am officially yoinking this from another blog I stumbled across. While some of you are more than likely going to bang your head against a wall because you think it's enormously outdated and traditional, I am going to admit something:

I like it.  

Read on.

 

The following is from an actual 1950s home economics textbook intended for high school girls, teaching them how to prepare for married life.


1. Have dinner ready: plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal--on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospects of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.


2. Prepare yourself: take 15 minutes to rest so you will be refreshed when he arrives. touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.


3. Clear away clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives, gathering up school books, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too.


4. Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children's hands and faces if they are small, comb their hair, and if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.


5. Minimize the noise: at the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of washer, dryer, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad to see him.


6. Some DON'TS: Don't greet him with problems or complaints. Don't complain if he's late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day.


7. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lay down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.


8. Listen to him: You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.


9. Make the evening his: Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment; instead try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his need to be home and relax.


10. The Goal: try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can relax.

I think the sentiment is nice.  I admit, I try to do many of these things. I freshen up before Jake gets home, while I prepare dinner. I always let him talk first, I don't know why, it seems that's the way it should be. I try to re-straighten up the house, it doesn't always happen, but I try. And it's funny, but I try to have the laundry machines or dishwashers finished up.  I think partly so my jobs are done and I don't have to do them when he gets home.  And, I try to have the Simpsons on when he walks in.  

Does this make me a pushover house wife from the 50s? I don't know, but I love Jake, and I just want him to be happy.

I Can Do Hard Things

So Little Red Riding Hood. Where do I even start?

(Warning: blog overload ahead)

 I'll start at the beginning...

All right, so there were these dinosaurs. And a meteor. Shortly thereafter, I got an email from my friend. We'll call her Sarah. 'Cause that's her name.  It said something along the lines of, "If you're even considering doing the ride, you should sign up. You can always sell your spot later."  

So I began to consider it. I needed something. I was in a rut; I needed a jolt to get things moving along.  I'd been working on losing weight, but it had slowly started to plateau. I am turning 30 this year. And while that's wonderful, I didn't want to hit it being a fatty, fatty loser pants.

So I registered.

And almost from the second I did, I had second thoughts. And regrets. And mind changes. And wishing I could go backs and get that $64 backs.  

But I decided to stick with it. Really, how hard could it be? Just ride my bike. And just keep going til I'm done. It couldn't really be that hard. I ride my bike to the grocery store all the time, round trip 1.5 miles. And I only get a little bit tired! This'll be a cinch!

The day I got my bike on the trainer I realized, again, that perhaps this wasn't very well thought out.  The first few times on, I could only go about 15 minutes. That's not very long!  I knew I was in so much trouble!

So over the next few weeks I began to up my time a little each day.  By mid-week-two, I could do an episode of Gilmore Girls (40mins).  It took a LOT of effort, but by the end of probably six weeks I could almost do two episodes.  In my head I knew I was zooming, too.  For sure that I had gone forty miles.  WRONG! After I got my computer going, I had only been going about eight or nine miles an hour.  Forty miles that does not make! Time to step it up!

So I looked for a training schedule.  I found this one. 

It's actually a schedule for a century ride.  I figured it would work for a 50 miler, I just wouldn't finish it.  I have to be honest, there were SO many days when the last thing I wanted to do was jump on my bike for that 20 mile ride.  And on Saturdays! Who wants to spend two to four hours every Saturday for two months training?  Seriously, by week four I was ready to be done. Once I got on, it was fine.  And once the weather got warm, the last thing I wanted was to ride.  I wanted to chill with Jake. We're tight like that.

In the beginning before I was up to pace, it would take me three hours to ride the 20 milers.  It was just hard. And hard to keep a good pace.  Did I mention it was hard?? Gradually I got better though. By the time I got to 40 miles, I think I did it even faster than I anticipated.   My goal was 11 miles an hour. My first 40 miler I was averaging around 13-14.  Still not very fast, but fast enough.

I figured out a good ten mile loop around our neighborhood. Over the bridge, up the road, down the road to the boat ramp, turn around, and up the road by the airport all the way to bananas was five miles. Then I just turn around and do the same thing home!

One day I went down the highway towards the church.  I got six miles down the road, and up the crazy hill.  The whole time I was so stressed about getting run over by cars and trucks and the skinny little road.  I couldn't move my neck for a week because I had stressed so bad and completely tensed up.

For most of this time, I trained by myself.  When I was inside, I watched TV and movies.  Outside was often boring.  Lots of time to think.  And because I am too freaked out to ride on the highway, I had to ride the same loop over and over again.  It was beautiful, but a change is nice.

My bib number-

The week before the ride, Sarah and I went for a ride on my loop.  We were about three miles in when a giant bear started to chase me down. Okay, so it wasn't a bear. But it was one of the biggest dogs I have ever seen in my life.  I seriously thought he was going to rip my leg off. I'm SO glad Sarah was there to scream at and chase him off.  And I can't help but wonder where was this dog the first thousand times I'd ridden down this road? A tender mercy, no doubt.

The big weekend arrived fast. By the time I was ready to go on Friday, my odometer read 700 miles. Is this enough to be ready to ride fifty miles? I was so nervous by this time.  Jake and I spent Friday afternoon at the Bear River Wildlife Refuge.  We saw a couple of new birds and lots that we hadn't seen in a long time.  It was a great way to distract me!

We checked into the hotel in Brigham City and then went across the street to Winger's.  Winger's has never been my favorite, but there wasn't a lot really close.  I had the Fettuccine and Parmesan Chicken. I don't really like the fettuccine sauce, so I had them trade it for red sauce.  It was actually really, really good.  When we got back to the hotel, the parking lot was full of cars with bike racks and bikes.  This only made me more nervous knowing that we were all there for the same reason. I'm not sure why, but it did.  Jake checked my bike, making sure my brakes were okay, etc.  We went to bed at 9.  Only because if I didn't, I was going to make myself sick.

I had told Sarah we would meet her and her sister in Wellsville at 6:45, so we ended up getting up around 5:30.  The second the alarm went off, I was very concerned with how early it was.  Did you know I'm not a morning person? Aye, chihuahua that's early! We made it out in good time and met Sarah and Bekah. We made it to Lewiston/Logan by 7:30 or so.  It was so fun to get there and see so many people I knew. I had no idea!  And how did we manage to fine them amid the 3,500 other riders?? I have no idea!

Every rest stop was completely stocked with more food than you could possible eat!

I was getting so antsy to get going,  but I needed some food. So I grabbed a bagel and some fruit. They filled me, but didn't make the nervousness go away.  It was a cold morning, and it had been drizzling on and off.  

I can't believe how organized everything was.  They escorted large groups of riders out of town every five or ten minutes. I think we got out a little after eight.

 

By the way, I have no idea who these people are.  I took the iPhone to take pictures, but I just didn't.  So these are all off the facebook page. 

Volunteers cheering us on!

Just looking at the beautiful scenery!

The morning ride was wonderful.  It was cool, we were all in good spirits and cheery.  We had rest stops at 14, 21 and lunch at 35 miles. In this photo above, there is a small hill.  It was only about 2 miles before lunch, and by the time I got here I was completely spent.  This was the only time that I honestly didn't know for sure if I was going to make it.  By this time it had gotten warm, too. I had to stop at the top to "wait" for Sarah and her sister.  But honestly, if I hadn't stopped I think I would have puked.

Lunch was Subway, but I couldn't eat very much because I felt so yucky.  After about twenty minutes I started to feel better.  I can't remember what I ate, but I refilled my water bottle with some powder energy drink.  It was the most amazing stuff. Like liquid energy!  By the way, the GU energy gel is disgusting, like slugs.

I did so much better after lunch than I did before.  Almost immediately there was a long series of hills.  I did really good and the lowest speed I got to was eight.  I even passed a few people while I was going up.  THAT made me feel good!  I was in celebration mode!  I should say that while I was training and getting ready, I spent lots of time researching the routes and the hills. Everybody talked about the big hill, and that they really struggled and lost lots of time on it. I couldn't see the actual hill on GoogleMaps, so I wasn't exactly sure what they looked like.  So when we got done with that hill, I was celebrating the end of the big hill.  Wahoo! But as we kept going, I realized it was just a taste of what the hill actually was.  We climbed for a total of five or six miles.  I got down into 1-3, but I never had to stop.  I can't tell you how happy I was to be able to make it easily up the hill, barely out of breath, and to have actually passed several people!

But the real reward came as we turned the corner.  Here's the view we saw:

GoogleMapped- I think you can still see it?

As we flew down this hill, I rode my front and back brakes for most of the way.  Even doing this, I still got to 35 mph!  Holy! Talk about getting my adrenaline going!  SO freaking awesome!  I give credit to this hill for my ability to be able to finish the last fifteen miles.  I was on a freakish high that made me go faster.  There were several time we stopped to let others catch up with us.  And at the finish line, I waited for the others so I could finish with them! Thank you ginormous hill!

Our total riding time was 3:56. Not bad for my first ride!

At the finish line, we got a bracelet. 

Finish

And while the peace sign isn't really my style, I wear it because I worked my butt off for it!




There are pictures of me out there. I'm nervous for you all to see them, because I look horrible.  I was going to use the best one of me.  The Zazoosh people took the pictures and you have to buy them.  I was going to just take one and post it, but they had a thing on the website that said if you use their pictures without buying them, it is stealing!  Way to hit my conscience hard! So if you want to see my pictures, go to the Zazoosh website, find the Little Red Riding Hood ride and I am bib number 3674.  This is my way of weeding some of you out and so not everyone will see them.

So now my reflections of the ride.  Several things.

I have the best husband in the world. Sorry girls, I win.  He never once complained that I had to get my rides in every evening. Or every Saturday for two months.  He more than willingly tuned my bike more than once.  He didn't complain when we drove to Logan.  And not once, when I was riding and he had to hang around Logan for five hours did he complain either.  He is my dear sweetheart and told me many times how proud he was of me. Boy am I lucky! *tears*

I know good people.  While Sarah convinced me to register, we never planned to ride together.  Several days before the ride, she invited me to ride with her and her sister.  Can you say third wheel?? I politely declined.  On Friday, I decided I didn't want to go alone. They more than willingly let me go with them, and let me hitch a ride. The entire ride, they included and encouraged me.  I'm so glad that I was able to ride with them. Looking back, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have made it by myself. I would have gotten discouraged, and not had any reason to continue.

I can do hard things.  I worked my tush off for three months. Literally and figuratively.  Hours every day, every week.  I seriously didn't want to do it sometimes. But I did it.  And I did the ride, and it was hard. And there was a moment when I really didn't think I would make it. But I did.   I've been working on this post for a week because I haven't been able to figure out how to put my thoughts into words, I still don't really. But this is a good start.  This opens up all sorts of things for me, realizing that I can do things that are hard!


And just to wrap it up, since I started the training, I've lost another almost ten pounds.  I've outgrown two pairs of pants, and now fit into three other pairs that I haven't fit in in many years. Hazaah!

Next year- We're going for the century!