Pictures of the Running Star

I should probably let Justin write a race report but I couldn't help but share some pictures with you all.  Justin finished the Big Sur Marathon on Sunday in an IMPRESSIVE 3:19:55---a new personal record for him. 

This race is tough with constant hills, one particularly famous hill around mile 11 called Hurricane Point, 2 miles in length--yes, 2 miles of UPHILL!!!!

I am so very proud of my speedy husband!  The course is closed to spectators except at the very end.  Bummer for me that I couldn't surprise him along the course but I was certainly thinking of him and was waiting at the finish line.

In case you were wondering, 3:19:55 is a 7:38 pace! Justin came in 97 out of a total of 3442 runners, 10th in his age group and the 89th man to finish.  Amazing stats!  I wish I had his legs (minus the hairy-ness.)

Start line.

Along the route.  Run takes place along Hwy 1.

Go honey!

Another shot along the beautiful ocean front run.

Sunshine!

Green hills and ocean for days.

Lookin' strong.

Bixby Bridge where there is a piano player.

Happy finisher!  (if you look close, someone added a .2 to the mileage of Big Sur to make it 26.2)

picture for Mom plus some

Smiles from Bronco

He loves this play gym, thanks Rilan!

On our hike yesterday.  Deven was really happy, I don't know what this face was for, tired of saying cheese maybe.

Nate's latest talent.

Ben getting one last ride out of the snow hill.

Happy Anniversary, Jennifer and Nathan!

Happy 10th Anniversary to you!

Witty title with a pun involving the word "Bend" and the phrase "memory lane".

Alisa and I headed out to Bend, OR last weekend somewhat on the spur of the moment. We had been meaning to get out there since moving to Oregon in part because of the many trips I made as a kid and in part for the promise of the sunshine in eastern Oregon. We found a hotel that allows dogs, doesn't charge for them, and doesn't put dog owners in the smoking rooms! Yay!

We had three things in mind for the trip: 1) go on a bike ride, 2) try out the two big Bend brew-pubs (Deschute's and Bend Brewing), and 3) see if we could find Granny and Grandpa's old Bend home. We succeeded on all fronts.

Oh, and before we succeeded in any of those goals we randomly found a Big Tree: 

Alisa had done some research and picked out a ride that crossed the Deschutes river a couple of times. It was a great ride and a good third of it was on a great smooth road with a wide shoulder and there was no head wind. During that part of the ride we practically flew!

On the way back from the bike ride we realized we'd be passing near Granny and Grandpa's old Bend home so we decided to see if we could track it down then and there... despite being clad in spandex and sweat. Thankfully Mom had been able to track down the address earlier in the day and our many GPS devices pointed us in the right direction. 

First thing I noticed was the General Store on the corner that we used to stop at all the time. In particular I remember buying those planes made of balsa wood or styrofoam to fly off the deck at the house. There is now an overpass required to get on the main street that the General Store is on. That is new, no? Also new, was the attached coffee shop, gas station, and Subway to the General Store. Progress?

 Other than the General Store, the rest of the ride to the house range very few memory bells for me. When we did get to River Bend Drive, a few of those bells did start to ring. However, I remembered the road down to the house being much more steep and long. It was a long steep driveway, but not nearly the major descent of my memory. Also coming as a surprise to me was a house next to the road.

We found it! First thing that seemed different to me was the color scheme.

The house was for rent, so we had the run of the property to check it all out. 

Was there always a door between the "guest bedroom" and the master bathroom? 

All the bird houses reminded me of the bird watching books I would find at Granny and Grandpa's. Were some of these houses hold-overs from their day?

 

I know this one was, wasn't it!?

 The bottom deck seemed to have gotten larger. 

And, I don't remember there being so many sky-lights in the house.
 

Mom recalled there being a fireplace facing the river and after she mentioned that I was convinced that there had been as well. Anyone remember differently? Guess that was another sacrifice of the re-modelers. 

 




The river was as impressive as I remembered, but which one of you siblings had me convinced there was a major waterfall right past the house downriver? No evidence of it in this picture, though it does remind me of all the times we would go fishing and craw-dadding.

Well, after a good half an hour of wandering around the grounds and checking all the doors (they were all locked unfortunately), it was time to say goodbye. It was a great trip and a great trip down memory lane. Hope everyone else is reminded of as many happy memories seeing these pictures as I was visiting.

The trail less traveled, Easter and Rilan

We had a delicious, great Easter dinner, Jeremy got a new i pad and was on the news, purchasing it, Mom watched Rilan and Zoe for us as we went to the race.  I thought I would have an easier time of it and get a better race time and that both Alisa and I could push eachother on the race, but it turned out that Alisa wasn't pushed at all and was there to just help me along, but I really appreciated her help even though it was really tough the whole time for me so I was a little cranky.  Justin and Sarah are amazingly fast runners and both got awards.  Justin won first in his age division and was so fast that he started 10 min before us ran 3.5 more miles then us and passed us by on the way to the finish.  He was speeding along as I was barely surviving, huffing and puffing trying to finish.  He was one of the first to pass us and then Sarah came shortly after, winning the overall top female...of course! They are both amazing:).  It was so great to do it and I'm so glad I got to run my first 5k with Justin, Alisa and Sarah there with me.   As again I'm stumped with formatting, the last picture is of Rilan preparing for races too as he races along our floors pushing his favorite toy, Grandad gave him for Christmas, his dump truck.