West Coast Road Trip- Day 3

Our final day of actual driving! We woke up early to get a 5 mile run in. It ended up being 4.3 miles, but there were two significant hills we had to trudge up. It was very cold- we walked out to snow on the car, not a lot, but a dusting. But we warmed up and ended up on a great loop that allowed us full reign of the street. We saw two cars, two fellow runners and two deer. All in all it was very fun.

Dad cooked breakfast, we packed up the car and took off.

We headed up to Wilsonville from there where we stopped at the Higgins compound. Had a good visit with Mom, Uncle Tom and Aunt Patty and enjoyed tri tip sandwiches with Au Jus sauce. It was delish! On the way out of town we stopped at The Gimarelli's. They are grandparents of Ted's good friend Chris and Ted and I worked for Betty over the summer's in high school. We were lucky enough to run into all of Chris' immediate family: parents and brother. It was so good to catch up, even though it was a brief stop.

We got on the road headed to Seattle around 3:45pm (we were supposed to have left at 2pm). So, when we called Carolyn to ask what time she wanted us to meet at Amy's for dinner she said 6:30pm. We were going to have to fly to get up there that fast. Needless to say, we made it- pulling into their driveway around 6:35pm. And, we followed a cop on the freeway from Chehalis all the way to Seattle, so we were restricted to 65 almost the entire way!

Amy and Kevin prepared a great salmon with pesto sauce, asparagus and caesar salad. Aunt Gail and Carolyn brough carrot cake for dessert. It was super tasty! Aunt Janice came to dinner as well. And it was such fun to catch up with everyone. Ted is so lucky to have such great family so close by! I only have one picture from dinner, but hopefully I will be able to post more soon!

West Coast Road Trip- Day 2

We got up early on Saturday to meet Michael and Helena in Walnut Creek for breakfast before we hit the road. I used to babysit for Helena when I was in college. Now she's driving! I was lucky enough to be adopted by the two of them, as my family, while I was in the Bay area, and it's been tough being away, but it was such fun to catch up with both of them.

Ted and I got on the road after filling up. We drove straight through to Redding where we stopped for lunch. There's not a lot to mention on this part of the trip because it is incredibly boring heading North on I-5, but it was very nice to see Spring. Boston doesn't know that it's spring yet, so it was great to drive out of the Bay Area and see trees and flowers in bloom.

We did stop off to take a few pictures of Shasta on our drive out of town. The one we took of ourselves, you are supposed to be able to see the mountain in the background.

We barreled through to Albany from there, passing the "Welcome to Oregon" Sign. We thought it was pretty funny that there was a port-o-potty right by the sign... not sure what that means exactly, but entertaining none the less.

We arrived in Albany at Dad's house around 6:00pm. Almost perfectly timed to sit down to a meal of fettuccine Alfredo and grilled garlic butter shrimp. It was great. I think both Ted and I were pretty tired, heading to bed at 9am, but we had a big run and day ahead. More on that, next post...

West Coast Road Trip- Day 1

It's official, Ted has moved! The next three posts will highlight the trip. Friday Ted picked me up at the Long Beach Airport. He was running a little late, having left his license at the UHaul place the night before, and having to hastily retrieve it as well as random dry cleaning, etc. Luckily my flight was late as well. We weren't driving a UHaul as Ted had rented a Door to Door Pod that he packed up and they ship up to Seattle and store for him. It's a great service that I used when moving to Boston. But he had been at UHaul renting furniture dolly's to move the piano. So, he arrived 5 minutes after I walked off the plane. It worked out splendidly.

We headed into downtown LA to see Angela, a friend of mine from Jr. High and High School. She's been working at a law firm down there and so we were able to steal her for lunch. We headed to Wolfgang Puck's cafe for lunch and caught up. It was such fun!

Ted and I got on the road about 2pm. We decided to head up the 101 because it's a much more scenic drive, and who knows when we would be able to do that again. Traffic getting out of LA and through Santa Barbara were a PAIN, but it was worth it. Here are a few pictures:

We made it up to Redwood City where we stayed with Alexa, my old roommate from SF. She was a GREAT hostess, we headed to downtown Palo Alto where we found sushi at Miyake. It was a happening place- tons of large groups doing saki bombs standing on chairs chanting "saki bomb! saki bomb!" We didn't partake, but enjoyed observing. All in all is was a very low key night, but once again- such fun to see Alexa and a huge thanks to her for letting us crash at her cute pad with the great view!

5 Miles- check!

We did it! 5 miles, on Easter Sunday too! We went to church, and while Shane's mom was cooking away we headed out for our 5 mile run. It was the first real run I have done outside. And it was about 36 degrees in Maine. There is something to be said for training for any kind of run in the Northeast during winter. I know technically it's spring, but someone forgot to tell the New Englanders. Not being used to 1. running, 2. running outside, and 3. running any sort of distance. It was a huge mental challenge. The entire time I was worried I was breathing in too much cold air that was going to get me sick and my calves still hurt from our 3.5 on Thursday... but, I made it. I have to say, training with someone else is probably the ONLY way I would ever be prepared for something like this... There's something about being able to push yourself a little harder when there is someone else running next to you...

The ever talented Cousin Stephanie!

Stephanie and I are 2nd cousins, but as we all know- cousins are cousins, and I have a TON, and I love them all. Over the past year I have had the pleasure of getting to know Cousin Steph better as she finishes her final year here at Boston College. She is always down to hang out, hit up the ONLY Nordstrom's in Boston, run to random bars, and man- she puts on an AMAZING show as part of the Bostonians. Shane and I were lucky enough to attend the Bostonians Spring Cafe show this past Friday night. The Bostonians is the A Cappella group at Boston College, and they are all wonderful- Cousin Steph just happens to be the best. I am just a little biased. You can see for yourself here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xl8dj9ehC8A . Pardon the video quality, but I took it with my new camera, which is awesome for being so small and still pulling some pretty good sound. Thanks Ted!

1/2 Marathon- the first of many posts

Two months ago Shane and I registered to run a 1/2 Marathon. Memorial Day weekend we will be running Boston's Run to Remember which benefits Kids at Risk throughout Boston. You might know that I am not a runner. I have been a happy gym rat for the past 13 years and just used my 20-30 minute cardio sessions as a way to warm up my muscles for the real heavy- lifting workout that was coming. This whole run to run thing, kinda strange if you ask me. It's a huge mental hurdle for me. The A-D-D is not helping! But I am up to 3 miles 3 times a week. This weekend is my first 4 mile stint. I just wish I could be running outside, it might make it less mundane, but there is no running outside right now in Boston- because it's STILL too cold! It has not been easy, after the first week of training my lower back freaked out so bad that I had to pay a $20 co-pay to hear a doctor tell me to take 9 Motrin a day and take 3 days off, and maybe get new shoes. I did exactly as she said, and I have to admit, I am much better. The new shoes are Nike's, I should have known that my, Oregonian at heart, body would not accept any other shoe. But all is well now, and there is even talk of a 10k run in August up the coast of Maine. Stay tuned, there will be many more running updates.

Road Trip

So, when I moved across country, my brother Ted went with me, and we had a GREAT time. Listening to books on CD, laughing at middle of nowhereville Kansas, taking pictures of huge tractors on highway overpasses, staying in funny little motels across the way, etc. To view a photo book about the whole trip check out the link. Now Ted is moving from Newport Beach, CA (the OC-for our international readers) to Seattle, WA. It's an exciting move for Ted, and another chance for the two of us to be a part of the others awesome life experience. And the weather in California in March is going to be much better than Nebraska in October.

Cross Country Skiing

I haven't been Cross Country skiing since I was in Jr. High. We used to do it all the time at Black Butte in the winter. It's a cheap way to get the family out on skis without having to pay ridiculous prices for lift tickets. So, on Friday night when we were at dinner with our friends Todd and Jenn we were excited to learn about a great Cross Country skiing place near by that only costs $25 a day for a rental and use of their trails- Great Brook Ski Touring Center. Shane attempted to teach me to Skate Ski- it didn't work out... I am perfectly happy to stick to my well known and natural Cross Country skiing. Here are a few pics!