Tag Archives: Travel

We Have Arrived…

… in Reno, that is. I probably mentioned it like once a long time ago, but we are here for the Reno 5000 Series Downtown River Run. I may have even possibly mentioned (or not) that both James and I have dropped down in our categories… him to the half, me to the 10K… this won’t count towards our 50-state goal for either of us. James wants a PR this spring, so we’re holding out for a race closer to home… the North Olympic Discovery Marathon and Half in Port Angeles; one that is at sea level as opposed to 4800 feet. (Reno is in the mountains… I never knew!) We’ll go to Las Vegas to eventually conquer Nevada, but for now we’re just here to have a good time.

We’re staying at Harrah’s Downtown, right at the start line and super close to the river. After getting off our little propeller plane (I kid you not) and checking in, we took a lovely walk to see what the downtown had to offer.

I’ll say this… Reno is clean. The only other downtown that I’ve seen this clean is Tulsa. But downtown Reno is a happening place. It’s beautiful, and it’s so refreshing to see people and government officials taking pride in their city (as opposed to Seattle which… never mind, don’t even get me started).

Anyway, the river overfloweth. A dam floodgate near Lake Tahoe has been released to allow for melting snow over the next couple of months; therefore, the river is flowing high, fast, and furious. Wouldn’t want to be on it, but it is a beautiful sight:

#spottedthebird! He was patient and posed nicely for me until I was done taking his picture. I’m out of my element, so I don’t have a clue what he is… where is my Sibley bird-watching book when I need it (and if any of you actually know what that book is, you’re my new BFF)!

As for news from the home front… the child is leaving Sunday on his first trip without Mom or Dad. He’s going with a friend to Maui for the next 2 weeks. I think I forgot to tell him he’s not allowed to grow up.

Now I’m off to go explore Reno and the raging river some more. After two leg cramps in the middle of the night last night from being poorly hydrated, I’m sucking down the Nuun and water, and need to stretch out the tightness. I logged 4 miles yesterday… we’ll aim for another 4 today, then the race tomorrow. Should be a great time!

#spottedthehusband 🙂

#MyFirstPostRevisited

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Thanks to T. Wayne from A Joyful Process for nominating me for the “My First Blog Post” challenge. The challenge was created by Sarah Brentyn of the Lemon Shark blog.

Of course, there are rules (always rules!). In a twist, these rules are in levels:

Obvious rules:

No cheating. (It must be your first post. Not your second post, not one you love…first post only.)
Link back to the person who tagged you (thank them if you feel like it or, if not, curse them with a plague of ladybugs).

Other rules:

Cut and paste your old post into a new post or reblog your own bad self. (Either way is fine but NO editing.)
Put the hashtag #MyFirstPostRevisited in your title.
Tag five (5) other bloggers to take up this challenge.
Notify your tags in the comment section of their blog (don’t just hope they notice a pingback somewhere in their spam).
Feel free to cut and paste the badge to use in your post. Notify your tags in the comment section of their blog (don’t just hope they notice a pingback somewhere in their spam).
Include “the rules” in your post.

My nominees (who are under no obligation to participate) are as follows:

50 in 50 Marathon Quest (do we really know what your first post says? hmmm?)

Bonnywood Manor (because I can’t find your very first post ever written, and I know a lot of us would love to see it).

The Hangry Runner (I see your first post, but I think it deserves repeating, although that raccoon is freaking adorable, :D)

Running To Travel (the same… I see your first post, but it deserves repeating, ;D)

Slow Runner Girl (because you’re amazing and you’ve come so far!)

This is not an award… it’s a challenge! Are you up for the challenge?

My first post ever written… I remember it well (5 July, 2015). I had just gotten back from a run, sat down at my computer, and let my fingers do the post-run walking. The rest is history. Kind of wish I wasn’t complaining about the heat so much back then…

First and only week of pre-training… done!

I loved the Fit One Boise event so much that I’m making it my premium race this year. Last year I ran the 10K; this year will be the half. There wasn’t anything I didn’t love about it… the course was gorgeous, the people and volunteers were ultra-friendly, the post-race snacks were fabulous (all the chocolate milk a girl could want), and the bling was everything a bling should be, sparkly and big!

So, tomorrow begins the countdown and training for this super fun event, and today, I finished my only week of pre-training to dust off the cobwebs. And boy, do I hurt because I let my training slide. There’s not a muscle in my legs that don’t say ouch, WTH!

For this upcoming cycle, I will be using one of Hal Higdon’s plans, the Novice 2. I figure it fits as this is my second year in. I also like it because the mileage in the middle of the week is doable, and the LSR’s on the weekend gradually increase each week to where I’ll be running 12 miles the week before Boise. It’s important to me that I get that long mileage in so my body is aware of exactly how much pain it’s going to be in when it crosses the finish line.

My next three training runs will be 3 miles long each, and I have this wicked loop in my neighborhood that’s uphill both ways, with another killer hill smack dab in the middle of it. See picture below. I’ll measure my progress on this one particular loop as I will always have a 3-mile run each week of my training. Today was a test run… not even worth posting a time. Okay, so I walked a lot of it. Did I mention it was hot! I guess I really shouldn’t complain… The Motivator is training for the Chicago Marathon and had to run 9 miles today in the heat. We should’ve gotten up earlier…

On top of the hill looking down… it’s even worse going up!

Hurricane Ridge

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We’ve left the real world for a few days and have hopped on over to Port Angeles for a short break before school starts up again. Port Angeles is about 100 miles from where we live (by ferry) and it’s right next to the Olympic National Park. It sits on the Strait of Juan de Fuca (the waterway that represents the border between the U.S. and Canada), and Victoria, B.C. is only 20 miles by ferry.

Okay, all that being said, we had a very full first day. Before heading up to Hurricane Ridge, we stopped in Sequim (pronounced ‘skwim’) at this charming little ’50s diner to have lunch. AJ wants to go back for the milkshakes alone:

After lunch, we headed up to Hurricane Ridge for a little hike. They call it that because of the 75+ mph winds that blow through there. It was indeed a hike, and once again, I wish I hadn’t worn my running shoes (she will never, ever learn).

The views at the top were just amazing:

You can look down and see Port Angeles, as well as Victoria, B.C. on the other side of the water.

Views of the strait:

You can just see the hiking trail we used to get to the top of the mountain (there are fires burning on the range right now, hence, the haze):

Going back down, James made a comment that the only exciting animal we got to see all day was a chipmunk. Not 5 minutes later, we got to see this (can you see him?):

James found a charming, 2-bedroom, vacation home to rent while we are here. So after a long day of being out, tired and grimy, we got to come back to this (which was a very pleasant surprise as we hadn’t seen it yet):

With fabulous views of the water (#spottedtheship):

Next up, Lake Crescent… 🙂

Meanwhile in Scotland…

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Check out these desserts my in-laws are enjoying while on holiday!

First up, from the Brig O Doon in Ayr:

My mother-in-law, Janet, who recently visited us in June. No, she didn’t eat this all by herself, 🙂

From Souter Johnnie’s Inn, Ayr. The dessert so big, two pictures had to be taken so we could see the beauty of it all:

Oh hey everyone… this is my father-in-law’s first appearance on my blog! Meet Alan! Hi Alan! Great dessert you have there! Care to share?

Brag time: Alan ran a 2:58 London Marathon in the early ’90s. He was in his 40s.

Fact: My son is named Alan James, or A.J. as we call him… unless he’s in trouble, then all the syllables in his name come out.

What’s on your dessert plate today??

Credit of all pictures go to Janet and Alan… unfortunately I was nowhere near the above desserts.

Have You Ever Been Geocaching?

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Geocaching is an outdoor activity in which people use a GPS device to hide and seek containers, called “geocaches” or “caches”, anywhere and everywhere in the world. James found his first geocache in 2004. There are log books within the caches to where you can write a message or just log your user name, saying “I was here.” Some caches are even virtual. There is also an online site to log your finds.

It was a fun “game” that got us out exploring different places where we wouldn’t otherwise visit. AJ was a baby back then, so I’d stay at home while James would go out traipsing in the Arizona desert, mostly to come home with cholla cactus needles stuck in his socks. Thinking back, I have to laugh because it amazes me that he would venture to some of the places he did and put his hands in “holes” where no one would otherwise dare put their hands (because you just don’t put your hands in unknown holes in Arizona).

The geocaching continued on while AJ was growing up. This is AJ taking Flat Stanley geocaching (he’s holding Flat Stanley and a GPS):

And this is AJ getting excited about finding a micro cache:

Lots of caches also contain little treasures and toys, so it was usually rewarding for AJ to find one.

Fast forward to today and we now have the Pokemon Go phenomenon, not too dissimilar to geocaching, albeit totally different. I say brilliant. Okay, not so brilliant when someone is crashing their car into a tree or falling off a cliff due to extreme lack of intelligence (can’t blame an app for stupidity), but still, what a fun family activity when played responsibly!

My name is Paula. I run half-marathons. And I, too, hunt Pokemon.

Scenes from Seattle

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It’s been a busy week, and I just wanted to share some more fun pictures of Seattle, but this time from the ground. I always enjoy when people post pictures of where they live or visit, so I hope you enjoy these as well.

Who says it always rains in Seattle?

This…

…as opposed to this.

No idea what this building is, but it’s gorgeous.

We ate lunch here. Fabulous Food!

The 5th Avenue Theater.

The Seattle Center

International Fountain

James

Janet having some fun.

Have a great weekend!

Seattle’s Columbia Tower

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Today was good and hot, and clear, and a great day for a trip to the Columbia Tower. On the 73rd floor, there is an observation deck where you get the best views of the city and surrounding area… you can see forever. Well… you be the judge…

The address of the Columbia Center. And what category does this also fall under? Numbers for the The Daily Post Photo Challenge!

Going up?

First thing’s first… coffee at Starbucks on the 40th floor!

Mount Rainier… 65 miles from the Columbia Center…

… and to the north is Mount Baker which is 136 miles from the Columbia Center

Century Link Stadium and Safeco Field

We are about 400 feet above the Space Needle

City of Bellevue

Seattle Skyline… from above

The Puget Sound with the Olympic Mountains in the background

It was a great day, and I have so much more to share!! 🙂 Hope you’ve had a great Saturday too!

La Conner

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My mother-in-law, Janet, arrived from the UK last Wednesday for her annual visit. I foresee a few fun day trips in my near future! Today we went to La Conner, had a walk around and had a fabulous lunch. Even the child joined us for the outing (like he had a choice, hehe)!

Janet doing the “wiggle,” because the art statue behind her was called “The Big Red Wiggle.”

La Conner is about 45 minutes from where I live and a very small town. Very artistic. Great culture. Great scenery. The Swinomish Channel runs right along side of the town, so it has some great waterfront views.

Rainbow Bridge:

Neighborhood house in the shape of a boat (in blue), although you can’t really tell from this view.

Artsy stuff:

Loved this frog:

I stepped out in the middle of the road for this one because, hey, why not:

Old, old, old cabin (La Conner was settled in 1867):

A little farmer’s market:

A lovely little tea shop:

And, finally, lunch at La Conner Brewery (we find the best food at breweries):

Tomorrow is the city of Bellevue… with Judy from New York’s own Chocolate Runs Judy!! I can’t wait to meet her!!

Echoes Of My Neighbourhood #11

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I live in a little town called Lake Stevens, aptly named for the lake which the community surrounds. Summers get a bit busy here as everyone finds something to do water-related… swimming, skiing, kayaking, boating, fishing, rowing. We even have our own little rowing club. There’s sometimes activity on the water in winter as well, even people suited up skiing (extreme, very extreme).

At the Cove in the summer, we have “Music on the Lake,” where various local bands will come and perform, as well as outdoor movies. The town’s biggest party takes place the last weekend in July, known as Aquafest. Five blocks of Main Street are roped off and it becomes a fun little carnival with lots of games, rides, craft vendors, and food booths galore.

And it has just occurred to me, I’ve never shown pictures of the actual lake. While it was cloudy when I took these pictures, we are never lacking for sunshine in the summer.

While Internet safety is always a primary concern, I’m not too worried about those of you who like to stalk. I went to my local Wal-Mart this morning and stocked up on hunting supplies… so chances are I’m going to see you before you see me. 😀

I am joining Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha from A Cooking Pot and Twisted Tales for her series, “Echoes of My Neighbourhood,” where she challenges us all to share a photo of bits and pieces of wherever you are at any point in time.

Bringing It To Chicago…

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Okay, wait… you can’t miss this! My husband actually says I’m right!! Really and truly!! Read it here!! Ahhh, a shining moment in history, hehe!

Never A Dull Bling

The trials and tribulations of a 40-something novice runner

Tag Archives: Travel

We Have Arrived…

#MyFirstPostRevisited

First and only week of pre-training… done!

Hurricane Ridge

Meanwhile in Scotland…

Have You Ever Been Geocaching?

Scenes from Seattle

Seattle’s Columbia Tower

La Conner

Echoes Of My Neighbourhood #11

Bringing It To Chicago…

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