Let'er Buck!

For my birthday last month, Brad gave me a small-town trip of my choice... one that didn't involve scaling a mountain or something else exhausting. Just a nice, relaxing adventure at a place we'd never been.

Because Brad had the week off, and previous plans to backpack and climb were thwarted by very low snow levels, I decided to cash in my gift and hit the road for a short trip to Pendleton.

We left Monday afternoon and arrived in town just in time for a quick stop at the Chamber of Commerce for some brochures and such:

Cowboys everywhere!

Dinner at Thai Ploy (we first stopped at a Mexican place but left quickly when we noticed the "failed" health inspection sticker in the window!):

Then cable TV (a major vacation bonus for our off-the-air-TV-only family) and bed at the Super 8:

We got up early Tuesday and explored the town on our bikes. 

The Umatilla River:

Wagon train mural:

My favorite graffiti on the river trail:

 Little horses in the park outside the Round-Up:

And there's the famous Pendleton Round-Up!

#1 Top Cowboy Vacation Destination (Western Horseman Magazine):

Ooh... a skate park!

 "Let'er Buck" is the town/Round-Up slogan. It was EVERYWHERE! We loved the bike racks:

We stopped by the Round-Up later in the day when it was open for barrel-racing practice:

We returned to the pathway and discovered hundreds of goats fenced in along the riverbank:

They were brought in to clear brush - love it!

Then we peddled to Pendleton Woolen Mills:

We did some hobo nappin' in this grass until it was time for our tour:

Headsets so we could hear the tour guide over the intense factory noise:

Spools and spools of beautiful wool yarn:

Raw, dyed yarn:

Computerized loom:

Inspecting for flaws:

Unfortunately, we're way too cheap to actually purchase a Pendleton blanket, but it sure was interesting to see how they were made.

Dinner was a quick stop at Round-Up Char Burger:

Loved the reading material while we waited:

In all, we rode about 15 miles around town. We had a great time exploring and then returned to the hotel to check out the pool and then hit the hay early... of course we signed up for a morning 5K Fourth of July race!

:)

Happy Fourth!

Happy Fourth of July! 


I hope you have a fun, safe holiday :)

Brave the run

Eryn and I saw this perfect tech-tee last week at the Under Armor outlet in Woodburn.

They were on sale two for $20 and we were totally going to buy them -- but they only had larger sizes left :(

Our motto:  "Rain, snow, sleet, wind. Brave the run!"

:)

Gratitude - 7/2

I am grateful for my rain barrel.

I am grateful for an impromptu getaway.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows" James 1:17 NIV

Mount Hubris

Mount Hubris near Mount Shasta was Brad's destination the last weekend in May.

He went on the club trip with a couple other climbers and had a great time.

Check out some pics from his weekend rock-climbing adventure:

Mount Shasta:

:)

300!

With today's muggy 6.0 miles, I've now run 300 for the year...

Yippee!! Applause, applause! ;)

The sun was breaking out as I set out this afternoon. I was supposed to get up and run before church, but it was raining and I decided sleep sounded more fun. I should have dragged my butt out of bed, because this muggy weather sucks for my running!

Still, I did 6 miles in Cook and Tualatin parks, stopping twice at the drinking fountains.

Oops:

Falling:

Fell:

My run was hard, but I got it done. 6.00 in 57:19, a 9:33 average overall:

Just signed up to do a fun Fourth of July race - looking forward to some red, white and blue :)

No. 19

Continuing my quest to read all the THS library books starting at the beginning of the alphabet...

I've finished The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey. And I found my favorite quote ever!

"One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity there ain't nothing can beat teamwork," Seldom Seen Smith said.

I read that line just after finishing our Solstice Stupidity adventure of 2012. It could not have been more perfect.

Several people saw me reading the 1975 novel (which I had not heard of) and commented on how it was one of their favorites.

I liked the story and really enjoyed Abbey's writing style, which was very different. But while I appreciate the point of the characters' antics, I had a hard time cheering on eco-terrorism. Still, I would recommend the read.

Now I'm on to Abbey's followup, Hayduke Lives :)