Photos: Barrier Peak/Tamanos Mountain (8/16/15)

Back in August, we bagged a couple new peaks in Rainier National Park. I shared the photos from my point-and-shoot, but Brad's DSLR pics sat on our computer. Because he's always very picky about what he thinks are the best photos, I kept waiting for him to sort and upload. I'm tired of waiting, so here are some highlights that I think are worth sharing.

(You can find more of the trip report HERE)

Arriving Saturday morning at Owyhigh Lakes:

Our makeshift campsite: 

Sunday morning's view of Tamanos from our campsite: 

Rainier: 

Tamanos Mountain from Barrier Peak: 

Mount Adams from Barrier Peak: 

Barrier Peak summit: 

Owyhigh Lakes and Tamanos Mountain: 

Potato chips taste the best on a climb! 

Tamanos Mountain approach: 

Rainier from the saddle: 

Looking back at Barrier Peak from Tamanos Summit: 

Back down at Owyhigh Lakes: 

 That was a tough, beautiful climb! :)

Rare handbell concert

Apparently it's all my fault!

We were having lunch with friends awhile back when Karen, who coordinates music at her church, mentioned something about the NFC handbell choir doing a Christmas concert. I guess I said it sounded like a good idea, because she ran with it - and actually made it happen!

Our group has been a part of several off-site events over the years, but always just a small part of something bigger. This time, it was just us... for an hour of music! We decided that was a little too much for us to handle on our own and invited the Newberg Brass to share the hour. To our relief, they agreed!

So we pulled out a bunch of Christmas music, along with a standard NFC handbell favorite that we can almost play with our eyes closed, and went to work. With just three weeks to rehearse - and three subs! - we polished as best we could, held our breath and went for it.

What we ended up with was a great, really fun evening of bells and brass!

People packed the small sanctuary and seemed to genuinely enjoy our offering. And it was fun to get applause recognition for our hard work - something we don't often get at our home church since we're not a clapping kind of congregation.

I think we all felt a bit under prepared going into the evening, but in the end, it was a great time! I'm so glad we were able to be a part of the good cause of collecting food for those less fortunate and offering some Christmas music to the community :)

No. 38

Another Joan Hess novel: The Maggody Militia. 

A militia comes to the small town to recruit new members and practice maneuvers on some rural property. It was a light story, but with the current political climate with guns and genocidal rhetoric, it was a bit less light - a little too real.

:)

Full weekend and a farewell to Back Porch Revival

I had a bunch of fun this weekend!

It started with nailing my final tempo run and then tree decorating at Mom and Dad's house.

Saturday morning was the annual THS Band craft fair, where I bought a couple gifts and some yummy candies for myself.

After some work at home, Brad, Dad, Lindsey and I hit the trails at Tryon for an hour of foggy, sweaty fun. It was a beautiful, drippy afternoon. Loved it!

Sunday was a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call for handbells at Newberg Friends.

After a nap and more house work (the bathroom remodel is ALMOST DONE!), I went with Mom and Eryn to the farewell concert for Back Porch Revival. 

Gene Greer was the first producer I ever worked for in the TV news biz. He sent me home crying the first day but ended up being my mentor and a long-time friend. I've seen his band play many times, and when I heard they are taking a break, I couldn't miss their final concert.

Since we were at Mississippi Pizza, we had to partake!

Front man, Gene:

The band played a solid 2-hour set, playing originals and standards. It was a great show - so glad we could be there!

BPR - you'll sure be missed!!

Christmas light run

Lindsey joined us last Wednesday for a fun Christmas light run in Tualatin!

RoadRunner Sports was hosting the run, which went from the store on Nyberg to the big Christmas tree at Bridgeport Village. We gathered for some pictures before heading back to the store.

After about 3.25 miles, we snacked on cookies and hot chocolate - and then all three of us won water bottles from Hoka!

We all tested Hoka shoes. Lindsey's demo pair:

It was super fun to hang out with Lindsey doing something I love! We kept the pace easy and just enjoyed the night run. ALSO - it was supposed to dump rain that evening. But the storm held off, and we were dry the whole time! It wasn't too cold or windy, either - perfect running weather!

After, we had to refuel with dinner from a Taqueria Las Casitas :)

Last tempo!

Yesterday was my final speed session of this training!!!

A spent some quality time on the treadmill after work, completing one last tempo run before my goal race. I ended up with 6.25 miles while binge watching Flashpoint: 

It's definitely the hardest of the prescribed workouts, but I nailed it!

After a shower and some dinner, we went to Mom and Dad's house to decorate their gigantic tree. It is a real beauty this year!

We enjoyed treats while filling the tree with precious ornaments from the past :)

Clark County Turkey Trot (11/26/15)

Sticking with tradition, we started our Thanksgiving with a race!

This year's selection was the Clark County Turkey Trot. They offered a 5K and a 10K, so Brad, Eryn and I opted for the longer race for maximum pie-burning calories :)

Brad and I stayed the night at his parents' house in Vancouver, then it was up early for the short drive to Salmon Creek Park.

If you remember, it was super cold that day - 26 degrees at the start! We got there nice and early to secure parking, then sat in our cars until race time.

Formal Flush donated a couple luxury porta-potties - and they were unbelievable!

Heated (AC for the summer), photos on the walls, running water, "flush" toilets. Seriously nicest porta ever! THANKS, FORMAL FLUSH!!!

The before - notice the frozen leaves:

The after (Steve and Donna scooted out before we grabbed a pic):

This was a really good event! The course was gorgeous and almost totally flat. The volunteers were terrific. The crowd was cheerful and fun. I would definitely do this one again! It seemed a bit less festive than other turkey-day races we've done (perhaps because of the COLD), but it was still really fun.

I love this family tradition and hope to keep it up for a long time!! :)