Well we made it home safe and sound from our west coast vacation. We had a great time and it couldn't have come at a better time. Work has been so stressful lately I was about to crack, so a little time away was much needed.

We flew into San Francisco on Sat and then rented a car. We decided to take the scenic route and drove up highway 1 to Fortuna CA. The trip up the coast was scenic and beautiful, but boy was it windy and slow and we were both ready to be out of the car when we got to our hotel 7 hours later! We saw lots of neat little farm towns and quirky shops and eateries, stopped a few times at the scenic overlooks. We got to our hotel pretty late on Sat and I felt pretty cruddy from the 5 hour flight and then 7 hour drive, not the best stage for a race the next day. Gary's sister Laura and her fiance Ross met us in Fortuna. We all had dinner and then headed to bed.

G and I got up bright and early and were greeted by cool temperatures and misty rain, yuck. But it cleared up soon enough. The race was in the Humbolt redwood forest. It was a small race, absolutely gorgeous. I was feeling pretty good race morning and was rareing to go. The start was a big cluster F but quickly everyone spread out. It turly was the Ave of the Giants marathon, the trees were enormous and hovered over us. It took me a few miles to get settled in. I ran without my garmin for the first time in forever, I didn't want to push myself. I ran the first 5 miles with a really nice lady from Missouri. But at mile 5 I had to stop for a bathroom break, my first of 2! Oh well. I felt really really good for the first 8 miles, no pain, no tiredness. By mile 9 my feet were really aching, like they did back in the spring when I was training for Cinti. By mile 11 it was excruitiating. And my sides starting hurting. So, the last few miles were no fun and I did a run walk shuffle. I came in under 2:30 which was my goal, but it certainly wasn't a race for the books. Gary on the other hand came in 1:54. I was very proud of him. Not bad for his first race with very little training. Once I crossed the finish line I was in a cruddy mood, I was bummed that once again my feet had broken down, I'm sure the new added weight doesn't help. I quickly got over it and we loaded into our cars to start our drive to Medford OR where Ross and Laura live.

We stayed with them for most of the week. We did a lot of fun things and got to check out Grants Pass, Medford and Ashland OR. We took a hike one day that was along some rocky cliff paths that led us to a rushing part of Rouge River where we got to watch the Salmon fighting their way up river to spawn. That was really neat. Gary and I also went to Crater Lake on Wed. It was one of the most beautiful sights ever, there are pictures below. After leaving OR Gary and I headed to San Francisco. We checked out the Golden Gate Bridge parks & recreational areas, Haight Ashbury, Fisherman's Warf, Union Square and even went and saw the Rocky Horror Show live on stage in the Mission. We had a nice time, but are glad to be home with the dogs! And my feet need a few days rest from alllllll the walking/hiking and running we did. Good times.