Krista's Frolics

"Good job!"

2010-10-16T22:45:00.000-07:00

I must of said "Good job" a bazillion times today - it was unavoidable. For the first time I volunteered at a local race in lieu of participating. Actually, this particular race, the Defiance 50k Ultra was a bit out of my league so perfect for me to volunteer in. The minimum distance was a bit over 9 miles so in theory I *could* have tried but....I think I made the right choice by volunteering though.

When I run races volunteers are just incredible. Always cheering, always helpful, always standing in the rain, in the cold, in the heat and for hours on end. The volunteers that hand out water to fast runners have to deal with wet sleeves for the rest of the day. The volunteers that take off timing chips at the end of the race have to deal with touching sweaty stinky runner-flesh and I always wondered "Did anyone pee in their shorts during their race to get a better time?" Because if so, then volunteers taking off timing chips have to deal with urine as well. I've never peed my pants during a run (knock on wood) but my time was due to contribute as a volunteer.

This morning's 50k was a trail run in an area that me and my peeps love to get our own running workout in. The race director figured out a choice of 3 distances so you could go one loop for the shortest distance (15k) two loops (30k) or three loops (50k). My job was to be a crossing guard and make sure none of the speeding cars hit any runners. And of course I was to cheer whenever and as much as possible!

It was a nice, sunny day but COLD and I was standing in the tree cover on top of a hill called "Monster hill" by the locals. Anyway - when the first group of runners came I was sooo stinking excited!

"Good job! Good job! *clapping*clapping* Good job!" I should of brought my cowbell to add to the cheer. I knew the next time I saw these runners they would be on their 2nd and then 3rd loop so I had to deviate from my phrase of "Good job" to give them something new and inspiring.

As I waited for the runners to make their loop around for the first time I texted Kate who happened to be cycling in the neighborhood (big surprise) and she came by to give me much needed company. Before she showed up two runners who had a 5-minute pace flew past me going the wrong way. I had such a delayed reaction and then questioned "Did the course change? Do they know where they're going? Did they change their mind? Did they lose something?" And 10 minutes later I see the race director running fast and hard with them leading them to get back on course. I heard one of the speed demons say "No one ever told us we were ever going the wrong way!" I felt instant guilt. Kate did a good job of reassuring me over and over again that this was not my fault. Because of this I was even more motivated to be there for the other runners.

The dialogue with passing runners gets interesting. I found out that some runners had gotten lost right at the start and thus gave up. I found out that a bees nest was disturbed further down the loop and the bees were stinging every runner that they could! Rumor is someone finally was able to battle the bees and get the hive off the trail but lost their pants as a result of his bravery. What a sacrifice!

I was rocking to music with one earbud in and Kanye West inspired me to start telling runners "You look strong! Good job!" I love the girl who on her third loop asked me "How strong do I look now?" The answer: SUPER STRONG. She had tie-dyed compression sleeves on her arms and red hair. I loved her.

Then Peter Cetera came on my MP3 (I'm not ashamed) so then I started telling people "You're the inspiration - looking great - good job!"

For the ones struggling I told runners "You're Rocky man - you're going the distance! Good job!" I loved the one girl who asked me to sing "Eye of the Tiger" for her for more inspiration. So I should of brought cowbell AND my microphone.

Some runners I'd say "You're doing it man - looking awesome" and one very tired fella said "I can't even feel what I'm doing anymore but I'm just gonna keep moving my feet." Hells yeah.

My favorite was the feisty fella who informed me that if I thought he looked awesome when he's ultra running then I should see how awesome he is when he's all cleaned up! Little does he know I find sweaty, dirty, hard-working fellas WAY more attractive than cleaned up ones.

When there were gaps between runners I'd see other recreational runners struggling up Monster Hill so I started to encourage them too. One girl was doing 10 miles that day, another girl was doing 15. They were awesome. Kudos to the girl with the Aussie-Heeler who stopped the out of control SUV and screamed "Slow down A$$hole!" Don't mess with Tacoma girls man.

I got asked several times by drivers how to find the zoo. If I was a crossing guard all the time. What the heck was going on. Or if I had seen their family member running.

Some runners would ask me on the 2nd or 3rd loop what order they were in. I found many different ways to say NO IDEA. When it comes to loops it's really hard to say. I couldn't even make an inspirational twist of encouragement out of that honest answer.

I woke up at 5:45am (NEVER HAPPENS), got my latte staring at the sun rise & illuminating Rainier and stood as a crossing guard for 5.5 hours with no food or bathroom break and time flew by. Go figure.

As the race dwindled down the 50k runners all seemed to have the same joke "No offense but I'm so happy I won't be running by you for a fourth time." No offense taken.

What I heard the most today was a plethora of thank yous from all the tired, hard-working and sweaty runners. Here they are, struggling for breath yet still muster gratitude. I just love the running community. Runners are so supportive, positive, upbeat and luckily for me you don't even need to be good at running to be a part of a runners' community. I'm looking forward to volunteering more (with cowbell, a stereo and handwarmers though). And I look forward to more sweaty and dirty fellas! My favorite!

Blah-ging

2010-09-29T22:29:00.000-07:00

I've become burnt out on blogging. I still have constant dialouge in my head but blogging for me became my picture diary of experiences that I loved. Mainly. But I've become burnt out. Because who really cares anyway?

However I feel like I should mention how awesome the Warrior Dash was (picture below). It was awesome. One of the most fun events I've participated in this year and I can't wait for next year.

Besides that my Big Bro and his wife Andrea came into town briefly and we caught up on the trail of course. They are doing so awesome in their new life adventure - it was beyond great to see them again.

OH, and my parents found my blog. That was great to hear my Mom's feedback and commentary on all the blogs I wrote. Of course I know it's "public" for anyone to see but my privacy from my Mother means a lot. Anyone that knows her understands why. She promises not to look again but that woman just can't be trusted! That's right Mom, I KNOW you can't resist being nosy and then playing dumb about it later!

For the most part I try to keep my blogs upbeat and lighthearted: I don't talk about my job, I don't talk about dating/relationships, I don't talk about my sister banning me from being in my nephews (x3) lives, I don't talk about what stresses me out, I don't talk about personal feelings, etc.

So perhaps I'm done with blogging then. Maybe if I feel I have funny dialogue to get off my chest I'll write it out. Like the occasional bad date. Ok, yes, that violates one of my rules of talking about relationships/dating but I figure if I change all names and situations to protect the innocent that it can't be bad right? I've had amusing experiences.

Oh and I wasn't ready for Deadliest Catch to be over but I accept it. It's really not a show without Phil, The Hansens or The Hillstrands. Over and Out.

To Burroughs We Go

2010-08-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

Before the summer completely disappears myself, Sugarmama Shannon, CortO and KB decided to play hooky (ok, we were responsible and requested vacation days) and hit the hills mid-week. Rainier is gorgeous yet extremely crowded so we decided to take advantage of the weekday mini-crowds and do a popular yet beautiful hike.

Some trailheads have no marking, some have an old wood slab on a post or a faded flag on a tree branch but at Rainier you get glossy, colorful maps. We were NOT going to slum it today!

This was the view of Rainier from the parking lot. We took full advantage of the flushing toilets at the trailheads AND the gift shop. Thank goodness because the wind was in hyper mode so Sugarmama and CortO bought some matching fleece jackets to keep them warm. I was just grateful that I didn't have to concentrate on not peeing on my leg in the woods. It happens people. It's nature.

Very early on in the hike Sugarmama was looking at Rainier silently and then this conversation commences:
*Sugarmama Shannon: "What mountain is that?"
*US: "Uh......Rainier?"
*Sugarmama Shannon: "No it's not."
*US: "Yes it is!"
*Sugarmama Shannon: "hmm....we could climb that. That's not that big."

And that ladies and gentleman, is trailhead summit fever, at it's best.

I don't know what range you call this...I stared and stared at a map of Rainier and decided just to let it tell you itself. The clouds rolling over the ridge was breathtaking. Take a breath.....

Dangit. This is going to bug me - Tamanos Mountain? Governor's Ridge? I need to know. Who knows the answer? I'll have Schmuck bake you something if you can give me the correct answer.

We decided to do Burroughs Mountain and spoil ourself with views for the rest of the day. There was only a couple of places where snow was on the trail that was easy to navigate.

If you click on this picture you'll see Sugarmama Shannon behind me with both arms stretched out to balance herself like she's taking a sobriety test. ABC's are next.

First Burroughs - look at the effortless mountain man pose KB naturally strikes. I tried for the rest of the day to duplicate that pose and failed. Again and again - it's like he channels the hiking version of the Marlbaro Man every time. I'm just not worthy!

Little Tahoma Peak in the background - still some alpine flowers taking a stand this time of year.

And soon we were on top of Second Burroughs. I guess I left out a picture but there were about 40 mountain goats at the basin below this - we had to hold Sugarmama back from running into their hooved arms - she loves them so much. However being upwind from the goats really surrounded us with a certain stink. We all silently questioned our grooming habits that morning (and each others) and resolved it was from the stinking goats. You stink goats!

So here is my first fail with KB trying to duplicate his mountain man pose. See his relaxed form. See my non-relaxed form. It's like I'm waiting for my mountainous red carpet. FAIL.

I had no idea that ET and Elliot still hang out and I'm so grateful because they made for a very good photo. Among the clouds in the distance is our office building - sucks to be them!

CortO instructing Sugarmama and myself in our Burroughs photo shoot.

So after ET and Elliot departed for the day we took over this rocky bench with our Heiniekens and took in the views. KB's eagle eyes spotted some climbers on Rainier and we all took turns marveling at these distant strangers with binoculars. I consulted with my unofficial Mountain Expert BMount and he confirmed that we were looking at Interglacier which contains the route to Camp Schurman on the other side (the triangle shaped glacier above our heads). He swore to me it's not easy to tumble down it's face which I'm still not convinced of. This is coming from a man who calls climbing Rainier a "snow slog." Seriously folks.

Cheers with our summit beer! Thank you Heinieken for hosting such a great summit for us!

KB in the distance in a reflective moment - take note another effortless mountain man pose. Beyond him is the Third Burroughs - "Should we do it?" - it was a hard decision to make. Eventually we resolved we had taken our time on the way up and shouldn't extend our day with the Third Burroughs... especially on a school night. So I am coming back for you Winthrop Glacier! I heard you are quite the sight!

KB with his Heine. And his pose.

Here I thought I was channeling Captain Morgan with CortO as my hand rest but all I really got out of it was showing how my sports bra works overtime. So much to learn from KB...so much.

Sugarmama Shannon and I descending Second Burroughs:

Sugarmama Shannon: "I want to go pet the goats!"

Krista: "Why do you love evil goats? I think you were a goat in your previous life."

Sugarmama Shannon: "I'm a Capricorn ya know (makes sense)....can I please go pet the goats!?"

Descending First Burroughs - I believe that's Goat Island Mountain in the background. A place where they plot and plan, get stinky and beckon Shannon to convert to their dark side.

Why didn't I pay better attention in school? Nature is AWESOME. To the right you have the base of Emmons Glacier where White River is born. You also have a striking turquoise lake which, thanks to Ranger Punches, now I know why it's so turquoise. It has to do with the glacial rock in the lake and how it reflects the sun. Amazing. Thanks Nature. I thought you were dishwasher soap at first glance.

Some flowers showing their goods on our descent from the subalpine.

Shadow Lake, why oh why can't we jump in? My forehead is burnt and I just want to jump in. Sugarmama Shannon in reflection accepting the signage telling us "no swimming, no fishing". BOO. I didn't ask Ranger Punches what was up with that one. I'll let it slide this time.

And back at the parking lot KB introduced CortO and myself to the tradition of parking lot beer - I liked it! I really think I should adopt this new tradition! Thanks Sugarmama for driving!

Speaking of Unique: How do you scare a unique marmot? Unique up on it! But seriously, we saw some unique marmots that were spliced with bears on this trail. And I say that because from a distance half of us thought they were bears and the other half thought they were marmots. Only nature knows for sure....

Summer Summit

2010-08-15T22:13:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend was stinking hot so to cool down Katers and I did a quick hike under the cool canopy of the forest to an alpine lake that I was just itching to jump in!

I love when it gets hot in Washington (90s) and it becomes breaking news every 30 minutes. "How long will it last? Did we break a record? Here's a list of cooling centers. When will the cooler temperatures come back? Danger, Danger, Danger why is the sun trying to kill us?" And it goes on and on. Were such weather wimps. But I still love you Washington.

Katers at the trailhead of Summit Lake.

This was a moderate hike and not too long - a perfect distance since this was Katers first hike since she almost met her maker.

This is where the trail split. We were headed to Summit Lake but I had this big idea that on the way back down we could try to Bearhead Trail. I have a lot of big ideas that don't seem to come to fruition.

I loved this little trail split lake (Twin Lake without a twin) - it had a lot of fishies jumping up and swirling around. Never gets old except when the dang biting flys are devouring you.

Some people carry 10 essential, Katers carries 30.

At last we arrived at Summit Lake but before I could swim I had to convince Katers that we HAD to hike to the summit above it. This is when Katers informs me she has to be in her lazy boy by 6pm otherwise the universe tilts. So...did you guys feel the tilt?

We did this hike past the peak of the wildflowers but thankfully there were still some left on the trail gasping their last breaths and greeting us. AND I just learned that the white ones are called Cows Parsnip (thanks KB!)

Almost to the summit - damn I love Washington.

Can you literally hear this lake calling you to come and jump in it? I almost had reverse summit fever and felt like I could run and cherry bomb straight into this lake but then I got distracted by....

...shirtless sunbathing men! Can I please have more of that on my hikes? I've said this before and I'll say it again: God love the men who go outside and frolic in nature, sans shirt, in lieu of staying indoors on beautiful days. You do your Mother's proud and I thank you.

A shot of my feet off the cliffside for Andrea.

Summit Beer time! My last Dude Beer went down well. My favorite part here is when Katers asks me "Is it illegal to do this?" I couldn't stop laughing. For those of you who know her you know why that is funny. Between the two of us who should really know the answer to that question?

To the crazy mountain man out there considering attacking Katers on the trail: Don't do it. She'll chop you, decapitate you, spit on you, quarter you and then do it all over again for good measure.

On the way down Katers sacrificed her recliner deadline to let me jump into the lake and cool off. The lake was soooo stinking clear! And cold but I've had colder.

And the perfect way to end - floating on my back. What I love about floating on my back is that you can't hear a darn thing, you close your eyes and just let the water take you away. Preferably not next to crazy mountain men lurking behind trees but next to the shirtless sunbathing men.

Anyway - it's perfect water meditation - I don't do it enough.

And I'm late on the breaking news but Sugarmama Shannon, Corto and myself were able to crank out a half-marathon. My first since my injury and my leg held up ok! Congrats to CortO on his FIRST half-marathon - it's nice to say that Shannon and I deuced him. He swares he'll never do another one but that's what they all say - they all come back eventually....

The Perfect Rock

2010-08-01T01:57:00.000-07:00

Big D and I decided to do a moderate hike by the name of Cathedral Rock and everything about the day was just perfect. Her and I must of said "This is the perfect day" a million times. Boyfriend Ben let us borrow the truck which was perfect for the forest service road we had to take to the Alpine Lakes trailhead outside of Cle Elum. We were able to find our summit beers no problem and the sky was blue and the sun was shining. Perfect.

I should of taken pictures of all the meadows that we were driving thru on our way to the trailhead. At the start of our hike we were greeted with this flower-less meadow. Still pretty.

Hello Cle Elum River. I'm sure I'll be dipping my swollen feet in you later.

After crossing this cedar bridge we slowly made our way up the lazy switchbacks to our destination.

Big D in the woods. Ah yes, this is us in our true element. Big D just got a new job and returned from a short vacation in California so the woods got to hear all our catching up that we had to do.

The way to Cathedral Rock is part of the Pacific Crest Trail but I was curious about this side trail to Michael Lake. Before Big D and I set off I met some fellas in the parking lot who told me they took this trail. "Where abouts did it lead?" I asked one of them. He pointed at a high rock to the left of the horizon. "I like the way you hike man!" was my response. I myself like pointing at high peaks to say "I've been there". Usually it's at the base of peaks because this girl does not know how to scramble or mountain climb. Ironically Cathedral Rock is a rock climber's destination (at least according to the hiking book).

About halfway up we passed by Squaw Lake. We said a quick hello and decided we were definitely going to wade in it later. See you soon Squaw!

Remember my run in with goats in the earlier hike? I still have a cut on my calf from them. Ok, not from the goats but I'm sure they made me slip and fall on that rock with their minds. I just think goats are up to no good. They stare at your with their beady eyes and silently plot your demise.

Soon we made our way to the ridgeline where the views opened up and the tarns guarded the fragile meadows.

Drafting while hiking.

This is Cathedral Rock! So as I mentioned before we'll be hiking to the base of it until I learn how to climb like spiderman.

Who needs an outdoor pool when you have lakes with views like this?

According to the book this fork was kind of our end destination. Although the trail kept on going since it was part of the Pacific Crest Trail. As Big D and I contemplated where the heck we would enjoy our summit beers a hiker emerged from the woods fresh from an outdoor shower and encouraged us to go to the other side of the ridge for a good view. Ok.

Man oh man I'm glad we listened to him because this view was AMAZING. Simply amazing. The perfect day.

The view even almost perfectly matches up with Big D's summit beer!

I don't think pictures do our view justice so I included a video which includes Big D's beer slam. Oh, and by the way, the answer is Daniel's Mountain. Or Mount Daniels. I think.

Summit Beer drinking commences.

Here Deer!

On the way down as Big D and I excitedly anticipated our soon to be consumed burger and beer at The Brick we took a break to soak our legs in Squaw Lake. I heavily considered doing an all out jump into the lake like usual but decided against it since no one dared me and I didn't want to be cold at The Brick.

Thanks Lake!

A quick photo of the sun setting as we may our way out of the woods blasting Beastie Boys on Boyfriend Ben's stereo.

And for those of you wondering why we consider The Brick so phallic just look at their sign. I'm not a pervert. And they sell shirts with this symbol smack dab in the middle. If I wore that shirt...now...don't make me say what that would look like.

Regardless, thank you Cathedral Rock, PCT, Rainier Beer, Big D and The Brick for a perfect day!

Sheep go to heaven, goats go to h*ll.

2010-07-19T20:51:00.000-07:00

Lake Ingalls was the hike Sugarmama Shannon chose we should do...well, at least after she performed all her saturday chores on a Friday morning. We got to the trailhead late (2:30) which as hard as I tried I couldn't make Sugarmama accept fault for this. It's obvious she's been married for a while with her mad skills of deflecting blame thru argument. I have a lot to learn from her...but I digress.

Above is our trailhead which leads to several different hiking options - this is part of an old mining trail and from what I read also a trailhead that many climbers use to do their crazy ascents up some crazy peaks. Unfortunately we didn't run into any hot climbers on the trail but we did run into a very nice boy scout group. Beggers can't be choosers.

This beautiful creek led the way for the first quarter mile - once we found our trail it was lazy switchback city with sparse trees and open sky. It's stinking hot on this side of the mountains and feels like true summer (a little backhand slam to the westside).

The higher we got the better the views became. I believe this is Esmeralda Peak...oh wait...shoot. I didn't fit Esmeralda into this picture but just know that she is the mama peak in the peaks you're looking at. Not to be confused with Sugarmama Shannon's back.

The colors were few but bold. I just loved how the green and white trees contrast with the blue sky and beige stonecrop. Sugarmama Shannon started to look out for vultures. See any?

We slowly gained elevation and every once in a while continued to guess where the heck this lake is. Everything was so dry that it was hard to imagine that there was any kind of lake anywhere. Our goal for the day, this HOT day was to find a good lake to swim in and drink our heinekens by.

This lonely patch of snow gave us some much needed relief from the heat and lack of shade. Above is Sugarmama Shannon taking it all in.

Me assessing the situation and scoping out a good spot to execute a good hotdog roll. I did it. And found out that my idea was better in theory than reality. (Picture omitted).

And up.

And vegetation returns! We figured this would be a good spot for the 8th of May. (If you don't know what this is then ask me and I will sing you the song...)

As we got higher some old friends Rainer (on the right) and Adams (on the left) were peaking their heads up to give us a holler. Oh - and THAT is Esmeralda Peak. She was our little guide the whole way up to Ingalls Pass.

Once we reached Ingalls Pass we wondered "Ok. So....now where?" Some dude was setting up camp on the ridge and this girl was completely envious. What a perfect way to spend a Friday night.

Reaching the other side of the Pass we were able to find our trail...a very much snow covered trail. But as long as there was still tracks we were still game. The sun was out and we had energy to spare.

So ALL my years living in EBurg I was NEVER this close to Mt. Stuart - what kind of ridiculousness is that? I love Mt. Stuart - I'll give you an unobstructed view of his dominion and beauty.

Ah yes, now that's a thing of beauty. In my dreams and in a perfect world I have the experience and know-how to conquer this mountain. Can you imagine taming this beast and taking in the panoramic views it has to offer? But I digress...

Wait - what the heck is the difference between a mountain and a peak?

I believe this is Ingalls Peak and as we looked for our final destination the question remained "So where is this stinking lake?"

Very faintly you can see our trail (in the snow and rocks) to the left. We became confident that our lake was just over that lower snow ridge - we were nearly there!

As we made our way over this was our view UP...

And our view down.

And this was the reality of what we thought would be where our lake was at. We were wrong but couldn't find the trail. Oh cairn, my dear cairns, where are you to lead the way?

Sugarmama Shannon took a break on top of this waterfall to soak her heiniken in the cool water. I have to say that this is one of the top ten bada$$ pictures I've ever taken. On a stressful day at work I'm just going to look at this picture and it will all be put into perspective.

As Sugarmama Shannon relished in her mountain moment I looked once more at our false lake and tried to find the trail.

And in the distance I spotted it. Sugarmama Shannon advised the time was 5:55pm. Should we go for it? Umm...yes! We had 3 headlamps between the two of us and that was good enough for me. Curosity is a powerful force.

Thank goodness for cairns for helping us navitage our way thru the snow and rocks. It was so beautiful - the red rocks reminded me of Colorado!

We ran into some backpacking runners along the way. It was odd because they were wearing running shorts and running shoes. I said something to one fella about his Brooks and he informed me he'd been getting sh*t all day for it. I wonder if it was from his frozen toes. Anyway - we followed them and climbed these rocks to find the lake just over this ridge. This time we were SURE it was just over this ridge.

Once we made our way up we instantly saw a family of goats! There were 7 or 9 of them. I remember on the way up some little boys told us about the goats and how aggressive they were. After that Sugarmama Shannon got excited to see goat hair and kept on calling out for goats. They really did hear her call...

So this is Ingalls Lake and this is as close as Sugarmama Shannon got to swimming in it. Too iced over to jump in and too cold to drink our beers. But the views were fantastic and I later read about a narly loop hike you could crank out in a day from here. I'm soooo down for that - so who is with me?

Let me introduce you to Lake Ingalls! By the way, the name is Ingalls Peak. Typical.

Here's one of the goats and the 3 little kiddie goats. They were swirling all around Sugarmama Shannon and I - it was really awesome to see them in their element!

Cute goats in action!

As this goat was staring down Sugarmama Shannon I got a flashback of Kirby the Goat (rest in peace) who bucked me years ago when I didn't give him his food fast enough. He knocked me back into the fence. Then I had to wonder if mountain goats ever attacked to protect their young or to get food? We still needed to make our way down a steep rock scramble...

As I started to let my inner-scaredy cat out of my system and whine to Sugarmama Shannon about the ferocious goats we noticed this marmot peaking his head up wondering what all the commotion was about.

So even though I was nervous about the goats I still made a dumb mistake: As we started to make our way down the initial steep descent I felt dizzy so opened up a energy bar. And then. I noticed a big goat following me. This freaked me out. Memories of Kirby's hard buck would push me off that mountain if my new goat-shadow followed suit. I got down so fast, going OUT of the way scrambling over boulders to get away from these godforsaken goats from hell. Of course Sugarmama Shannon was calm and just kept saying "Just don't look at them" as she calmly walked among and around these goats on these steep overhangs.

And. When I thought I was safe Sugarmama Shannon said "he's following you." That dang energy-bar-obsessive of a mountain goat was right behind me and I started to run. Stupid goats.

As we quickly made our way out Sugarmama Shannon slipped and sliced & diced her thumb (pictured above) and later I cut my calf on a rock that turned out worse the next day than at the time.

We made it back to the trailhead just before 9:30pm and never had to bust out the headlamps. It was an awesome hike and adventure. I hate mountain goats but love my pictures of mountain goats. Thanks for not killing me. Baahh.

Reunions and New Peaks

2010-07-12T21:53:00.000-07:00

Washington has been having great weather lately and a hike could not be resisted! This weekend we made our way over to the Olympics (I've neglected her for years) and did Mt. Townsend with Sugarmama Shannon and CortO.

This is a beautiful and awesome hike but there are no bathrooms at the trailhead. After finding a good spot to pop a squat I started off in good form by getting a long scratch on my naked booty and breaking off my zipper. Awesome. But I suppose every girl needs easy access hiking shorts.

The climbing started right away but very do-able switchbacks. There were lots of rhodies in bloom - total blissful way to start a hike!

We took turns "drafting"...assuming that exists in hiking like it does in running. Above is my draft.

A tunnel of rhodies.

Bite my draft.

Oh wait - see this cool idea Sugarmama Shannon has? She puts a bandana on her wrist to help wipe away the sweat because real women sweat when they hike. I'm going to steal that idea but still give her the credit.

Since the sun was out there were a lot of pretty butterflies in the sky! (And they can go twice as high...)

Getting out of the treeline the flowers started showing up and it was beautiful!

This waterfall greeted us on the way up and CortO decided to go naked hiking here. I'll give you picture proof for $$. It's PG-13 but worth every penny.

If you look above this ridge, above the clouds, you'll see a familiar friend by the name of Rainier. She was totally watching our back as we made our way up the switchbacks thru the alpine tundra.

I mean really. Really. This is amazing. I wanted to yodel. I was heavily considering frolicking and twirling since the hills were alive with the Sound of Music but figured I'd trip.

Naked CortO and Sugarmama Shannon almost to the Summit! I just realized I forgot my summit beer dangit!

Isn't this an amazing spot? The clouds were coming in but straight ahead (not pictured), on a clear day, you can see the San Juans. In typical summit form we started to talk about the burger and beer we were going to reward ourselves with.

"We look better if we squint" fka Naked CortO said.

So the place where we rewarded ourselves for a great hike was the Olympic Timber House Restaurant. Holy Moly that place was amazing - I can't wait to go back! From the outside it wasn't clear that it was a restaurant (looked like a ranger station) but on the inside it was nothing but romantic, timber beauty. The food was incredible, the wine list awesome, they had Mac & Jac's Hef on tap (a rarity for me to find) and the atmosphere was incredible. Not to mention they give away HUGE suckers if you sign the guest log (I grabbed a pina colada). Oh, and a tray of the day's desserts (about 6 or 7) are on display when you first walk in. I really think I'm going to choose the rest of my hikes based on eating at this restaurant more. Love it!

My friend Jessica and her hubby Farooq - she randomly let Big D and I know that she was in town for a few days before moving with her family to Japan. We had a great reunion with her family (twin boys included), a bonfire, hotdogs and smores. Dumb Krista didn't bring her camera but that made me wish the evening would never end. The next night we said goodbye after sushi and sake.

I love you Jessica so much - I'm so proud of you and all you've accomplished! Mount Fuji here we come!

Adapting is a beautiful thing.

2010-07-05T22:15:00.000-07:00

Ah summer is finally here. I also refer to summer as accelerated hiking and running season. The season of hiking long days, high elevations, faraway places and running fun races with friends. This was, of course, until I experienced an injury. But I will prevail!

Currently I'm in Physical Therapy (aka Personal Training) and they are working me. Hard. I am trying to apply everything they are putting me through. Most recently I decided to do back-to-back hikes.

Mount Zion in the Olympics is short, only 4 miles round trip, but has a very steady climb that makes you earn your summit beer. Although it was too cold to partake that day. It was a hike that was full of mist and rhododendrons (a nod to our state flower here).

I love how lush and green the Olympics are.

So this was our amazing view. It took me a half-second to take it all in.

My Zion hiking companion!

For a longer climb Big D and I did Elbow Peak in the Teanaway area. Ah yes, it was like coming home. When I went to school in Central Washington (go wildcats!) I would spend many days, getting lost in the hills and exploring various trails. The trails are usually seldom used by hikers but more so by horses and bikes. We all live as one in Central Washington. Above is some wild roses! Not me, them.

We had a very steady climb up and up with NO switchbacks so it was really good to try to readjust how I hike with my injury. On the way up Big D and I saw an old friend that we haven't seen in a while - Rainier, you are beautiful.

This hike had plenty of blue sky, lupine, and something that I mistook as indian paintbrush but Big D corrected me. So I dunno what it is but I'm sure it is cousins with the paintbrush.

A classic summit shot. I just like this "from the back" shots. Anyway - we were about to our summit but completely running out of fuel and starting to look forward to our burger and beers at The Brick in Roslyn.

Actually. Let me interject here - The Brick is totally different then when I lived over there. I'm used to grabbing a table with locals who are just as dirty and stinky as me. But when we walked in everyone was...Young. Beautiful. Clean. We owned our filth though.

I asked the young, beautiful & clean bartender the reason for the change and he cited Suncadia. Argh! I remember when it was being built how bitter I was - it was like I could speak to my future self and find out it's subsequent demise that it would cause The Brick! As I adjusted and adapted to this new Brick to myself my bitter thoughts were interrupted. The bartender. The young, beautiful & clean bartender just changed shirts. And he struggled with putting the fresh one on. And I took it all in. It was a beautiful thing. So, here's to change: Cheers!

So moving on - when choosing our summit beer both of us looked at Budweiser with Clamato and decided to try it. We knew many people who seemed to like it (including Mike you nasty bastard) and...it was like taking a big slurp of salty tomato. My reaction above.

Big D in agreement.

Ah but it's still a sweet feeling to crank out 10 miles and take in a beautiful, sunny view in complete solitude. And take note of my bada$$ cut up shirt. Big D and I were driving to the trailhead and the sunny, hot day just begged for the knife to cut up my first race shirt. Perfection.

This Book. Has been. Amazing. For me during my forced time of restraint while trying to recover from my injury. It was suggested to me quite fortuituosly at a summit Big D were enjoying with our Dude beer back in May. As I was sipping on my brew I noticed a thing of beauty - a man running towards us, up the trail, sans shirt. He stopped to talk to us and revealed that he'll be doing a 50k that next weekend and climbing Rainier the weekend after that. My heart skipped a beat.

He then said: "You have to read Born to Run."

Me: "I've never heard of it, what's it about?"

Dream man: "Just read it - you'll like it - it will change your perspective."

And just like that he was off to run 6 miles to his vehicle. I turned to Big D "I want to run 6 miles right now. Especially with him." Thanks for the inspiration man.

Just like him I won't go into detail to what's it about because I truly think it will mean different things to different people. For me it has emphasized that running is to be shared, enjoyed, done on the trail and that we are capable of FAR more than what we think. Oh yes, and the most important part: That injuries can be overcome and I will adapt. That part I was very happy to hear.

It also means that I am a big fan of chia seeds. Every day in my smoothie. No joke.

So after my serious stage of pouting and mourning the possibilities of half-marathons of 2010 down the drain, improving my speed down the drain and improving hill running down the drain I realized that adapting is just an opportunity seized. When life doesn't give us what we want (for me miles and miles of running on concrete) we have to adapt and find the niche that will keep us happy.

But....I haven't really found that niche yet but I am on my way. I am still able to hike (albiet with careful focus) and am now trail running on a very limited basis. I wasn't born to run fast but I'm determined to believe I was born to run...in some form.

Happy Birthday Big Bro!

2010-06-24T22:58:00.000-07:00

If a tree says "Happy Birthday" in the forest and no one was around to hear it, did it make a sound?
It has been tradition for many years that when my Big Bro has a birthday we take a hike. Usually the hike is me, him, Andrea and Big D (when possible). One memorable year we were at the top of Granite Mountain for his birthday hike and it started snowing. On June 25th. Gotta love Washington.
Sadly this year my Big Bro is living in Germany with the lovely Andrea but that doesn't mean tradition has to be sacrificed!

Can you guess what's coming?

For this year's birthday hike Big D and I chose a trail called "Dirty Harry" because it just sounded fitting for Big Bro. What would be even MORE fitting is one that is called "Jeremiah Johnson" but it doesn't seem to exist in Washington.

It was a typical Washington Sunday with clouds and mist with intermittent rain that made the forest smell soooo good!

After hiking up a rough and rocky trail (albiet beautiful) we found a turnoff to Dirty Harry's balcony.

There is rumor that on a sunny day this balcony provides a pretty good view of the valley but for now these flowers will suffice. However there's one more view to be seen!

The Happy Birthday View! (Shout out to the Sarge's for my tripod, twisty thing.)

Happy Birthday down low.

Happy Birthday on the edge (that one's for you Andrea).

Happy Birthday from Captain Diana-Morgan.

Happy Birthday from Big D and tree.

Happy Birthday from the mossy forest.

Happy Birthday from Dirty Harry's barrel.

Happy Birthday from the creek.

Happy Birthday...got broke....but it's still Happy!

Happy Birthday from the washed out footbridge.

Happy Birthday from the stump.

Happy Birthday from teeth.

And Happy Birthday from me!!!

I miss you TONS Big Bro (and Andrea!) and I hope your birthday treats you well with plenty of bier. Thanks for all that you do and all that are and making me feel like the luckiest little sister in the world!

I should also include a sunny hike (the elusive mass of incandescent gas actually poked it's head out for a while) with Sugarmama Shannon. We decided to do a hike called either Kachess Ridge/Beacon Ridge. I really can't tell which it is and I'm actually impressed that we were able to find the elusive trailhead.

It is a typical Central Washington hike with dry earth, clear sky and great views.

After hiking a couple of miles Sugarmama Shannon and I were overheated so we decided to dip our heads in the river. We both made promises to each other that we wouldn't share the photos (although I thinks he looks great while I look like a partially submerged lifeless body) so above is the creek that helped some sistas cool down.

The aftermath of getting wet and refreshed by mother nature!

After working our way up, through snow and over some blowdowns we finally reached the ridge. Our view!

I read later that this ridge can be followed to unofficial "lunch point" in another 800 feet elevation. So dangit, I gotta go back!

This is the beacon tower. You can't tell from the picture but I tried climbing the ladder to the top before Sugarmama Shannon asked me to stop because the mother inside of her hurt watching me. That's the edited version by the way of what she said.

Sugarmama on the ridge amongst flowers. Love Washington hiking!

Shannon navigating a blowout...she's assessing the situation....

Going for the straddle method....but somehow gets stuck and starts sliding down yelling "where's the ground!?"

She eventually made it off after the cougar-claw bark did a number on her thighs. Oh by the way, Sugarmama Shannon is more scared of bears than cougars. But I say cougars are more scarier. What do you say?

Famous last Krista words before her run-in with Mama Bear I'm sure.

Will Run for Wine

2010-06-09T23:48:00.001-07:00

JDub and I have been friends since high school when she moved down from Bellevue - we bonded right away over our embarrassment and secret life of being band nerds. She clarinet, me the flute. Her father even worked with mine AND her father ended up marrying a woman who was a good friend of the family and whose daughters I grew up with when my sister babysat them. Oh - AND my first "real" job was working for JDub's parents at Baskin Robbins. A lot of details but JDub and I were meant in many ways to be friends.

JDub is a very busy and talented photographer and family woman. I was so stinking thrilled when she called me one day to say that she'd like to take on the challenge of doing her first half-marathon. I knew without a doubt she'd do well after doing her first 5k with her two years earlier. When Big D and I were sporting hangovers and keeping stride with her she turned to us right before a big hill climb and said "I think I'm going to kick it" and that was the last we saw of her until we went over the finish line. Quiet and strong determination is JDub.

Since JDub and I have drastically different schedules she ended up training with JenniO and I trained with my buddy Sugarmama Shannon. This was also going to be JenniO's first half-marathon as well. Together the four of us signed up for the North Discovery half marathon in Port Angeles. I had done this course before years ago and remember it as rolling through forests and along the water and thought it'd be a great first-timers course.

The day before we decided to frolic around Port Angeles because it was a B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L day! Above is Bella Italia where Edward & Bella (if you don't know who I'm talking about you're either male or living under a rock) had their first date at. It was a pretty special moment over a plate of mushroom ravioli but I'd like to think Sugarmama Shannon and I had a special moment of our own as well.

This is a view of our hotel room. It overlooks the finish to the marathon and half-marathon. I was super excited to cheer on the marathon finishers from the balcony the next day - most especially those hot male runners! "Beer in Room 268!" I'd yell to the cute ones.

Our running crew the night before amidst a session of camera wars.

Sun setting in Port Angeles. If I was a better story teller I'd know the proper name for this body of water but I don't so just enjoy the picture.

That's our hotel with the Olympics towering above. For someone who has a hard time picking between water and mountains Port Angeles really is the perfect compromise.

This turned out to be a pretty picture but I was actually trying to catch this Father racing his kids back and forth on the deck. I know that trick - tire the kids out so they'll go to bed easier!

The next morning we got up at way too early o'thirty (5:30am) to catch the shuttle to the start. Above is JDub and JenniO poised and ready for their start! They look strong and ready!

"On your mark, get set...." waiting for the start...to...start.

Garmin pulled the cruelest trick on Sugarmama Shannon and JDub - both of their Forerunners pooped out. That means they wouldn't know their pace, heart rate, time, distance, etc - so now they had the extra challenge of keeping their pace conservative yet efficient. Not easy to do so blindly on a long run.

Oh hey, I forgot to mention that I decided at the last minute to go through with the run. I'd been having major knee and hamstring pains and the doctor believes I have a torn meniscus (booooo!) but I just couldn't bow out. I took 4 ibuprofen and started off with a heavy duty knee brace Sugarmama Shannon let me borrow. Not the smartest thing but I was prepared for the consequences.

At mile 3 or 4 JDub was itching to run a faster pace than my hobble and thankfully listened to me when I told her to run her own race, not mine. And the above picture was the last time I saw her until the finish line. Go Jenny Go!

This was a beautiful course through lush forests and I absolutely forgot how aggressive some of the hills could be. Above is a long hill climb after a very drastic hill drop. Right before I made it down the hill I was thinking "There goes my knee!" I did a very poor version of a horse gallop down the hill in an effort to give my bad knee a break. Like Monty Python in the Holy Grail. Got that visual? Good. So did the runners behind me. I'm sure I looked awsome.

After recovering from the abusive hill drop which made my stride even worse I fittingly saw a sign that said "Gun Club Noises Ahead" and thought it'd be a fantastic idea to shoot my whole left leg at that point. I have never popped pills before a run before and it was a really odd experience to not feel all the mental pain cues your body gives you. All I could feel is that it was harder to bend my knee - I was worried what was going on with my body that I couldn't feel. Is ignorance really bliss?

This course had entertaining and supportive aid stations. People from the community stood by dutifully cheering us on and my favorite was this band creating tropical music. It was a great distraction and source of encouragement.

A nice long bridge leading to mile 9.

I mean seriously, how lush and relaxing is this course? Since I was hobbling on one leg I ended up hop-scotching with a bunch of runners. I'd run as far as I could then walk fast to recover. The fella above was one of my hop scotch buddies.

This is the last 3 mile stretch - it's very flat and along the water. It can be hard because there is not much to distract you - I found myself searching out the finish line further down the coast line. Save me from my misery finish line! JenniO told me later she saw a seal playing in the water.

I was looking down at my garmin time and laughing - this was a very slow, humbling time and ended up being my 2nd slowest ever but I was proud to stick it out with my knee. It was very odd to finish a run feeling that my body had energy left but my leg wasn't going to cooperate.

Alas JDub and JenniO after crossing the finish line. They both had amazing finishing times - neither one of them stopped the whole run and charged their way through. How awesome is that? I could learn so much from them!

This is Sugarmama Shannon saying "This is pain!" Since she didn't have her heart rate monitor working for her she actually had to go to the medical tent after crossing the finish line worried about her heart rate and blood pressure. She lived! Yay!

Me and JDub - I was soooo stinking proud of her! I kept on asking her "You didn't walk once? Even up those steep hills?" Running definitely should be enjoyed and sometimes that can be a mental battle but JDub put any protests her body was making into check by powering her way through. Check back this time next year and she'll be coaching me I'm sure!

Oh, and by the way, I'm never going to take ibuprofen again before a run. I have blisters now I didn't feel forming at the time, a toenail turning black, cuts from the timing chip and a barely functioning hamstring with a stiff knee. I will never muzzle you again body!

After our run we decided to do some winery hopping to celebrate. The wineries on the Peninsula are just amazing - they all have distinct personalities. Above is Black Diamond Winery which is very small and quaint. As we walked up to the door of the tasting room we saw a picture of Sharon which said she'd be back in a minute. At that moment we heard a voice coming from the creek below "I'm on my way!" and there we met Sharon making her way up the hill and out of the woods. Her work is never done and it certainly pays off because these were some of the BEST fruit wines I've ever had. And when I say "fruit" you better not be thinking Boones because that is an insult. Sipping her wine was like biting into a piece of fruit. I was actually considering buying a case of all her different wines but settled for two. I highly recommend anyone to come here.

The next winery we went to was Camaraderie Cellars which was like walking into a fairytale of gardens. The tasting room was spacious, warm and cozy with a fireplace inside. As we tasted our wine we were provided with crackers and dark chocolate to taste.

The aftermath.

The perfect place to experience a wine buzz.

Buuuuuuzzzzz.

They even have a firepit outside of the tasting room. This couple is so warm and friendly that we instantly felt comfortable and cozy in our surroundings as if it was our own home. We all sat and relaxed around the fire and got to know the owners a bit. They definitely know how to live a good life - I highly recommend you come here to relax, buzz and be merry.

JDub looking just like her Mom here so I had to include it.

Oh and this winery is also loved by their neighbor's dog Gizmo. Do NOT feed him after midnight! Ten points if you can name the movie reference by the way....

This was my first view of Harbinger Winery and I liked it RIGHT AWAY. Why you ask? Oh where oh where do I start?

They converted an old logging truck stop into a winery and a kayaking touring service. This winery is a perfect blend of wine and adventure - I fell in love instantly. They have about 9 wines on their tasting list for a small fee of $5. How amazing is that? Their descriptions of their wine is humorous, their wine labels are artistic and their philosphy on life is contagious. My favorite was their Raspberry wine (I was feeling very fruity that day) which won a Gold Medal at a Sonoma competition. Well, a bunch of their wines won a bunch of medals but that's the only one that stuck out among my strong wine buzz.

Instead of me asking about their wines I kept on asking about Adventures Through Kayaking next door and the different adventures they provided. Big D and I had a birthday celebration for both of us coming up in a couple of days and kayaking sounded like a great alternative to hiking since my hamstring/knee probably weren't going to function very well. In my drunken state my rubber arm was twisted and I signed up Big D and I for an adventure day of Kayaking and Mountain Biking.

Sadly that was our last winery that we visited. As the four of us drove home we all shared stories of our running journies through the course and the excitement of potential races to run in the future. My 3 running buddies also signed up to run Sound To Narrows 6 days later and I just know the will knock out that tough course with strength and determination. I will be sporting a hangover and an icepack on my leg. Sucks to be them muhahahaha.

Two days later Big D and I got up at 5am to make our way back to Port Angeles for our day of adventure. All the voicemails/texts/messages I received for my birthday included people assuming I was "sleeping in" - far from it bastards!

Above is a picture that I stole from someone elses website of Freshwater Bay where we went kayaking. Our guide was super informative and mellow and the weather was perfect as my sunburnt forehead can attest to. I didn't take ANY pictures the whole day because I was too busy having an adventure and being in the moment! We saw wildlife, went rock gardening and waved at Canada from our kayaks. It was true bliss.

After they fed us lunch we then went Mountain Biking. Again I stole this picture from another site but I'm sure I looked *just* like the above. Our guide was super enthusiastic and encouraging - Big D & I had him all to ourselves. He talked just like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

Now back when I was younger I was going down a rocky hill on my bike, flew over the handle bars and got rock to the forehead causing a waterfall of blood to gush. My Mother still made me go to Wednesday night church with a washcloth to my forehead to soak up all the blood. Needless to say I definitely was facing some fears by getting on the bike again.

The trails were steep and had some narly hairpin turns that really made my butt pucker. It was really great to have a new challenge and face my inner scaredy cat. I *almost* went off the edge of the trail after a tricky turn but thankfully straightened out just in time. After spending a couple hours navigating the trails in the forest (and gutting it up two HUGE hills) we came close to our journeys end on a paved country road.

Now let me interject here that I have some "fears" that I derive from my j-o-b. One of them being I don't trust cars on the road when it comes to bicycles. And now I found myself on a paved road that was narrow with lots of hills and turns. Big D and our guide took off and I followed suit and I found it: I found liberation. We were flying so fast down the hills and around the curves and as soon as I saw Mount Baker staring me down along with all the farm animals we were passing, at the base of the Olympics I attained clarity and realized "To hell with it, we have one life to live and there's no room for fear." Happy Birthday to me.

All in all I can't say enough good things about Adventures Through Kayaking. The owner of the winery was very involved in our day as well and gave us a free wine tasting when our day of adventure was over. All the guides were super friendly and personable - Big D and I felt so lucky and fortunate to celebrate our birthdays with them.

Congratulations to Sugarmama Shannon, JenniO and JDub for a great race! Thank you to the Olympic Peninsula for not only being a great host to a great run but also a wonderful provider of Birthday celebrations to Big D and I.

All the sand, water, mud and wine ensured that we stayed dirty in our thirties. Whoohoo!

Mt. Rose (has her thorn)

2010-06-07T14:33:00.001-07:00

For memorial day weekend the long run was skipped so CortO, Sugarmama Shannon and myself could tackle a steep beeotch by the name of Mt. Rose. I love love love the Olympics and never spend enough time appreciating them. Sugarmama Shannon has a camping spot in the area allowing CortO and I to crash her party.

And this is the end of the flat which is only at the beginning. Mt. Rose is like The Sirens from The Odyssey making herself alluring and irresistible with her beautiful start but soon after she was whopping our booties!

My hiking buddies Sugarmama Shannon and CortO. Sugarmama Shannon was sure to warn us that bear dens are everywhere and she's more scared of bears than cougars. Every other turn we took "is that a bear den?" No. No its not. And the bear watch continues...

Mt. Rose is sooo green and lush with babbling brooks and cool air.

As we climbed steadily up the mountain we could see remnants of an old forest fire and the impressive way the forest has really rebuilt itself. Nature never ceases to amaze me.

(See that bear den?)

Mt. Rose was steep steep and more steep! Can I just say right here that I have a pet peeve with Mt. Si. I understand that it's a great conditioning hike but it's way too crowded and lacks all sense of nature due to it's draw to half of the Seattle population everyday. It's so stinking nice to find a steep hike that compares and smells like forest while lacking the ipod, jean-wearing, couples-holding-hands hikers that you'd find on Mt. Si.

See that bear den?

On a nice sunny day that above photo would show the surrounding mountains and Lake Cushman - a nice reason to go back!

Oh yes Corto. He is "super fit" which are his words and not mine. As he says this I groan and complain and tell him to shut up but reality is - he's super fit. He's worked so hard to transform his body this year so much so that it's skipped from inspiring to envy from folks like me. In this photo his displaying his hard-earned little perky-booty. Show off that booty proud!

"I'm super fit!" See that bear den?

As we steadily climbed up the fog became thicker. The forest was so still and smelled so very good. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears and my knee was killing me but I was in pure bliss.

See that bear den?

That's our trail there somewhere. And a bear den.

Those are some fun guys!

After climbing for a while, passing well-prepared hikers on their way down and taking in their tips and warnings we hit the snow. From this point we had to look for the orange flags on the trees that marked the trail. Can we keep going? Yes we can!

We passed a hiker 15 minutes prior to this who told us we were 800 vertical feet from the top. As the snow became slick and steep we still were determined to find our way to the summit. As CortO said we were experiencing Summit Fever. (PS, Into Thin Air is a very good book and my scaredy cat moments on trails like these are n-o-t-h-i-n-g.)

After shivering and working our way up the snow we looked at the time and realized we'd rather get back to the trailhead to make it to Hoodsport Winery before they closed instead of risking our lives for a hibernating summit that we have little to no chance of actually finding. So, we turned around with wine on our mind. And wine really is some of the best motivation ever.

See that bear den?

Turns out the winery wasn't that great yet I still bought a bottle of pear wine. I can never resist. Back at the campsite CortO took to the bbq and fixed us some brats! And man oh man they were soooo stinking good that I've been daydreaming about them around dinner time ever since.

Campfire: Best Smell in the world.

Dude!!!

So here's my summary of Mt. Rose: She is gorgeous, challenging and I have unfinished business with her. And as far as I know the bears are invisible. Happy Hiking!

Momisms for Mother's Day

2010-05-09T23:13:00.001-07:00

My Mother is a very interesting person. She has interesting views and standpoints. I agree with about 5% of them. One Mother's Day I wrote about my favorite "Mom stories". This Mother's day I'd like to share some of our differences that used to make us scream at each other but now can be a source of humor (at least for me).

Secrets: Holy Moly whatever you do, do NOT tell a secret in front of my Mother. She sees this as extremely rude behavior and I was always told growing up "there are no secrets in family!" As an adult I have experienced to the contrary some secrets kept can make for very happy family members. And I think if my Mother tried me to disprove that theory she would be VERY unhappy. Which could make for a good blog.

In any case it can take some folks who are new to my Mother some time to believe me when I say "My Mother can be sweet as peaches but trust me, she can turn on you." My poor friend Tera experienced this when we were 14. It was still early in our friendship and I had shared many stories of my Mother to Tera. Tera was of course skeptical of my complaints until one fateful day. My Mother was driving us somewhere and Tera innocently leans over in the backseat to tell me a secret. Before I can stop this forbidden action in front of my Mother I see my Mom's eyes catch the scene in the rearview mirror. Then it all became a blur - slamming brakes, car veering sharply off the road and the angry hand of my Mother searching me out screaming "No telling secrets in my car!" So there you have it: Don't tell secrets.

Organ Donation: This is still a hot topic between my Mother and myself. For a while in my single-digit youth my Mom went to nursing school and took it very seriously when time allowed. One of the things that stayed with her was the "danger of being an organ donor." To her this means that if you are near death and the hospital has the option of saving you or your organs they will choose the latter. And because my Mother wants to live forever she chooses NOT to be an organ donor. She ALSO does not believe that doctors are correct when a patient is found to be brain dead. She believes in miracles and has vowed to me that if I am ever "brain dead" that she will keep my body alive until I wake up. It is my hope that I find that one doctor that chooses saving my organs over saving me. Sorry Ma but why be selfish with good health?

Dinosaurs: They don't exist. That's it. "Mom, what about dinosaur skeletons that are on display?" This is my most basic, elementary question that begs for explanation and understanding. Her response "Well Krista Rose, they are putting the bones together wrong." You see, dinosaurs weren't in the bible. But giants were in the bible. I can't even finish writing this explanation - hopefully you'll know where I'm going with this one. Bless her heart.

Body Pillows: So I love to sleep with body pillows and even more pillows. I think I'm just like every girl out there. Back in my 20s my Mom used to come over to help me clean my apartment (don't judge) and on the cleaning list she'd make my bed. Now I was very specific about my placement of pillows making sure that I had fluffy coziness on each side of me. When My Mother saw this she was appalled and called me a pervert. At that point she theorized that I wanted the feeling of having two people making a Krista sandwich in bed. Yes, my own Mother accused me of this and then giggled. Were sandwiches in the bible too?

Ghosts only haunt virgins: Ya know, I don't know where this comes from. But apparantly if there's a poltergeist in your house it's because your daughter is pure and full of angst.

No locked doors: My Mother refuses to accept that this area is increasing in criminal activity and chooses to believe that she does not need to be so cautious. In the past I liked to lock her doors but realized this only punished my Father when she called him in a panic when she couldn't figure out how to unlock her car (addressed in a previous blog) or gain acccess to her own home. Currently I am tempted to perform my own intervention which involves me dressing in a black face mask and carrying a large maglite. We'll see.

Seatbelts: Apparantly they cause more deaths than they save. Really not sure where the intel came on this one but obviously the information I've gathered from my profession is not enough of her to be convinced of the alternative. She is an avid supporter AGAINST the "Click it or Ticket" campaign. One of the many times I told my Mother "For the love of God if you're going to protest this will you please use a different last name so people don't know were related?" According to my Mother if you hit a solid object at a very fast speed you better hope your seatbelt is not anywhere involved otherwise it will decapitate & kill you - in that order. I try to tell her that if she doesn't use her seatbelt a Doctor may be tempted to steal her organs when she shows up on their operating table...

They make it at restaurants: This is what I heard in the kitchen growing up whenever my Mother made something questionable which was every night except for Friday (popcorn night) and Sunday (pizza night). Everytime one of us complained about something like the lemon peel sticking out of the stroganoff she'd retort "It's a common recipe - they make it at restaurants all the time." To date my Mother has not been able to divulge the name/location of this restaurant. But then again, my desire to find it is not that strong.

Don't use trucks to stop yourself: So she only said this once to my best friend Big D when we were 16 but it still makes me laugh. When Big D happened to be on a speeding moped at Ocean Shores and had to stop suddenly to avoid a collision - she ended up sacrificing herself and smashed into the back of a truck. Thankfully a seatbelt wasn't involved so she lived. Anyway, the moped was broken and Big D was hurt and my Mother runs up to her scolding "You shouldn't be using other people's trucks to stop yourself!" Big D was flabbergasted.

Like I said: Sweet as peaches but will turn on a dime.

I suppose I should make a note that my Mother is not dumb, an airhead, heartless or mean...for the most part. These Momisms have helped sharpen my humor, developed my patience and have always provided for cheap entertainment. So thanks Mom for being you. Even though you're wrong 95% of the time.

Dinner with Dick

2010-05-04T21:46:00.000-07:00

Dick Beardsley, also known as "The Man." Google him now because my description will *not* do him justice. For me he is the runner's version of "Job" (See Bible). He had triumph, success, glory and then hardships, downfalls and horrendous life challenges that threw him to the bottom of the mountain that he once stood on top of. Day by day, one hand at a time, he climbed his way back to the top and he is an incredible inspiration to everyone around him. Making it his life committment to encourage everyone that picking yourself back up after you fall is the most important lesson in life.
That's not the Wikipedia version, that is the Krista version. And I was dumbfounded - emphasis on the dumb - when Shannon & I met him.

He is most known for the book written about him and Alberto Salazar "Duel In The Sun" about the 1982 Boston Marathon.

Dick Beardsley was in town to be the speaker at the Pasta Dinner the night before the Tacoma City Marathon. My sugarmama Shannon was going to run the half-marathon portion and I had joined her on some training runs.
Fate started when Big Bro sent me an email from Germany encouraging me to go to the dinner to watch Dick speak describing him as his own mentor of running. Well naturally since my brother is *my* mentor of running I had to attend and honor Big Bro.
Doing my own research beforehand and learning who Dick was I had gotten SUPER excited to listen to him speak.

And then he sat next to me. I was speechless and had that stupid grin on my face the whole time. I had nothing insightful to ask him since my mind was blank but he was so positive, gracious and happy to meet and talk with everyone. He signed a book for Shannon and when he learned of my Big Bro's admiration he made sure to autograph a card for me to send him. I was so inspired, encouraged and literally glowing from his contagious enthusiasm.
The running community is amazing - everyone is so stinking supportive of each other and there is nothing selfish about the sport. Dick only reinforces that with the kind of life he lives.

After the flood of inspiration and wisdom from Dick I decided to run my "training run" the next day with Shannon for the portion of the Half-Marathon. Technically I was done at 9.5 miles but had a "running reunion" with an old friend which upped my mileage to 10 or more miles (totally worth it).

Good job Shannon getting under a 2:10 with all those dang "eff you" hills at the end of the race. I want to be a gazelle like you when I grow up!

Earlier in the month Shannon, Laura, CortO and myself went up to Skagit to do the Tulip Run. I've always been curious about the Skagit Running Company and I was quite impressed with the 5 mile run they organized - complete with Tulip PortO's!

Well...the finish has room for improvement....so I'll see you next year Tulip Run and look forward to the timing chip.

Stretching the hammies just before the start!

This was a pretty & easy run and a portion of it was thru the woods on soft ground. I was really loving it - it was a gorgeous day to be alive and in Skagit County.

Go Laura Go! She's so amazing - this was her first 5 mile race AND the night before she did a killer bootcamp and she kicked this race out like a champ!

Oh and seriously - BEST post-race food E-V-E-R!

After which we went to La Conner (congrats on Evening Magazine's best small town award) and walked into a parade. This parade was great - I think anyone could just show up. Above are a parade of dogs. Oh wait...those look like ponies in the background too. Did I know that at the time? Hmmm.

This lady ran up to pick the candy she wanted instead of letting it be thrown to her. I like a woman who goes after what she wants.

Before heading down we visited some wineries and as you can see from above we REALLY loved Pasek Cellars. I have never been too familar with stainless steel wine vs. oak wine and now I'm a stainless steel believer! Shout out to their Cranberry Wine and their Chardonnay. Yum!

But this winery? Not so much. I won't name you winery - I'll protect your innocence but you have some work to do...

Ok so I understand the appeal of the tulip fields and all the beautiful & colorful tulips. And I get that flowers aren't free. But why isn't looking at them free? We saw the long lines, the huge crowds and decided the closest we'll get to tulips is to the ones next to the public roadway. Thanks for being public tulips.

I know it looks like were having a reflective moment but were really just avoiding the I-5 back-ups by taking refuge by this creek in tribal land. Smell that sweet air and listen to those loud fireworks. Very relaxing.

Happy 2nd Birthday Little Schmuck!

Thank you very much Stacia for taking me to opening day of the Mariner's game - it was a lot of fun (I love losers). I have to admit though, I'm a Rainier's girl at heart. There's something about those small-town games that are more my style. Safeco Field is sooo stinking expensive and way too commercial. Give me some cheap seats, cheap beer and Friday night fireworks and I'm a happy woman...with a lot more cash left in my pocket.

Why wasn't Joey Cora invited!?

For the last time Stacia - Put down the dang phone! It will go into The June Box very soon if I have anything to do with it....watch yourself.

My friend Schmuck...

2010-03-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

....likes to take self-potraits....

....and sometimes she lets me join her.

Keeping it classy in Sonoma.

2010-03-10T21:42:00.000-08:00

Sugarmama Shannon did it again - she introduced me and LauraD to Sonoma County! A place where I never thought I'd visit, only dream about or gaze longingly at in movies. And I must say I REALLY want to go back! Or take the same day and put it on repeat, repeat, repeat. It was seriously the most fun I've had on a weekend in a long time that didn't involve makey outy! Because let's face it, makey outy is a lot of fun - but Napa tops all of that!

Sugarmama Shannon originally made arrangements to run the Napa Valley Marathon but sickness took her over - LauraD and I were more than happy to accompany her to run the 5k in Napa instead. Here's the three of us after the race! Yay us!

We flew into San Fran and I was way too excited to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge. Which I found out was like the Narrows Bridge but red. Imagine that.

See Alcatraz? Well, it's there.

And thru this beautiful rainbow we were on our way to Sonoma!

So for the most part the three of us oooohed and ahhhhed and got completely car excited over the views on our new drive. LauraD and I started to take pictures from the car but most of them ended up like this! So you have to go to Sonoma yourself and see how beautiful it is.

We got up for our race at way too early o'thirty. And thank stinking god for GPS because for some god forsaken reason Napa has two high schools only miles away from each other and it's very confusing. We almost had our own foot race to depend on.

Anyway - aren't those sunrise pictures just amazing? A-MA-ZING!!

I should really become an early riser and put my late owl to rest...maybe if I lived in Napa. Who wouldn't want to get up early to see this?

So you may think I'm disgusting because this "pond" is really part of a cow field (with the Happy California Cows!) but I REALLY wanted to jump in it. It would feel good for the first 2 seconds until my foot sunk in watery cow dung. So I resolved to just enjoy the beauty thru my camera.

Napa had oak trees EVERYWHERE - in their vineyards, on the green rolling hills, next to the road, next to creeks - they were everywhere and it hit me before the race that I HAD to climb an oak tree before I left Napa. Sugarmama Shannon and LauraD were so awesome and supported me in this venture.

This is LauraD after the race - this was her FIRST 5k ever and she rocked it! Look at that happy face! I can't wait to run more races with you Laura - and then we can continue the trend of celebrating with lotsa wine!

I'm so glad that the three of us decided to stay and watch the Marathon winner who finished in 2 hours and 31 minutes. And sadly I think that's faster than my first ever half-marathon time. I took a video of him finishing and you should check it out (bottom of page). Kinda cool to be a witness to someone achieving such an awesome goal. I hear Chariots of Fire.

This was the first official Napa winery we visited on the Silverado Trail. They had closed down a large portion of the trail for the marathon but we still got to take advantage. This was so nice. Can I close my eyes and beam myself back please?

After some wine tasting we finally found the perfect oak tree to climb that was close to the road AND that didn't require me to trespass. So I haven't climbed a tree in a while and at this age I am all too aware that falling and breaking something would suck so it took a while for me to get up this branch. I may be smiling but I'm holding on for dear life. Wine before having to balance was NOT a good idea.

A fearful tree hugger! I feel so complete now though - I think I should get a tattoo of this tree. But where of where should I get it? Branch for thought...

Another winery disguised as a mansion - we sat on the terrace and had sparkling white wine and it was GLORIOUS. I had an urge to run up all these stairs - who couldn't resist that? They practically taunt you.

Sugarmama Shannon and LauraD making their way up to glory.

I must say this was my favorite sampler of all. Doesn't it look inviting? I invite you to come back with me.

Cheers!

A little picture trivia - these aren't real sheep, they're fake. But they make for great landscape. Baaaaaaa.

Our last winery on our way to Sonoma Coast. After all this wine tasting we never did buy a bottle of wine at any of the wineries. Nope, instead we went to some sketchy side market and bought a $9 bottle of wine to drink from our pepsi cups. You can take the girls out of Tacoma but you can't take the Tacoma out of the girls.

I don't think Sonoma gets enough credit for their beautiful coastline. Or maybe it does and I just never paid attention but I'm soooo happy that we decided to go here to watch the sunset.

I mean, who can watch those breaking waves and people on the beach and not feel drawn to it? From the parking lot we took some stairs down to the beach to find the perfect stop. My shoes were far from perfect and I still have sand in them. Totally worth it. And good for exfoliating I found out.

So for my Grease fans out there doesn't this remind you of the beginning "Love is a Many Spendid Thing"? Which I'm sure was filmed close to LA but still, it made the song get stuck in my head. I hope its stuck in your head now too Sandra Dee.

I couldn't resist rolling up my jeans to go jump in this water. The water almost won too!

Sugarmama Shannon and LauraD taking it all in.

This wave totally kicked my a$$ and almost took me under! I got soaked but didn't fall - I'm up for a rematch anytime wave!

Was I carried or did he walk beside me?

This picture of SugarMama Shannon and LauraD makes me want to listen to some groovy love records. It was such a great moment.

Cheers! Keeping it classy in Sonoma!

Sugarmama Shannon in a reflective moment.

Our hotel was close to this great little village area that we could frolic around. Charles Schultz used to live in this area and there's Snoopy stuff everywhere!

Guess who Charlie Brown? After I took this photo I saw these white spiders all over his head. I felt them for the rest of the night.

Thanks Toad for the beer!

The waves would make this awesome "boom" until I started I filming of course. I tried and tried to catch them and even sang the waves a song to entice them to do it again. Feel free to sing along.

Watch the Marathon winner finish in all his glory - don't forget to scream along!

Thanks again Sugarmama Shannon and LauraD for this amazing weekend - let's go back and finish all our wine business! Not to be confused with the funny business of disguising units. Sonoma pervs.

There's always room for more

2010-03-04T21:20:00.001-08:00

Where the heck is this year going? It's stinking flying by! I have to put it here in writing that Big D was right: 30s are the best years. Sure I'm only 8 months into them but I feel so overwhelmed with all the blessings, experiences and just amazing people I'm blessed to have in my life. Who can ask for anything more? Well...of course there's always more to ask for like: "More wine please" or "More facial hair boys" or "More sleep is needed" or "More calories to burn" and so forth.

Anyway - I've come to depend on my blog to help me remember some key things I've done during the year. Those of you close to me know I have the most HORRIBLE memory. So here's some blurbs to help this old gal out:

This is Germany. Germany is beautiful. Germany serves beer. Germany is loved by my Big Bro and my Andrea....(can you guess what is coming?)

This is Big Bro and Andrea (with Sugarmama Shannon). And now Big Bro and Andrea are living in Germany. Straight up emptied out the house, put it on the market and moved to Germany! How stinking awesome is that? Why did they do it? Because they wanted to. You see kids, it's an important lesson: If you dream it you can achieve it. They are always so good at living outside the box and living life to the fullest - they are continuously admired by me.

I was going to write a blog about their departure but I decided it would sound too much like a eulogy and there will be none of that. Sure it makes my time over here in Washington a lot more different without them here but I'm so stinking excited to go visit them. I love bier!

And shout out to Skype for their afros, talking bunnies and great wigs to wear which I'm catching up with my American transplants. Or is that German transplants?

Big D and I finally went to a Mountaineers meeting and got completely pumped for hiking season and learning great things from them like scrambling! We immediately planned our next local hike. Which can be frustrating this time of year because our favorite hikes (tall, grueling b*tches) are under snow this time of year. So we're left with crowded west side hikes like Si (booooo!).

However....

We found a grueling and secluded trail. It's not even marked. We saw a handful of hikers. Our butts and legs ached just as they would if we did Si which was only ten minutes away. And you know what? The selfish side of me is going to keep it to myself for now. However I am always willing to give anyone a personal tour. I just have to make sure you're blindfolded as I drive to the trailhead. Nothing personal.

Miss Adams and I successfully completed our Trap Class at the Tacoma Sportsman Club and it was stinking AWESOME!! We love to shoot defenseless clays out of the air! My Old Man hooked me up with an even older man who custom fitted my shotgun for me (see above). And I just LOVE her. So much.

I've been cashing in on some vacation time to go shooting with the Old Man - so much fun. It feels so nice to finally outshoot him after him schooling me on handguns all summer.

Big D has been talking about Roller Derby for a while now and she finally took the plunge! And after bootcamp and tryouts now meet the Norweigian Nightmare! I got to see Big D and some other derby chicks and chucks in action this past weekend and it was stinking AWESOME! It is soooo impressive what these people can do! The co-ed teams especially blew me away! If anyone wants some great entertainment go check out some Dockyard Dames - you don't even have to be a perv to enjoy it. Even though yes, I admit, you'll see a lot of hot girls in very short skirts. If you enjoy that kinda thing you won't be disappointed...

My favorite Cali-Canucks (they're a mixed breed) graced us with their presence this week making their way down from Whistler. Scotty had a dream job reporting at The Olympics. And Becky reaped some wifely benefits of watching the closing ceremonies - I asked and she confirmed that she did get teary-eyed during them! Who wouldn't?

I love seeing them, Washington loves seeing them, Schmuck loves being reunited with her girl crush and they just so happened to have given me my favorite present of 2010 so far...

It's Dude Beer! Only sold in Canada. Thanks Zane Lamprey (look him up for real) for discovering one of Canada's best secrets and for the Cali-Canucks for sharing it with me.

Snowshoe Cubed

2010-01-19T20:37:00.000-08:00

I realized on Sunday that "Wow, this is my 3rd time snowshoeing in one week." Now, that's a good week. As someone who feels completely refueled by being in the woods I was surprised that it was working against my health.

Yes, as I type this I'm wearing my cozy red robe and pile of tissues next to me. My pattern for this week has been fight off sick, drink immunity nectar, theraflu and then go snowshoe only to get set back again. Don't even get me started on how long it's been since I've ran...my summer version of myself would be soooooo disappointed.

I, of course, have a huge crush on the Tatoosh Range. Here it is behind me. It is just so majestic and powerful looking - it holds it's own in the staring contest it has with Mother Rainier.

It was a big honor to pop the snowshoe cherry with Miss Adams (above) - and I believe she loved every minute of it. Even the hills that she cranked out - she was excelling! Miss Adams is great - she's my fellow singleton who I can trade dating stories with. Oh if you could be a fly on our wall you'd be very entertained...

We started out on a trail...

Miss Adams: So how far are we going?

Me: Umm, ya know, whatever. We'll just play it by ear.

Miss Adams: Did you bring the map?

Me: Hmm. I guess I didn't. But, ya know, whatever. We'll see where this goes.

And for some reason she trusted me. Thankfully we ran into a volunteer who encouraged us to do a kicka$$ loop. Thanks Volunteer! I should volunteer - what an awesome way to spend some free time!

I of course introduced Miss Adams to the best combo in the world: Snowshoe and Cocoa w/Peppermint Schnapps. YUMMERS.

BTW - good job Stacia on peeing in the woods in snowshoes. A feat I have yet to try. The men appreciated the free show. Yeah, I didn't want to say anything at the time but they totally saw you.

The snow wasn't fresh and it seemed winter was dying off but the views were still sooo purty. Thanks Stacia for enjoying this day with me - hope it was as good for you as it was for me!

(Rainier doesn't ALWAYS show herself. She gave us a little peep show on the way out...)

My 2nd day snowshoeing was with my Big Bro's lovely wife Andrea - isn't she just absolutely cute and gorgeous all at the same time? She's like an adorable elf. And I should also mention physically capable of anything so I always feel challenged with her...and humbled haha

There was NOOOOO fresh snow. It was like snowshoeing on an ice chest. "Crunch Crunch Crunch" is what our steps sounded like. Followed by the crashes of ice and snow falling off the trees. I felt like I was in a horrible video game trying to escape a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). Or like Frogger trying to land on all the lily pads. Except opposite...I guess.

Look at all the ice covering these branches. I loved throwing things at them to knock them all off and liberating the branches. I can tell Andrea is used to my brother because when she missed a REALLY good hit I got she, without hesitation said, "OK, do it again, I'll watch." I have a feeling she says that to my Big Bro a lot when he does his stupid human tricks that he's a little bit too enthusiastic about....

It was getting more and more foggy as we were heading up and realllly errie. Gosh dangit I should of never watched The Mist. That stupid movie was haunting me. It made it even worse hearing the constant crashes of ice and snow falling off the trees. Sounds just like prehistoric creatures coming to get me (if you seen the movie you understand...) Nevertheless, I kept looking over my shoulder just in case!

Here's Miss Andrea - we turned around shortly after this. She was about to be swallowed by The Mist and I couldn't let her die on her birthday - Big Bro would KILL me.

Happy Birthday Andrea - I love our Birthday Traditions!! I'm so stinking happy Big Bro married you - not only did he bond eternally with the love of his life but he provided a lifelong enriching friend for me in you as well. Yup, you can't get rid of me, I'm a lifer ;)

And for the third trip BMount told me he could make me get close and personal with Tatoosh. "No way." I constantly said. But according to him it's completely possible. For me this is big words coming from a man who has tamed a few beasts that common folk refer to as "Peaks" and "Mountains".

He quickly led me off trail (which I was strangely ok with) through the forest, over a stream and into the holy land known as Tatoosh. I was in complete awe as he showed me his different tools and techniques for checking avalanche conditions.

We even ditched the snowshoes and he showed me "kick-steps" to go up the steep mountain side toward one of Tatoosh's saddles. He of course made it look easy, while I of course realized the difficulty behind it when the snow tried to kidnap my legs more than once. It was awesome.

Now mind you when I have my "lunch break" during snowshoeing I sit on my rain coat (which makes my butt numb anyway), drink my cocoa, endure the wind/snow/rain and sometimes chew on an energy bar.

But BMount blew me away by building a shelter, providing a sitting pad and scrumptious food to munch on. Now THIS is good snowshoeing.

Mmm....marinated mozzarella and tomatoes. This is something I enjoy at dinner parties or nice restaurants. But now I can say I enjoyed it at Restaurant BMount.

Thanks Brian for being the best mountain guide EVER. And also for letting me kidnap you for longer than intended and being such a good sport about everything. (Yes, I'm very much the youngest child in my family....)

I love you Parson Brown.

Thanks December

2009-12-28T22:05:00.001-08:00

What a month! So for all my secret Krista Rose Stalkers out there (yeah, I know who you are) I apologize for my blog absence.
2009 has meant different things for different people - I've met some incredible folks, had new and great experiences, seen beautiful places and learned that letting go of things I thought I needed only improved me. All the blessings have negated all the hardships. Thanks God, you da man.

Here is Schmuck at our Annual 2nd family Christmas Party. I have many favorite things about Schmuck but one of them is how she changed my life by introducing me to wine. See wine in action.

Anyway - Shannon and I decided to do two Christmas runs in the middle of her Marathon training (yes, I think she's crazy too). The week before it was snowing during our "long run" and it felt like running in a picture! My cell phone picture does it NO justice.

I always feel great before my runs...and usually after my runs (rarely I feel great during my runs) but after Shannon and I ran 8 miles in SUPER COLD temperatures we were less than thrilled.

Look at our snowy footprints! A rare seen sight in these lower elevations...it stuck for 5 minutes, it was great.

Our Annual 2nd Family Christmas Party was hosted by the Czech's this year. The dusting of snow set the perfect ambience for it all.

Welcome the new addition to the 2nd Family: Khloe Isabella Rambo. I think Isabella is a pretty name too...wasn't that the formal name of the main character in Twilight? Yeah. Not a coincidence, Mr. Rambo is a fan and I love it. He owns his fanhood - if only more men would be honest about that. I know there are many Twi-Curious men out there....

Doesn't Mrs. Rambo look good in Motherhood? I still remember asking her to sign my 5th Grade yearbook - and now look at her. No thanks to Joey McIntyre who almost came between us. Thankfully we learned the important lesson of Chicks before D*cks. D*mn Straight.

I remember when our Christmas parties involved Saturday evenings, strong drinks, long nights, sticky floors, loud music, embarrassing pictures, etc. But now the years have brought us early nights with kids EVERYWHERE!

How cute are Baby Czech and Baby Schmuck with cars and Elmo? My friends have the cutest kids and I'm perfectly content with them holding that torch so I don't have to (Sorry Ma).

Once again the Avacado Corn Salsa dip was a hit - thanks again Melody - you give me some credibility in the kitchen that I don't deserve!

Dominator being dominated by the Schmuck. Cutest giggler ever.

Thank you Mrs. and Mr. Czech for hosting (isn't Mrs. Czech gorge?). I still think I should write a blog about how we met. It's a great touching story that started with a threat to bodily harm and me loving her right away. *Cue the Romantic Music*

Baby Schmuck stripping - just like his Mama! Did I ever tell you how her and I met in college? I'll just leave that one open for another time...

Anyway - my favorite thing about the Christmas runs were my candy cane tights I got to wear. Just like the Candy Cane Tootsie Pops I like to put in my mouth. Seriously they are SOOO good! My favorite thing about the Christmas season.

The first run was a 5k in Tacoma. I downed my Theraflu and we had a party in our cars waiting for the late start. Shannon was ahead keeping me motivated as always and CortO took off with the wind. (Thanks for the cup again CortO - you da best!)

The next day was a 12k Christmas run with Shannon. Once again my Big Bro and Andrea had me over the night before for pasta dinner, lotsa water, comfy bed and tons of cheers and support the next day. That's one of the many reasons that make them great family and my place of joy.

This is Shannon and I in action. I soon lost her on the major mondo hill climb which I seriously think was half the course. She of course cranked them out and I squeaked them out. Yay!

Shannon and I after the race. If you're wondering: No, I have never gotten black eyes from running or been suffocated in my sleep from laying down. Yeah, I knew what you were thinking...

This kid is thinking "Frah-Jee-Lay....must be Italian!" 10 points if you can name the movie.

Kate and I also redeemed our Warren Miller coupons and went up to Crystal. Oh, how I missed you skiing. Right before I took this picture I got a text message from Kate letting me know she got stuck in the trees. Shortly thereafter I heard in the wind carrying a loud "FFF********CCCCKKKK!!!!" coming from the trees. That's Kate's version of the beacon. She survived thankfully.

Rainier was so beautiful for holiday snowshoeing. The sun was bright, the sky was blue, Rainier was showing herself off just the way I like it. The snow was a bit icy and crunchy - I wish the conditions were different for the snowshoe virgins but that's the best thing about virgins: they don't know how much better their first time could of been.

My fav thing about Shannon and Laura is how close they are...like dogs.

I mean, look at this sun over the Tatoosh Ridge! We must of taken a buttload of pictures here just being so stinking excited by our surroundings. Poor CortO: "Ok, can we get going?" He has a lot of patience with the ladies...

Rainier Rapping.

So wonderful Laura was in this position about 4 or 5 times. I have never seen a snowshoer before fall with such a graceful "timber" over and over again without any prompting. CortO brought to our attention a highly probable theory of snipers in the trees. She got away this time snipers...

Taking in the views....

Corto: Oooohhhhhh

Shannon: Ahhhhhhhh

Don't think I'm mocking this mouse's death by posing with him. I used to have pet mice and I loved them dearly. Now this mouse's memory will live on and on and on. I think I'll call him Coal. RIP Coal. Thanks for the memories.

Seriously my favorite part of snowshoeing is the cocoa and peppermint schnapps. Yummers. Thanks LauraD for the great mix too! And thanks Highlander (of Ashford) for allowing us to continue our buzz with yummy Hef's!

The sun was going down, making the snow glow and glitter like a Cullen (that reference was for Rambo). Thanks again Rainier....

Stay Beautiful! PS - has anyone ever stayed at the Longmire Inn? I need to take a Luv Hunk there and get cozy!

I hope 2010 brings many blessings and beautiful memories to everyone. And for the love of God can I start going to bed before Midnight? I need motivation. Bed motivation. The promise of latte's in the morning just isn't enough..never has been. Open to Suggestions.

Four Wildcats and a Lumberjack!

2009-11-16T21:56:00.000-08:00

Rawr (x4)! and Chop! Chop! It was a must need weekend for just the girls. Leave the men and kids at home and let the girls go frolic at Big D's cabin!

We were all stoked for snowshoeing, drinks and relaxation and were not disappointed!

(Schmuck, Big D, Me, Czech & Rambo)

On the way up to snoeshowing we did not see one....

But two foxes! Look at the freaky eyes on this one. I've never seen foxes chilling in the parking lot before. Is this why the rule is "Do Not Feed the Animals?" 70 feet from this fox were little kiddie-o's playing. Hopefully foxes don't want to take on that chewy challenge...

And we were off! (Schmuck strutting above). The snow was so soft, fluffy and deep. It was pure bliss! Really I am a sucker for hiking but there is something so tranquil and blissful about snowshoeing and with my best girls it was even better.

But the best part of snowshoeing is the cocoa and peppermint schnapps at the turnaround point. It was awesome here because we saw some skiers hike their way up and ski down thru the trees. Bad to the a$$. I don't know if I'd be dedicated enough to do all that work but I gave them a "Right on Dude!" anyway.

The BEST Schnapps is this 100 proof delight from Canada. Canadians know ALL about what is best to drink in Winter and I trust them dearly. I don't know the name of it right now. But it's blue. So look for that: Blue, 100 & Canada next time you have the need.

But.....

Rambo couldn't handle the Schnapps. She thought it tasted like toothpaste. Yes, this is the same girl that the first time visited me at CWU (Pre-Wildcat) she drank all the guys under the table. It's a travesety. At least her kids are cute.

Let's take a moment and take in the sights...don't you wish you were here?

Oh you do?

Then call me!

Because this is the PERFECT way to spend a Saturday night!

But....

There's more! After a long day of hiking/snowshoeing the best part about the cabin is coming back for some good food, drinks and games that we can't understand (well half of us couldn't). No TV, no cell reception - just the basics of food, spirits and good times.

Schmuck VERY much has this concept down as you can see....

Now a lot of the pictures that were taken I have decided to ban from blogville. However since I am a Mandatory Reporter I feel it my ethic duty to publish photographic evidence of the malicious mischief commited by Rambo. See wine glass above.

I'm a little.....

....teapot....

...short and stout....

*ahem* A super big thanks to Big D's family for letting us, yet again, make many memories at the cabin. Only good things happen here.

And thanks to my women for all the laughter, encouragement, spunk and memories. These girls have heart, warmth and they're awesome cooks. The last being one of my favorite qualities. I'm super lucky to have them all in my life.

And thanks to their husbands/boyfriend for taking care of the kids and letting the wives/girlfriend have another old-fashioned b*tches weekend.

PS - Schmuck TOTALLY beat Big D on the first try. Never happens. Oh yeah Big D, I found your kryptonite ;)

For the Longest Time....

2009-11-09T21:49:00.000-08:00

Great song by Billy Joel. I dedicate it to skiing. Man it's been too long! I don't know why I dread winter after my active summers. Because now that snow is coming I am stinking excited! Of course this is what happens every year when I watch the latest Warren Miller film but this year I'm determined to go skiing. How long has it been? 7 years? WAY too long.

This is a picture from the Warren Miller film - it featured Crystal Mountain! I have many good memories at Crystal Mountain. But after skiing at Whistler I just couldn't appreciate Crystal anymore. Crystal was no longer big enough. Good enough. And now after all these years I've come to realize that my snobbery got in the way of my appreciation for Crystal. Ok, that and the lift tickets are stinking expensive!
When I went skiing with Big Bro years back he taught me skiing meant NO breaks. No lunch. No snacks. Just ski ski ski. And that's how we got our money's worth.

This weekend I'll be frolicing in the snow with good friends and drinking my cocoa with peppermint schnapps. I'm optimistic that I'll go skiing this season and because I'm a huge fan of pleasure delay I know that it won't disappoint.

Kate told me today "I'm not an advanced skier but I'm an advanced beginner." Such a great description! In my past I've ran into not one but two trees. I have a great picture of me in the 2nd one that REALLY looks similar to the one above. Just picture that dude with brown curly hair and that's me.

The first time I blame on a boarder - yes, after all these years I blame him. Whoever he was he didn't give me any room as I was coasting down the cat track and the next thing I know I fly over the edge and land in a tree. I think that was the moment that I truly found the art of cussing and came to love it. As I looked above at the crowd watching me the ski patrol man said "You're out of ski patrol boundary, can you get up yourself?" Cheese. And. Rice. It took me forever. I've had an extremely low appreciation for boarders ever since.

The 2nd time was my own fault. Going too fast in slush, not catching an edge and I flew straight into the trees. I think my kidneys are still recovering from that blow of me slamming against the trunk of the tree. But it was a great moment.

Pleasure delay hasn't failed me yet. I'll see you soon Crystal! You and I have a lot of time to make up for!

Breakup Hike

2009-09-27T21:18:00.000-07:00

Well, no, I didn't break up during a hike - can you imagine the ride home if that happened? And the burger and beer afterwards would be ruined which would be unacceptable. No, the breakup occured the day before the hike. After a long evening of traversing between sobbing and sitting in a catatonic state I knew what I needed to do. I needed Rainier to comfort me.

Originally I was going to do another, newer & longer hike that I've always wanted to do. I decided not to violate the sanctity of this new hike. I needed a hike that wouldn't mind me bringing along the heartbreak. Heartbreak distracts me from my surroundings and I just wouldn't be able to appreciate a new trail. The good thing about Rainier is that she's seen me at my best, my worst, my weakest, my strongest and even embarrassed. Yes embarrassed.

I decided on Tolmie Peak which has many embarrassing memories of hiking with my family after church. More specifically one day when my Mother decided to wear a watermelon-scented jazzercise shirt that the bees especially loved as their own. We could hear her scream my father's name (it echoed) through out the hike. We all played dumb "No, we don't know who that crazy woman is...not sure why she's following us..." we'd tell other hikers.

Anyway - this is Mowich Lake which is right next to the parking lot. The good thing about this hike that I needed today was that:

*it was short (I wasn't totally sure I was up for it)

*it was guaranteed to have other hikers (no bears or mountain murders please)

*It would have a great view i.e. thinking spot.

As I was walking the trail my rules were:

1. No crying.

2. No making "what I'll miss" lists.

3. No Reminising

4. No replaying lines from the breakup conversation the day before

5. No self-pity

This is me with a mile to go to the peak. See the old fire lookout? That's where I was headed. I had my head down, focused on going fast and foot in front of the other. I passed a VERY talkative gentleman that had his ten essentials in his plastic bag (weird) in his left hand.

He was still talking to my back as I passed him encouraged by my short and polite responses. I was hoping he'd get the hint that I wanted to be alone. Then I hear:

"Wow, you're really good at this. You're going up that hill fast. You must practice a lot or have youth on your side."

It was a nice compliment although I wasn't feeling strong or youthful at the moment. I just wanted to hurry up and sit so Rainier could console me.

This was a very pretty spot which I thought probably had great wildflowers in the summer. But now summer is over and cold will start to take over....

I have to add Rule #6 which is: NO sad breakup analogies on this hike!

I'm almost to the lookout tower at this point and I smell cannibus very strongly up here. This could be a fun game: which hiker is high? I just hope the driver was more pass pass then puff puff. But I digress...

There's good 'ol Tolmie! Tolmie looks good for his age. He may look weathered and tired but check this out...

...Tolmie has the best view in Pierce County.

If I had left a little later (as intended) these hills would be a prettier color reflected from the sun setting. I found out on accident before that Tolmie Peak is one of THE BEST sunset hikes ever. Rainier one side, Olympics the other. Simply breathtaking.

And finally I had found my sit and think spot. I let Rainier talk to me. I didn't talk very much. It took me forever to finish the whole luna bar I had with me.

The best thing about sitting up here was hearing the people below making their words echo. I could hear the kids laughing so hard as their jibberish played over and over again in the rocks. Then there was also some random dude that kept on shouting "Nacho Libre!" for his echo of choice.

A group of fellas next to me were looking to the left (picture above) trying to figure out the source of shadows that fell on the forest. I silently pondered with them when I couldn't keep track of all the pikas in the rocks around me.

Don't get me wrong, I love all the green and beige around me but I loved these slate and cobalt colors that was decorated inside this clear lake. I usually like to jump into lakes but not on days that I'm alone...like today.

Dangit it Krista - Rule #7: stop focusing that being alone is bad and sad right now.

Unfortunately I didn't stay at the fire tower long enough to see the sunset from up there but I did pull off the side of the road & steal this picture as I was driving back to civilization....

...and it's counterpoint. Thanks for the great hiking therapy Rainier. You are always there when I need ya. Too bad you never got to meet him...

And Hulster, you will be missed. Thank you so much for all the memories. You are one of the good ones!

Current Obsessions

2009-09-02T23:40:00.000-07:00

The summer has been AWESOME but why oh why do I keep on forgetting my camera? Perhaps that amazing waterfall on the Nooksack was meant to stay sacred and free of anyone from the city to admire her beauty in just a picture....

So instead, and out of blog guilt, I'm documenting my current obsessions. I really am going through this crazy obsession phase right now. But not with Mariah Carey. Seriously, get over yourself. You lost me at the cheek implants.

Moving on.

SERIOUSLY - LOVE THIS SHOW NCIS. Freaking addictive. It's smart, fast-paced, funny, great one-liners, serious, violent - everything I love. I originally checked it out because Hulster has a thing for Abby and I had to scope out the competition and now I have a complete crush on her too.
And Gibbs reminds me of my Dad. I think it's the silver hair, blue eyes and impatience for those who slack on the job.

So shooting guns has been fun - sad to say that Big Bro beat me at pistols - but rifles turned out to be my forte. I got bullseye shots right away and we kept on shooting until he finally hit the bullseye himself. That's right, I'm calling him out right now!!

In classic Big Bro style he took the above bada$$ picture of me...with the porta potties in the background. Classic.

And next is my clay pigeon class that I start next week. And after that I'm going to challenge you to a duel - especially if you're a pigeon!!

The obsession has come back to me. I think it came back because I was trying to budget better and one day Popcorn called me from Aisle 11 and said to me "Krista. You could have me for dinner - I would be very filling, good and cheap!" And I was convinced. My rubber arm was twisted. Now I can't stop having popcorn for dinner. This is not good stuff. I need a popcorn intervention. If it wasn't for my multi-vitamin I think my skin would start turning yellow and corn stalk would start sprouting from my head.

......but popcorn with Johnny Seasoning is SERIOUSLY good. Just saying.

I blame Alan the Ogre and Elle. And now I'm obsessed with online poker. I justify it with "I ran an hour today, I'm OK to sit on my a$$ the rest of the night." Ironically I also turn on NCIS so I can watch the episode and when it's my turn to call/check my laptop goes "ding" so I won't be too deprived from the story line on NCIS. I'm also eating popcorn with my free hand. Horrible obsession cubed.

I tried playing "in-life poker" this past weekend and was humbled by trying to count chips "how much is big/small?" the computer always tells me. The computer also always tells me what hands I have. At 2am it was too much for my head to stare at cards and figure out my potential hands. Not good.

And then the next day I let Hulster play my online poker under my profile and he lost me $20k...I just about lost it. I almost took out his other eye. To be fair he won it back...lucky for him.

So, at least I'm not playing with real money -can't be that bad right? I still run...so they negate each other keeping me even I think.

I will no longer be ashamed of my fondness for Miley Cyrus songs. I love her on Hannah Montana and I'm not ashamed of that either. I tried to suppress this feelings of fondness and appreciation but today when I had "Party in the USA" in my head I swear it helped me keep a spring in my step.

In fact when my lovely co-worker Amanda had the case of The Grumps today I tried my best to give her a Miley Cyrus prescription: One dose of "Party in the USA" is all she needed. Not sure she was convinced.

"Noddin' my head like yeah..."

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Love it. Love it. Love it.

Oh man there is not enough blister band-aids in the world for me. They save my feet. Blisters on my big toe, small toe, heel, arches, etc. I'm too embarrassed to get a pedicure. A combination of running, hiking and wearing heels (honorable mention to wearing summer heels on a pebbled path) and my feet seriously hate me and are eternally grateful for blister band-aids. If it wasn't for them I'd be on the sidelines man...

Is it just me....or do I model for Anne Taintor and not tell anyone about it? The other day in Hallmark I stop in my tracks staring at this picture. I ask Schmuck "Who does this look like to you?" She responds simply "It looks like you."

I want my cut man!!

I left my PR in San Francisco...

2009-08-06T21:25:00.000-07:00

I still remember Shannon in my office saying:

"I want to be a Half-Fanatic...we could do the San Francisco Half-Marathon the weekend before the Tacoma Narrows Half-Marathon..."

I can't for sure say what my reaction was but I think it involved silence and repeated blinking of the eyes. Oh but she was serious folks...

And a few weeks later here we were at the start of the San Francisco Half-Marathon. Shannon hooked me up, like a good SugarMama, with some plane tickets and hotel and we were off! It was a quick weekend trip to San Fran and I've never been. It was a whirlwind trip with a run smack dab in the middle.

So this was literally the first picture I took in San Francisco. I know I'm not as well-versed in the bible as others but I really don't recall learning this in Sunday School...

So we knew we were close to the hotel - here's Shannon trying to figure out our San Fran map.

Hello I'm a tourist! Hello San Francisco girl - what's your name?

So finding our hotel was an adventure. This nice retired man named Hank took us under his wing at the Information counter and walked us to our hotel. Granted he walked us through one of the REALLY bad streets in San Fran...it scared the bejesus out of me! Seriously. It was like walking in the movie 28 DAYS. One person was passed out on a hood of a Jeep Cherokee...I may of seen a needle in the arm too! Or not, it's better for my story. Anyway - And the bus stop was even worse. It went like this:

Angry Homeless Man with Cart: Ma'am! I need a paper dollar - I'll give you four quarters and fifteen cents for a paper dollar.

Me: I don't have a paper dollar, I'm sorry. (and I truly didn't. SugarMamaShannon was gonna pay my bus fare).

Angry Homeless Man with Cart: You're LYING!!! How you gonna ride the bus with no paper dollars?

Me: Sir, I honestly don't have a paper dollar.

Angry Homeless Man with Cart: You are a LIAR!!!

SugarMamaShannon: *with sneer on face* Why do you need a paper dollar? You already have a dollar in change.

Angry Homeless Man with Cart: Because I can't carry all this change!

*At this point I space out and start staring straight ahead during the confrontation until...*

Angry Homeless Man with Cart: Well f*ck you! You C*nt A$$ B*tch Wh*res!!

OK. That was a violent confrontation I'm on edge. We hide around the corner from the Angry Homeless Man with Cart until our bus comes to take us to the Race Expo. Once were on the stuffy hot bus, and I'm on edge still, it gets more and more crowded. Soon some man starts running around the bus closing all the windows. When someone tells him they'd like the windows open he tells them to ride the next bus.

We got off the bus.

Another shady neighborhood. At this point I have to ask - where is Full House? Where is The Rock even? I want Stanley Goodspeed right now! I'm full of tension, walking fast with eyes straight ahead while SugarMamaShannon is calm and focused.

We run into a runner and he confirms were close to the Expo. On the way this wonderful marcher led the way. Swinging his POA MIA flag and singing about all the different military bases in the USA. I start to lose tension...thanks Patriotic Man.

Finally at the Expo. I have fear of crowds but I welcomed this one. No one was angry, homeless or had carts. We pick up our race packets, race gel, snag free items and were off!

Thankfully there were free shuttles that took us to the waterfront so we didn't have to ride the crazy city bus again.

Here's SugarMamaShannon being happy and carefree. It was so nice to be near the water again. This is what I envisioned San Fran to be...*sigh*

Having a moment with San Francisco....

Where in the world is Carmen San Francisco?

So all I know from San Francisco is what I saw on Full House and The Rock. And wasn't this building in The Rock? They showed it before he got a room in The Fairmont...was that the name of the hotel? Anyway, I was excited to see it.

I just liked this angle.

So we walked our way to North Beach (Italian District) for some good carbo load. Thank you Mona Lisa and all the men who called us "Bella". And really, you may not believe me but SugarMamaShannon was a witness: Dakota Fanning was a couple tables down. Loves it.

Oh, here's one thing I noticed - San Fran really isn't that friendly of a town. But ChinaTown - WAY friendly. Thanks for the tea ChinaTown!

And before we got to bed for the evening we see some San Fran Trannies - why Hello ladies!

What time did we get up in the morning? 5:30am? I dunno. But we had to catch the shuttle to take us to Golden Gate Park and then wait for an hour for the race to start.

Look at the lovely coastal trees guarded by the runners in waiting. I was tired but I was still enjoying this new city.

This pretty lake was next to our start. We still had the coastal fog keeping us cool. As we walked around the lake I still couldn't grasp that I was running a half-marathon very soon. I was still getting used to this new city that I'd only been in for 12 hours.

Our running feet are ready - and soon we were off! The cool thing about starting in Golden Gate Park is that I was totally disoriented. It felt like we were running in circles - up roads and around lakes all over the park.

Being so distracted by figuring out my surroundings soon we were at Mile 6 and it felt like a breeze.

That's us runners, finally leaving the park to make our way back down to the waterfront.

This is mile 7 I think. Haight Neighborhood? I dunno. It looked interesting as I was running by.

Yay for downhill!!

And then some uphill...I think this was our last one. Mile 9 or 10 I believe. Almost done! This race is flying by!

So I tried to run by one Officer singing "Ya'll can't run from Tha Poh-leece..." but got no reaction. I thought I was funny. But this Officer smiled and posed for me as I ran by - thanks lady in blue!

We have another mile at this point. And I swear this is when the miles get long. Feelings check: I haven't walked once except to drink water. I can't start walking now - not sure if I can do it!!

Is this the AT&T Field? I'm just trying to distract myself. At this point I'm telling myself "I didn't walk for 12 miles, I can't let that go to waste and walk now." Shannon is slightly ahead of me pulling me with her with an imaginary rope - just what I needed.

Now this is a pretty view. But not pretty enough to distract me. Another half-mile? At this point I tell Shannon

"I don't think I can make it." And she replies

"Just 5 more minutes of pain..."

So true. But it's a long 5 minutes.

And here's my view of almost being at the finish line. It feels so far away. At the end my Garmin Forerunner read 13.3 miles. That's .2 miles longer than it should of been dangit! But I was soooo stinking happy because I received a Personal Record (PR). I was so happy I wanted to cry...but not before I stretched. My legs hurt!!

SugarMamaShannon getting her medal - Yay Shannon!!

Thanks CNN....

Thanks Larry King....

So after our stretching, bathroom emergencies, limping and showers, Shannon and I decided to continue the quick tourism and take a Trolley to Fisherman's Wharf. Something I decided looks and sounds better than it feels. This is a picture inside of the trolley after Shannon had some words with the girl who shoved her over on the seat. People still aren't friendly here but I found a nice family to speak with.

We decided to go to Fisherman's Wharf for our hard-earned post-race Burger and Beer(s). Freaking crowded. This is one of the only pictures I took.

Well, except for this one. I was wearing my Colorado Prisons shirt, I couldn't resist taking a picture of Alcatrez with it on. Another The Rock moment. Stanley went home and f*cked the prom queen.

Not to intentionally cuss but to accurately quote the movie - you understand.....

We decided to walk from Fisherman's Wharf back to the hotel. It's far but I don't know how far. We were zombies at this point. But it really did finally give us our exercise of the day since running 13.1 miles wasn't enough.

Like my impression of Sue Lombard Street? Mirror images!!!

Shannon's knees hurt so she kept walking down stairs backwards. I took a picture and she is saying here

"They're not going to know I'm walking backyards in a picture."

Good point. But now you know because I told you.

This is Grace Church that we passed on the way home. It was grand, creepy and beautiful. None of our pictures were turning out and then our batteries were drained (oh yeah, it's haunted I'm sure of it...). Anyway, I decided to play around with colors on this one to creep it up.

7 days later Shannon and I ran another half-marathon to qualifiy for the Half-Fanatics. Oh, and Shannon recently found out she had already qualified - she's such a running maniac that she can't even remember how many races she does in one week.

But anyway - Shannon did awesome at the 2nd half-marathon - she improved our San Fran time by 6 minutes. Our miss lovely TBagBrown improved her Rock 'N Roll time by 2 minutes. And me? Krista? Not so much. I hit the wall. I bottomed out. I was done for. But I finished, and I officially qualify for a Half-Fanatic title. Yay!!!

To my SugarMamaShannon - thank you soooo much for pushing me, encouraging me, inspiring me and introducing me to San Fran. It was one of the best weekend quickies I've ever had!
Experiencing a new city by running - priceless!!

.
Honorable mention to Big Bro and Andrea for not once, twice, three times but four times being there for me in my 2nd race. Your commitment and encouragement means the world to me!

And Hulster: Of course Thank you. But we've already gone over this...

So...when is the next race Shannon???

Schmuck, Half-Canucks and Maps - oh my!

2009-07-23T20:54:00.000-07:00

So I was so happy and lucky that my long-lost favorite half-canuck couple (Becky & Scotty) came into town this past weekend. I was introduced to them by my beloved Schmuck years ago and my life has felt sweeter ever since.

Becky used to live in Washington between getting her Bachelors and Masters Degrees and that girl never went to Mt. Rainier once. Appalling! So during their visit we went on one of my favorite hikes - Spray Park.

My hiking posse: Schmuck and the Half-Canucks. This can be a popular hike since it's part of the Wonderland Trail. Spray Falls is only 2 or 3 miles away and sometimes I like to scramble up to the base of the falls but we decided to play it safe this time. Well....

The one thing that didn't play safe was the camera. Scotty should get an award of positioning this camera perfectly on a boulder that had a rushing water all around it. All four of us scrambled rocks to get this perfect shot. Thanks for not dying camera.

Aren't these falls beautiful? I never get tired of seeing them or feeling their sweet spray.

We all look perfectly positioned and dry in that picture but in reality this is what my foot was balancing itself on.

After some switch backs we finally arrived to Spray Park. Schmuck thought it was totally worth it...or at least she was threatening that it better be totally worth it on those switchbacks.

These dudes above were funny/creepy. That's them trying to figure out the glaciers on Mt. Rainier with Scotty. Men love maps. Later these guys showed us pictures they took of us that we weren't aware of. Awesome.

Taking it all in....Hello Gorgeous.

Can you spot all the differences in these two photos??

Avalanche Lilies! Thanks Jayme!

This big beautiful b*tch was out on our right side as we ascended Spray Park. Last time I did this hike on a sunny gorgeous day I forgot my camera. And let me tell ya, pictures just don't do this scene justice.

One of Scotty's pictures to show our hiking bliss. Another one of Scotty's tripod pics - he took so many good pictures - I'm expecting the 2010 calendar man!

Up never looked so good to me...

See what I mean?

Another one of Scotty's pictures. It's like Senior Yearbook goes hiking - I love it! Rah! Rah! for hiking!

On Scotty's map we found out this was called Mother Mountain. She's a big Mother.

Our pefect lunch spot. Scotty with his map, Mt. Rainier to our right (not seen) and none of us had any idea what time it was. It was stinking perfect.

Can anyone guess what Becky is doing here? Look at that mischievious smile!

Right here is one of my favorite parts of hiking is the descent - making plans for the post-hike burger and beer. Which took us a while to find but was well worth the wait! Thanks Sumner!

I can never resist dunking my head in water if not jumping in water after a good hike. Brr this was cold!

Somehow Scotty seems more GI Joe when he does the same thing. He went down and gave us 20!

I'll miss you....see you soon.

Thank you again for the great day Half-Canucks! Schmuck and I will hold down Washington while you guys go tear up Europe. Thanks for always keeping it Maple!!!

Scotty & Becky take on the snow...

Super Krista takes on the snow!

Go Scotty Go!

And last but not least....

The Witch, the Run and the Gun.

2009-07-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

Sounds like a children's book! Just a title of things that are currently on my mind.

First is the witch, who I met on my run. This isn't an actual picture of her but it's very close! She's a woman whom I would pass seldomly on my runs around the park with long, black frizzy hair and two different colored eyes. She never looked at me until one day when I was stopped and stretching.

Witch: Are you a religious or virtual person?
Witch: Do you believe in God?
Witch: God's name is John and John is dead.

And this was my first conversation with her - after she tells me God is dead she turns and walks away. I stand there in awe and she immediately turns back around and marches straight back to me looking at me with her two different colored eyes. I couldn't look away as she got inches from my face.

Witch: Are you a virtual person? (What the h*ll is a virtual person anyway?)
Witch: How long will you be staying in this body?
Witch: What you were doing isn't what a real person does, it's what silkworms do (my stretching).
Witch: *walking circles around me, looking me up and down* You get hit really hard...you're turning blue...you're dead!

And that was all she said. The remainder of my run was me praying hard to not let her scare the bejesus out of me. Later I was told I wasn't the first person she's scared, she seems to not discriminate about who she is crazy with. So I got that going for me, which is good (name the movie).

But just in case I alter my running route to avoid her making it significantly shorter to run. Which isn't good.

But then my co-worker Shannon has this crazy idea, and I mean maniac crazy idea to try to qualify to be a Half Fanatic.

Just to qualify for the first level you have to do 2 half-marathons in 16 days. Being convinced by her craziness I know I must commit to my full running route again and risk seeing the witch.

I see her, but she's sleeping on a bench...or smothering a toddler. Could be either.

In any case, I'm sore. I need wine and a ice bath. I need both.

Or...I need to show my brother some gun skills! My Big Bro tried to convince me that he's a better shot than me. Our Pa will be the judge of this. I went shooting with the old man and shot the following:

Smith & Wesson revolver, 38 Special / 357 Mag.
Ruger 22 revolver
Ruger 22 semi auto pistol
Ruger .223 assault rifle
Ruger 10/22 semi auto rifle

The 38 special was my favorite and the assault rifle tweaked my muscles I think. But it was stinking awesome!

Here's a picture of the target that I sent my Big Bro. My Pa said it looked a lot better than Big Bro's but we should still officially compete one on one with my Pa as Judge. So there it is Big Bro, the gauntlet is thrown down. Don't be scared...I'll be gentle.

Pow! Pow!

My New Love

2009-06-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

I love everything about hiking Washington but I am a bit maxed out on Snoqualmie Pass. Too many crowds, looks the same, too many crowds, etc. But man oh man do I like that Tortilla Soup in North Bend - there is no other soup like yours.

So for Big Bro's Birthday hike we decided to go to Steven's Pass and immediately fell in love with the reduction of folks, natural beauty and I could finally hear pikas again.

So I was too lazy to rearrange these pictures in the right order so you're going to have to look at these Tarantino or Memento style. Love it.

I actually took this on the trail after I got done gazing at the creek which followed our trail. I just liked how it looked like I was in a cave of trees.

Holy green right? Seriously, I love Washington - I had a beautiful creek on one side and greeny green goodness pastures to my left side.

So this is my Big Bro in *all* of his hiking garb for this hike. He's an Eagle Scout so I guess he always wants to be prepared. Plus the pansy doesn't like pine needles to get in his boots so he loves his gators hahaha Love ya Big Bro!

Anyway - this tree and rock looked very supportive to us. We love supportive rocks.

Did I mention this was called Surprise Creek? My goodness this water was soooooooo stinking beautiful! Crystal clear! And it accompanied us the whole way until we started going up to Surprise Lake which I can only assume is it's Mom in the sky.

Look at this clear beast of water. You're lying if you don't have the urge to want to hop into that pool of water right now.

I actually think this was my last picture on the way out. But obviously I'm a water junkie. Enjoy it.

Ok Tarantino fans, this is us at the "top"...I think. Surprise Lake was still covered with snow and is over that hump of rocks. The trail book said it's a good swimming lake - oh yeah, I have some unfinished business with you baby!

You can't even tell this is water since it's so clear - but here's the run-off from the lake. Surprise!

OH yeah, this is at the top too. Somewhere under this snow is the Pacific Crest Trail.

And Memento fans this is Big Bro and his wife halfway up to the top. I didn't give them much warning for this shot.

OH, is that all my pics? I guess so! In any case Steven's Pass and I have some unfinished business - Snoqualmie I still love you and I'll promise I'll come back after I use up some of Steven's pass.

Colorado Baby!!

2009-06-12T16:26:00.001-07:00

Big D and I have birthdays one day apart and make an effort every year to spend our birthdays together. After a winter hike months ago we decided over beers that we must celebrate our 30th birthday by going to Colorado.

Big D being the top notch planner and researcher that she is read Frommer's book on Colorado cover to cover and recommended a good variety of things to do on our 8-day-trek.

For each day in Colorado we decided to take a moment from our 20s that was synonymous with our day (scroll to end).

Something that we quickly learned about Colorado is that the vast variety of terrain reminded us a lot of Washington. And you know what freaks me out? It's legal to not wear a helmet. Tons of dudes on Motorcycles enjoying their Rocky Mountain High then....SPLAT!!! That horrid thought crossed my mind everytime I saw someone without a helmet - which was quite often! But I digress....

Here's Big D and I on the plane anxsiously awaiting take-off. When we were approaching Denver we could see some wicked thunder and lightening storms which are typical in the late afternoon/early evenings in Colorado. And we both LOVE thunder and lightening. Except when it involves Poltergeist...*shudder* Remember how scary that clown and tree were? Sheesh!

So after we got our rental car (shout out to the powder blue Ford Focus) we put on some John Denver to listen to some Rocky Mountain High. Nevermind that it was interrupted 3 times by freaking tolls. We love mapquest but sometimes the quickest route is not the cheapest route...

On our way to Colorado Springs we decided to pick up some wine and some dinner. Above is Big D cutting up some avacado and tomato to go with our usual wine consumption. However, we learned the hard way that wine isn't sold at grocery stores.

Big D: Excuse me, where's your wine? (desperation in voice)

Store clerk: You mean wine coolers?

Big D: NO - Where is the WINE!?

Thank God a liquor store was next door. Grocery stores don't sell anything higher than 3.5% alcohol in their stores. So not only are there tons of people without helmets in Colorado but there's also a ton of liquor stores.

Memory from our 20s:

Krista: All this flying in airplanes and traveling in unfamiliar territory reminded me of my 27th birthday when I flew down to Guatemala to Big D who was already down there. That was an amazing trip.

Big D: All this traveling reminded Big D of going to Europe to visit her parents when she was 23. Of course while she was in Europe she found her way to Morocco - you can't keep this girl out of Africa!

Colorado - Day Two

2009-06-12T16:19:00.001-07:00

On our 2nd day we wanted to do something in Colorado Springs and quickly decided on Garden of the Gods. Pikes Peak was recommended to only do when it's sunny for the views. And perhaps I'm just spoiled by Washington State but Pike's Peak didn't seem that big...even though we know it was. Foolish eyes!

Everywhere we looked at Garden of the Gods (Pikes Peak towering above) was bright in color and absolutely beautiful. It is a bit touristy so we decided to walk the trails that surrounded the park as we made our way into it.

There were some crazy rock climbers all over - this rock wasn't that high but I still was in awe. If only I had the skill to climb a red rock.

See these little specks? Rock climbers! Best view in the house.

Did I mention how much the elevation change was kicking our butt? We would walk up a slight hill and be quickly out of breath. We could barely talk and walk at the same time. Which worked out fine because we were too busy "oohing" and "ahhing" at our surroundings.

As you can see from above the afternoon storms were starting to roll in. Looks like we were skipping Pikes Peak. I totally have Pikes Peak regret right now. So....I have to go back.

A very nice gal took this picture for us. I loved all the red rock - many of the roads in Colorado Springs were red too. Loves it.

"Ooooohhhhh", "Ahhhhhhhh".

Fun with red rocks.

So after a full day of walking in new terrain at 3-4 times the elevation that we were used to we were absolutely zonked. We headed over to Manitou Springs for some grub. It's a cute little hippy town with good beer thankfully.

Memory from our 20s:

Krista: All this desert-like terrain reminds me of my first summer in Ellensburg hiking and bonding with my new friends. Shout out to my main college hiking buddies Marketa and Alicia - two women who still mean the world to me today. Age....early 20s? Ay yi yi don't ask a 30-year-old a memory question!

Big D: Between the ages of 22-25 Big D worked at Lost Coast Brewery while attending Humboldt College. The bar we visited in Manitou Springs reminded her of Lost Coast in the summer when she worked long and hard shifts followed by playing harder at the beach with her friends.

Colorado - Day Three

2009-06-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

Day three was whitewater rafting on the Arkansas River! Shout out to Roberto our river guide - coolest guide ever. I didn't have a picture so I stole the below pic from their website.

Anyway - it was so much fun to survive The Spinner, Kamikaze and especially Satan's Suckhole. It should be noted that after we made it thru Satan's Suckhole Roberto pointed out a backboard that was tied to a tree next to the river - this is utilized for the rafters who aren't so lucky in Satan's Suckhole.

Sheesh.

Anyway - Big D and I were in front and I didn't fall out! At one point all of a sudden I was knocked into her lap though. Better than the suckhole. We saw some real Colorado rams along the way and Big D took a dip in the river when it was calm because she couldn't let the 12-year-old show her up. Just ask her about it.

Afterwards we made our way to the Royal Gorge which is really just a big gorge with a bridge over it. And you know why they made this bridge? For tourists. There are fair rides and they charge you just to walk across. Big D and I decided we'd rather spend that money on wine and not some bridge that we could walk over in Washington for free.

The Bridge. This is my "free" view.

If you squint you can see a raft from our rafting company in the gorge below. It's quite the drop. This inspires me to do skydiving next.

So after skipping out on the Royal Gorge we decided to check out the Colorado Prison Museum nearby - which was super interesting. We were able to go into a gas chamber, see weapons confiscated, learn about past riots, criminals who stayed there - and our favorite part? The gift shop. A lot of gifts were made by prisoners from the nearby prison. Some of them had a lot of artistic talent when it came to toilet paper sculptures!

A bad man of Colorado.

After the prison museum God steered us to Holy Cross Abbey for some wine tasting. This wine was soooo stinking good that we bought some bottles for the rest of our trip. What seemed fitting was when lightening struck the building zapping out the power temporarily. Thanks God.

Memories from our 20s:

Krista: In my early 20s (not sure of age again) I went white water rafting for the first time with Monica and Marketa. I of course fell into the river and was rescued by Marketa's husband Will. Today I did not fall in. YES!

Big D: The rams we saw along the river reminded Big D of her backpacking trip thru The Enchantments when she was 28. A group of mountain goats had invaded her campsite! Bill Gruff's goat just doesn't know when to quit....

Colorado - Day Four

2009-06-12T15:26:00.000-07:00

Our fourth day in Colorado we discovered that we absolutely love satelitte radio. 80s on Station 008 and 90s on Station 009 - awesome. It was all we needed for this road trip - that and the occasional clean bathroom. Thank you Shell.

So anyway - we made our way to the Sand Dunes which is actually a National Park in Colorado. It's unlike the sand dunes that I've seen on the west coast because it's formation is greatly due to the mountains that it rests against. Now, don't expect a lesson here because I didn't pay that close attention to the "How are sand dunes formed?" portion. They did have this cool thing though where I could crank a wheel and change wind patterns that would change the formation of the sand dunes - all in this little box. But I digress.

What's so pretty about this is the water runoff between the parking lot and the sand dunes. The current surges every 15 seconds so we had to time how we crossed this. And I read somewhere why the current surges but I didn't retain that information. So just trust me that it does and that it's natural. But we got our pants wet anyway.

This was our first glimpse of the sand dunes and we scanned the horizon for the highest peak and said "let's go there." We were determined to get some good grunting exercise in after the long drive. If you click on the picture you can see the small specks higher on the dunes which are people. We wanted to be with those people.

I took one look back at the parking lot (hard to see) before I ascended the dunes. It is so stinking beautiful here. But the Ranger did warn us that a thunder and lightening storm was coming and lightening WILL strike the sand so to be careful. Roger that. Reminds me of the movie Sweet Home Alabama.

This is me after we thought we'd reach the "top". There is no top there's just more dunes. But anyway, I had JUST seen a hummingbird before this picture was taken. So stinking random a hummingbird at the top of the dunes. I still wonder if it was trying to tell me something...

I really like this picture but I can't take credit for it - it was taken by Big D. That's me following her tracks along this ridge. We kept on walking these sand ridges and I had two songs in my head "Living on the Edge" by Aerosmith and...I can't remember the second one. I'm sure it fit though and I had just heard it on satelitte radio.

This is my attempt of a cool picture. 2nd place to Big D's but I like how she's standing with the swagger of Marlboro man looking into the distance with all that green behind her.

This is pretty much what it looked like at the top - dunes as far as the eye could see. It would of been really fun to spend more time up here and see how far we could go. Walking in the dunes was great exercise. The elevation difference did make it tough but we were determined.

Did I mention how stinking windy it was? I took a video (below) but you can barely hear me. I think early on you can hear my reaction when a bunch of sand blows into my ear. That really woke me up.

Where did we stay that night...Alamosa? Anyway, shout out to the brewery we ate at. We got the beer sampler and I seriously had the best Amber that I've ever had on these lips. I just can't remember the name of it. I'm 30 now, give me a break. I have a bad memory.

Memories of our 20s:

Krista: Just last year at 29 I climbed Mt. St. Helens with Big D. Climbing the sand dunes reminded me of trekking thru the ash just before we reached the summit. I also learned the hard way the importance of putting sunscreen on the back of the legs because sun does reflect off ash. Serious blister city. Serious.

Big D: The terrain here reminded her of her time at Biosphere 2 at age 22. No, she wasn't locked in. In any case, that is where the roots of her close college friendships started with "The Girls". And it's really the time in her life where she started to get serious about her life path and be an adult. Lots of reflections on these dunes.

Colorado - Day Five

2009-06-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

Day Five and we love satelitte radio even more. Heading towards the mountains seriously reminded me of Eastern Washington and how it's all flat and golden. But soon we were heading up, up and more up. We had decided to do some geocaching during the long drive and the GPS was reading 11,000 feet elevation. No wonder our heads felt like it they were about to burst! Then all of a sudden we saw the signs for The Continental Divide (and our geocache!).

This is a picture taken from the pullout on the Continental Divide. I loved knowing that very soon our trip would be taking us closer and closer to those mountains ahead.

OH yeah, I had that great divide between my legs!

This is Big D at our geocache we found on the Continental Divide.

So this picture is actually upside down but I just really liked how it looked. I like feet pictures but I'm refraining from posting too many of them - this one was an exception however.

This was my true view of where I took that shoe picture. When we saw this rock we literally ran to it. Below is Ponderosa Springs and looks to be retirement heaven. So many houses had lakes and rivers on their property - all guarded by the mountains. It's also very close to the Southwest terrain of the state so you can get the best of both worlds. I was really loving Colorado at this point.

That's my butt in reflection taken by Big D.

They call it Chimney Rock. I call it C*ck Rock. Don't judge - you thought the same thing when you saw it.

What is this? A kiva! We had finally made our way to Cortez, Colorado to stay at Kelly Place. It's a fantastic bed and breakfast that has actual pueblan ruins on it. The property was huge and one of the most positive experiences on this trip.

So right away we got there and explored some of the ruins - this kiva is literally a minute walk from the house. We peered in and it was soooo stinking dark that I took a picture to illuminate it below but the above was the result. Very mysterious.

This was our view of the kiva. Big D immediately decided to go down first.

It's so funny because once we were inside it was totally bright and easy to see. They've obviously made some efforts to preserve this kiva to be visitor friendly. We wandered to another kiva further on the property and it was vastly different. More eerie to me so I didn't take pictures.

The sun was setting as we explored the property. Their (Kelly Place) property actually meets up with Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. So amazing.

Big D striking a red rock pose.

This is my sunset, album cover pose after we passed over to the Canyon of the Ancients line. Canyon hiking is such a great way to end the day. I have bliss on my face if you can't tell.

Those lights are from the building that we were staying in - literally the middle of nowhere. I was standing in this field the next night, at midnight, and felt things crawl over my toes. Who knows. I loved Kelly Place though - loved it.

Memory from our 20s:

Krista: I have two - all this driving reminded me of the many trips I took down to Cali to visit Big D while she attended Humboldt when I was 23-25.

Second I should mention that on today's long drive I exchanged many text messages with some past co-workers who totally punked me. I hated working for NWTS - hated it. Underpaid, underappreciated and unfulfilling work. However, I met some remarkable people and was constantly punked by the "Bellevue Boys" that worked there when I was 22-25. Ken - you will be a great father - Congratulations!! You got me good!

Big D: Speaking of Humboldt - all of today's driving reminded Big D of the first trip to Humboldt she took with our friend Jessica when she was 20. It was literally love at first sight and she knew instantly Humboldt was the one. She chose a great path as a result of that trip.