Catching Up

I really hate the long periods between posts. It just means that I have to spend more time catching things up and trying to remember what we all did.

Starting last Thursday - last 1/2 day of school, so Kiddo #1 and I headed over to Lewisburg and McDonald Forest to hide some letter boxes. We opted for the 6.6 mile Vineyard Mountain Loop Trail and hid a series of boxes called Farm in the Forest. Just four boxes, but a nice long walk and great for those seeking treasure hiker miles. Check out AltlasQuest if you want to know more about the Treasure Hike stuff.

Friday was a work at home day, with two conference calls - while in between having tea at my favorite tea place in Albany with mom and some of her friends and picking up kiddo #2's best friend for his first sleepover at our house. The boys had a great time playing video games and hanging out.

Saturday morning Kiddo #1 and I were out early to do the 5K Girls on the Run race in Corvallis. We had four girl scouts and moms running with us and I think everyone had a super time. Jessica did a great job. It was a very well run race and every detail was looked after. We will be running the second race they sponsor in August.

After the race, we headed back out to McDonald Forest and hid the girl scout boxes on the Old Growth Trail. Nine boxes crammed into a 1.3 mile loop, but we wanted all the boxes in one area, so any of the girls who wanted, could easily find them all in one outing during the summer.

After that we headed home and hung out for a bit. I got antsy waiting for mom to get here so I headed up to Finley Wildlife Refuge and did the Mill Hill Loop Hike. Another 4 mile hike that was just wonderful. It really is great to take in these hikes at different times of the day. This was my first evening hike and the birds were singing like mad. I saw several woodpeckers and lots of little rabbits. There were quail all over the place. I love this place and plan to do the Cabell Marsh walk next.

Sunday was a family barbeque to celebrate Uncle Gary's and my birthday. We had an awesome steak and chicken dinner. While we were eating I found out I didn't have to leave Sunday for Medford, so it was great to be able to sit back and relax for the evening.

TBH and the kiddos were cool enough to get me the EA Active fitness program for the WII. I had a lot of fun setting that up and getting in my first day of the thirty day challenge. It seems to be a good workout and will add some toning to my overly aerobic exercise routine.

Monday morning did find me making a mad dash to Medford for meetings on Monday and Tuesday. I did get done in time on Monday morning to do some letter boxing and more importantly to hike the Table Rocks. I did the lower table rock first and found the letterbox hidden up there. That was a little over four miles round trip. Not ready to go back to the motel yet, I drove over to the trail head to the upper table rock and decided to hike up to the top of this one as well. A pretty decent hike up to the top and then nearly another mile across the top to get to an amazing view point of the Rogue River. A little over 4.5 miles round trip for this one. My legs were feeling it by the time I got done with the second hike. I am so glad I did these hikes. After all those years of living near Medford and all the travel, I have always wanted to know what it was like on the top of those flat mountains. I am finally in good enough shape to be able to do the hikes. Better yet - I wasn't sore as a dog the next day either.

Tuesday was another early morning as we met with some great customers and headed to the woods early to look at some early season plantations. When we finished with that, I headed back up to Grants Pass to meet up with Mom and Jessica for birthday lunch and then the drive back home. Jessica was awesome enough to drive down with mom and the ride back home with me.

We decided to head up the Umpqua River and see if we could find a few letter boxes before going all the way home. We found part of an awesome series that takes you about 38 miles or so up the river. We hiked Susan Creek Falls trail and had a great time.

So - a ton of things going on.

This weekend looks to be a little more mellow. I will be trying to get in a 1/2 marathon training walk and working on the yard. Same old same old.

Now an update on miles. Working on averaging four miles a day and am right on target.

June totals to date:
Miles moved: 40.82
Calories burned: 6943

Total miles moved to date: 475.02