Thoughts On My First 10K

Everyone who has run knows that its most important value is in removing tension and allowing a release from whatever other cares the day may bring. ~Jimmy Carter

Hi Friends,

 Hope this Summer is shaping up to be everything you hoped it would be. Our days are always pretty exciting in July. We take our week off to get away, travel to Oregon and enjoy some of what we think Summer is all about. This year I have been trying to shed a few pounds and act as much NOT my age as possible.

While making plans for my adventures I work around the family time Brenda needs with her family, so I tend to make plans that can be changed easily or that really are right off the top of my head.

This year I Googled about the best runs around Medford and Ashland to see what popped up. I was leaning towards a different run every day. What intrigued me most from my search was the Ashland 4th of July 5K and 10K runs. It seemed to have all the coolio things I enjoy... running, Ashland, The 4th of July ... it might be a perfect solution to my activity calendar. After signing up online and paying my fee I was stoked for the 4th to arrive so the games could begin.

We got to Medford and I explored some running routes around the in-laws house that sounded fun. I actually got mentally lost a couple times and decided to make my short runs into longer, whats that around the corner runs. It was great.

The 4th finally arrived and I got up early for my first 10K. I was really excited and left the house before  anyone else opened even one eye. I wanted to get to Ashland early to see the little town wake up and get a good parking spot. By the time I arrived runners were already warming up by running up and down Main Street. Folks were pinning their bibs on and swapping stories too. The serious runners toed the line and the gun sounded about 7:45 AM and we were off. I had no plans to win or even compete in this race so I settled in to a spot that kept me out of the way and hoped that I would not clip anyones heels as we made our way down Main Street. Then we turned and what we got next was one of the greatest tours of Ashland you could ever get. Down we ran, passed little homes with beautiful yards in a area of town I had never seen before. It was an Oasis of green fields, streams and small streets. This must be what heaven is like. We made our way to the Bear Creek Greenway and ran back towards downtown along the creek for a few minutes. Then we started climbing the hills back towards downtown.  The town had come alive since we left with families and parade entrants lining up for the 4th of July parade. It was great to turn onto Main Street again and see all those smiling faces.

As I made my way down the final stretch of the run, I remembered someone telling me that you always run as hard as you can as you get near the finish. Not because you are winning, or even among the finishers. But because you will always remember the joy of pushing hard for the finish and the thrill of running hard those last few blocks. I did and it was great! I even managed to find a picture of me running towards the end, having the time of my life.

I finished near the bottom of my class, but what a wonderful day. I am already making plans to be in Ashland next year for the 4th of July run and maybe staying for the parade that follows. Many thanks to Ashland for letting me run around like a wild man in your little town and not calling the police. Also many thanks to the organizers of the run for making me feel so comfortable.

Peace, Love and Bliss,

Don

Carmel Country Inn Review

Hi Friends and Family,

Still getting together all the videos and photo's from our Anniversary trip to Carmel. Wow, we took a bunch of photo's and just as much video.

In this post we thought we would share with you a wonderful place to stay in Carmel, just in case you are thinking about spending a few days there.

The Carmel Country Inn was a great oasis for us during our anniversary adventure in May. Brenda had made the reservations for us well in advance with our primary concern being someplace that would take our puppies and us together. It was a bonus for us when we found this beautiful Bed and Breakfast that charmed us with it's beauty and loves animals as much as we do. It is right in the middle of everything too. Just a short walk and you are in the heart of Carmel and all the neat little shops and restaurants. The ocean is just a few blocks away. You will be there in just a few minutes walking or a couple minutes if you need to drive.

We were in room #2 on the ground floor right next to the office. The steps leading to the room were lined with flowers and garden art that give this place it personality. It seemed like everything was in bloom. as we approached the room we thought for sure we had made a mistake, as the front door appeared to be opened. After checking with the office we learned they had opened the top half of the Mr Ed door to let the fresh air into the room in expectation of our arrival. Now that was charming, we loved the Mr Ed door!

The room we had was roomy with a gas fired fireplace and love seat as you enter. A King size bed promises a good nights sleep with beautiful linens to make it even more comfy. We love the fact that they ask for quiet time from about 9:00 pm till morning.

My favorite was the huge (really huge) bath tub with jets in all the right places. I did say huge didn't I? This was so big, when I got into it I could not reach the end with my feet. It was deep too. The bathroom was decorated in stone that set a very relaxing mood, and it had plenty of nice, fluffy towels and a vanity. The only thing missing was a nice candle or two to make it complete.

We love our dogs and travel everywhere with them. It was so nice to find that our new friends at the Carmel Country Inn loved dogs too. Actually they love all animals as evidenced by the resident cats that live at the inn. We were allowed to roam all over the inn's grounds and not even once got the evil eye that we sometimes get when we travel.

We really enjoyed our stay at the Carmel Country Inn and thank the entire staff for making us feel so comfortable. If you are planning a trip to Carmel,CA please give them a call and see if room number 2 is available. Bring your dogs along, after all they are part of your family. They will enjoy the Carmel Country Inn too.

As always, we took a short video of our stay at the Carmel Country Inn. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Peace, Love and Bliss

Don & Brenda
Rusty & Peppy Too!

Another Medford Style 4th of July

Hi Friends,

We are on vacation and have journeyed to Medford, Oregon to celebrate the 4th of July in style.

At home the powers that be will lock you up for even talking about fireworks including sparklers. In Medford we discovered last year that they have this agreement with the residents called, "Safe and Sane Fireworks." There are these amazing fireworks superstores set up around town that sell approved fireworks, and let me tell you the approved fireworks are great. During the 2009 4th we bought $35.00 worth of the bombs and had a great time. This year we spent ... well let's just say more the $35.00 we spent last year as the credit card bill has not yet made it's way to Brenda. We got Brenda's brother Danny involved this year so the fun meter was even higher.

We bought all our fireworks on Saturday and we all found it hard to actually wait until Sunday night to launch into the fun. By Sunday morning we were all wanting to just test a few to see what we had. But we managed to last until dusk, but just until dusk before we started with the small stuff.

The neighborhood Bonnie, Danny and Ashley live in is very active on the 4th of July. I took a walk around the little community about 3 pm and found the neighbors already putting chairs and coolers outside their garages in preparation for the evening fun. What a neat place to live! Some of the families had blocked off entire blocks and were playing in the streets with their kids and anyone else that came by. So cool.

We had a blast with our fireworks. We managed to get about an hour and half of excitement out of them and then took a stroll around the neighborhood again because the neighbors found a source for those fireworks you weren't supposed to have. The fireworks they had would have Disney proud. They launched about 100 to even 200 feet into the sky and were amazing to watch. Many were single tubes launched from the street, but many were in boxes (cakes) that launched multiple shells in short shows. It was really great and we had so much fun.

By 11:30pm the last of the neighborhood fireworks were launched and we were back trying to calm the dogs down. They must have thought the World was ending they were so upset. We took a couple of videos to capture the evening and share with you. Hope we will be back here next year again on the 4th. Already trying to find a source for one of those boxes (cakes) of fireworks to light off for the evening. So far no luck, but I have a whole year to locate them.

Until next time ....

Peace, Love and Bliss,

Brenda & Don (and Ashley too)

Our Disneyland Adventure Photo's Are Here!

Hi Friends & Family,

I have finally transferred our vacation pictures to one album so we can share them. Okay this may be self serving and really boring to many, but we are those family members that will invite you over then spend the whole evening showing you slides from all of our vacations.

So enjoy these now and it will be a lot easier for you later ..

Peace, Love and Bliss,

Don & Brenda

Our Matterhorn Adventure

Hi Friends and Family,

On the first day of our vacation (Monday) at Disneyland we rode the Matterhorn bobsleds and had a really great ride. The crowds were light all week and that mixed with perfect weather made the experience even better.

More video of our Matterhorn ride on Monday ...

Peace, Love and Bliss

Our Disneyland Adventure "Tender Ride"

Hi Friends and Family,

As we get them we are sharing our videos and photo's from our latest adventure. This trip took us to Disneyland and we had an amazing time. One highlight was a ride on the Disneyland Railroad right up front on the tender. I have wanted to ride up there for years and for one reason or another have not been able to get this wish granted. This trip we made a point of checking to see if the tender rides were available and then waiting until the right train came through at the right time. One bonus I did not think about was that 2 can ride on the tender and I thought just one seat was available. This was great as I can now share this memory with Brenda forever.

Brenda asked the best questions on this ride and I pretty much sat there with my mouth open. Oh well I had been looking forward to this for so long, just never thought to get a couple questions ready to ask.

If you get a chance to take the "tender ride" on the Disneyland Railroad, make the extra effort to hop right up there with the engineer and fireman, you will never forget it.

Peace, Love and Bliss..

Don & Brenda

A Slideshow of Our $35.00 Fireworks Spectacular

Hi Friends,

Well it seems we spent much of our time shooting off little sparklers and not as much time taking pictures during our fireworks spectacular. But at any rate here is a short slide show with the photo's we did manage to get. We are already planning to do it again next year but maybe with a bigger budget this time...maybe $45.00. Wow, the thought just sends chills up my spine (is it up or down your spine?).

Get your ooh's and aah's ready here goes...

Much Love,

Don & Brenda

Smores!

Hi Friends,

Just looking at some of the pictures we took this vacation, and founf this coolio shot of one of the smores we made our last night at the coast.

I'll tell ya' the taste of smores is one of those little pleasures that we too quickly forget.

These were awesome!

Still on the road ...

Brenda, Don and Ashley Too!

No Agenda 2009 Checking Out the Beaches

Hi Friends,

Wow, Friday and we are really enjoying every minute of this vacation. Today we checked out of our Hotel ready to travel back to Medford. But the way I look at it, going from one place to another in a straight line is boring. So this morning we turned left instead of right and checked out the Port of Gold Beach to explore the driftwood piles and look for coolio rocks and such.

Then we traveled in the other direction and checked out the amazing beaches by Pistol River. Beautiful huge rocks are standing in the Ocean and make picture taking a breeze. It is one of the most beautiful places we have ever been and could spend days there just wandering along looking at the nature and all this wonderful place has to offer.

Then it was away from the coast and the mild 60 to 70 degree days and back through the redwoods to Medford and a 102 degree afternoon. Quite a contrast.

Tomorrow we will check out the 4th of July festivities in Medford before heading home.

Took a bunch of pictures again. Posted them to our Picasa page (I am really starting to think Picasa is the greatest) huge storage space for our pictures for free. Thanks Google! Here is the link to the pictures if you want to check them out.

Have a Coolio 4th of July!!

Don, Brenda & Ashley Too!!

'No Agenda' Gold Beach Vacation Day Three

Hi Friends,

We have been lounging around Gold Beach, watching the sun set and the fog roll in and out and collecting rocks.

Today we went for a beach horseback ride and it was a blast. We rented three horses and Hawks Rest Stables and were joined by a guide to take us out on the sand dunes along the Pacific Ocean. The fog was still lingering along the coast but the air was mild with almost no wind. The downside was it was only a 90 minute ride and we really wanted to stay out longer. The upside was ... we were riding our horses along the Pacific Ocean and we were not at work!

After the ride we went to the port and had lunch with Danny and Bonnie. The food at The Port Hole Cafe was average but tasty and the views were grand. The luch was topped off with ice cream sundae's in the art lounge.

Then we piled into the car and went to the ocean to collect some driftwood and rocks and watch the seals play. With the fog and the waves it was very relaxing. We probably could have stayed there all day without getting tired of the views.

We still want to go play in the tide pools tomorrow, to check out all the little critters that live on the rocks and are visible when the tides are low.

Okay, back to the vacation. There are bunch of photo's on out Picasa page if you want to check them out.

Peace & Love,

Don & Brenda and Ashley Too!

Our 'No Agenda' Vacation 2009

Hi Friends,

We made it to Gold Beach on Tuesday afternoon and checked in to our Hotel. It was a great ride and we are comfy in our room.

It was warm and clear but just a bit windy when we got here, so walks were sorta like walking in a sand blaster. No problem we walked a bit and watched the Sunset from the balcony of our room.

The Ocean is amazing and we are looking forward to exploring some more today and tomorrow. But we have no agenda and will take what each day presents us.

You can check out our photo's on the Picasa page here if you want.

Peace & Love,

From ... Brenda & Don and Ashley Too.