Monday, July 14, 2008

Back Online!


Out in front of the camper before my lone run during vacation

Well I am back....but now in Seattle on a business trip. The good thing is that I get to continue my break from Florida's summer heat and humidity for a few more days.

Summary of the vacation:

- 14 days of camping in 3 states (PA, NY and NC) - only 3 days were really rainy during the day (all in North Carolina)

- 1 day of hiking around Bushkill Falls in PA - beautiful place!


- "Ring of Fire" on Honeoye Lake (one of the Finger Lakes) NY - on the 3rd and 4th of July folks around the lake light of flares at 9:30 pm. Great when viewed from on a boat!

- Tweetsie Railroad and Grandfather Mountain near Boone, NC - Tweetsie is not exactly a Disney theme park but fun anyway. We nearly got blown off the top of Grandfather mountain by a thunder storm.


Locked up in the Tweetsie Jail


Blown around on the top of Grandfather Mountain

- (Scottish) Highland Games on Grandfather Mountain - we explored our Scottish roots (husband's mother was a Wallace), watch large men compete throwing heavy objects, dogs hearding sheep and ducks, "Riverdance" style dancing and lots of live Celtic music. They have two road races during the games (neither of which I ran). A 5 mile race called the "Bear" which is a 5 mile run from Linville (at the bottom of Grandfather mountain) to the top of Grandfather mountain. The Games also hosts one of the most challenging marathons around - running 26.2 miles from Boone, NC to the top of Grandfather Mountain. I will stay with my flat marathons, thank you very much!

- About 3300 miles total driven getting about 12-14 mpg in our truck which was pulling the camper. Not too bad. Gas pumps won't let us fill up all the way - they tend to shut off at $75 (when it now costs about $100 to fill from empty). One casualty - a camper tire blew on the way home on Saturday. Fortunately the truck was steady and we were clear of traffic and able to maneuver to the side of the road.

- Best part - took a break from lots of things. Didn't really run (just once) during vacation. The run I did take was really nice - 3 - 1.6 mile laps around the lake at our campground (Otter Lake) in PA. After that there was little time or place to really get in a good run - and I was happy to take a break before diving into marathon training this week! Also needed some time away from blogs, twitter and podcasts - more time hanging out with the kids!! :-)

Now to catch up with everyone's blogs!!! :-)

6 comments:

Tammy said...

Great to have you back. Yes 8 miles, and you know I didn't feel to sore the next day either, but just a little tight. Need to stretch more. I'm trying to cross train a bit with biking and doing upper body stuff. Yes I got a bike :D. I adopted my father-in-law's old bike, a nice one too. I love it. (it's a 27 speed fuji it's a very nice bike ) Hopefully tommorrow I'll beable to put in a quick run, I've been getting up so early lately just running out of time.

Well Team in Training for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society requires I raise money so, I'm trying to set up something at my local food store and hopefully will get a bit more online donations. I need to raise $1800by my race. I really want to do this for all the our family members who had suffered from Leukemia it's going to be so worth it for them. Plus a close friend of Hank and I has Leukemia as well.

Thank You Chris, I owe it to all to you. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. I also want to thank all your blog buddies for all the great encouranging words.

Maddy said...

Welcome back! It sounds like you are renewed and ready to jump into marathon training!

Susan said...

Welcome back! Gosh what a trip! I bet it was amazing to unplug for so long. You deserve it!

Petraruns said...

What a great trip! Love the photos. And unplugging must have been so good for all of you. Just finished listening to your podcast about the Marine Corps Marathon - I love it. It's just fantastic and inspiring, particularly on my long runs. Thank you!

ShirleyPerly said...

Welcome back! How fortunate you are to escape the heat & humidity for so long. Great you were able to spend time with Jim and the kids. Yes, indeed, I know about Grandfather's Mtn marathon, enough to know to stay clear of it :-)

Hope things go well in Seattle. Look forward to touch base with you on your marathon training when you return.

CewTwo said...

Wow! It looks like you had a greeat time. Isn't a camping vacation fun? I loved the picture of you in the jail! The picture of the windy day by the bridge was interesting. I wouldn't have crossed that, not in that wind!

I did update the VRR chart for the end of June and just wanted to let you know!

Charlie