15k SOB

Gene and I signed up for the 15k Siskiyou Outback Trail Run. We decided after not finishing our last race to try something a little more manageable.

We have trained harder in some ways, and yet we had not as many endurance type runs, so I was nervous about the race.

There were two races being run that day. The 50k which took off at 7am and the 15k which began at 8:30am.

We arrived an hour and half early and the wind was blowing pretty good and making it very cool. I wished I had slipped some training pants on over my shorts and even considered wearing my jacket, but I knew once I got moving I would be warm.

We took off running and ran quite a ways before I began to walk up some of the steeper areas. Soon I found myself quite off the pace of most of the field. The scenery was beautiful. At one place you come out onto a meadow with Mount Shasta in the distance ahead of you and Pilot Rock off to the side. Of course one cannot spend much time appreciating the view as the trail requires you to pay attention for rocks and roots. After coming up the steepest part of the trail I found Gene and a photographer waiting for me to get up there. Gene took off again and when I rounded the next bend I saw him getting up after taking a fall.

At the turn around we headed downhill on a mountain road. We ran for quite a distance. As we neared the finish line I waited to hear our names called. Over the loud speaker I hear "We have the first of our 50k finishers coming in! It is a new course record! Erik Skaggs has completed the 50k in 3 hours and 39 minutes!"

Erik rushed quickly by us and all attention was on him (rightly so). A woman placed medals around our neck and after some time our names were announced.

I congratulated Mr. Skaggs and then told him "way to steal my thunder". (I think he wondered who the crazy lady was.)

It was a great race and it was great to experience the thrill of victory instead of the agony of defeat.

July 4

We spent July 4 with family and friends at our place, as usual. Chase called the day before, because he was going backpacking and would not be able to call us on his birthday.


While we were out front watching the fireworks, our neighbors grandson, Kallen was there. As I watched him interacting with his parents and grandparents I missed my own little boy.


I recently read a quote: "When raising young kids remember: The days are long, but the years are short." - Jennifer B., Mission Viejo, CA

So true.

Sharna's Daddy was taking her fishing....

For Sharna's birthday Eric surprised her with a trip to their friends cabin on Lake Siltcoos on the Oregon coast between Reedsport and Florence. The cabin is situated such that one can only get to it by boat. Sharna and Eric traveled down on Friday night and invited Gene and I to join them on Saturday. It was a very nice, low key weekend.

We fished a little, with Gene catching the only fish. The fish was what the consummate fisherman Victor calls a hog (the bait was almost as big as the fish).

After fishing for a while Sharna and I tooled around the lake the in little boat and Eric prepared a nice dinner. I had brought along a cheesecake I had baked for her birthday. I need to perfect my cheesecake baking skills, as I was not impressed with the result.

Later that night we watched a little racoon venturing around to see if we would break the house rules and throw it some food. No comment.

We hiked a bit the next day. I wanted to hike to a secluded beach that is supposed to be littered with sand dollars, but it involved wading across a river which we had not prepared to do, so we will have to hit that hike another time.

Happy 29th birthday Sharshee! (and good job Eric).

LA Visit

Catching up on some of my blogging....

Last month we went to LA and picked up Arlene for a visit. While there we stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in Valencia (thanks to the great price I got on Priceline.com). Gene and I checked in on a Friday and the next morning we jogged through the neighborhood. It was very nice (although a bit tricky getting from our hotel to the sidewalk), but once on the sidewalks they were wide and had large parking strips to keep you away from the ever present traffic. After jogging I went for a swim and then we head to....you guessed it....Cupid's. We bought our tradition three dogs and enjoyed them sitting on the tailgate of the pickup (so Gene could enjoy his with a beer). Then we went to Olivera Street - a shopping area reminiscent of Tiajuana. We bought some margharita glasses and a couple of trinkets for the girls. Then we went to an outdoor Mexican restaurant and enjoyed a nice lunch, complete with Cervasa (not sure if that is the correct spelling) and Margharita and a couple of gentlemen playing guitars and singing Mexican songs. It was very nice. We picked up Debbie and went to Arlene and Juan's place. Jen was there with Tony. That evening Ingrid, Juan's girlfriend came home and her mother came over with a delicious soup. Juan showed us photos of the trip he and Ingrid had taken to Guatamala, where Ingrid was born. What an awsome place to visit!

The next morning, Gene and I hiked up Towsley canyon. There were quite a few people hiking and parts of the trail were quite steep. When first taking off, there is quite a bit of noise from the freeway. Then, not too far in, the path curves around the back of the mountain and there is only the blessed sounds of nature. It is amazing how nice it is the not hear traffic. I wonder how often Angelinos go somewhere where they are not continuously bombarded with noise. I was feeling pretty good about my progress up the hill, then I see a woman wearing ankle weights! Talk about shooting a person down. To climb while purposely adding additional weight!!! On the way down, we pass a group of people hiking down the hill, having obviously taken the same route as us, but one of the young women has a baby about 5 months old tied to the front of her! Again I was amazed at the strength some people exhibit. (the baby's father was carrying her hat - way to pitch in).

We finished our hike, showered, and went to Juan's. Gene and Juan went golfing and Debbie, Arlene and I went to Jen's and then went downtown. We went to a very busy restaurant - Portas. It is not the type of place I would normally have frequented, and the large crowd was a bit intimidating for me (and for Arlene), however Jen professed "That is how you know it is good!" She was right, the food was very good, and I realized that I has never thought of it in that way - usually if there is a large crowd and it will be difficult to get a table, I leave and find somewhere else. We shopped for a while and I bought Sharna and Kylie purse hooks. We stopped back by Portas on our way back to Jen's and bought a raspberry cheesecake that Arlene had been impressed by. It was very delicious. Gene and Juan met us at Jen's and we hung out. While taking Debbie back we had her take us by the dragon house, which Gene and I had tried on previous trips to find from vague directions provided by Debbie and by Juan. I teased Debbie that the proof would be in the pudding, because her directions in the past had not taken us to the right place, but of course she lead us right there. She knows San Fernando like the back of her hand. That night we went to the Elephant Bar in Valencia.

On Monday we went to Ikea and visited a bit more with the family and had dinner that night at Chili's.

All in all a nice trip south.