road trip

This weekend was the Avenue of the Giants Half Marathon in Humboldt, California. The first leg was a four hour ride to my sister's house in Chico to drop off Princesses 1 and 2. P. #2 assumed her best car riding position about 30 minutes in. (Notice the candy sedation piled up on her chest.) I was grateful to be in warm weather again. My sister the PhD is a wonderful warm person who loves, loves LOVES little kids. It was so great to see her again. Her dh came home with huge bunches of her favorite flowers, sweet peas. We all just reveled in them.














Friday night we went out for fish tacos for Cinco de Mayo. After that we walked around the little college town. At 8 pm it was still warm as toast outside. Just the right weather for this.
A very very delicious ice cream sandwich. Of course there were other options...
The perfect end to our day. And the next morning, it was On The Road Again....another four hours to the coast.

It was 5 North, then Hwy 20 East for about 72 miles. 20 is a remarkably pretty highway, as they go. I saw lots of beautiful farmland, acres and acres of untouched green hills dotted with cattle, horses, big old barns, and then I spotted HIM:
What a cute guy! There was construction on the highway and as traffic piled up, he got curiouser and curiouser....then couldn't help coming over for a closer look. Note to self: I need a llama. What's not to love!? Unfortunately I think it may be too late for Mother's Day, but hey, a girl can dream.

From 20 east I picked up 101 North. Now things got REALLY interesting. Take this dude for example:
Rolling green hills gave way to dense forest. Such fabulous attractions popped up: The One Log House, the Tree House, the Grandfather Tree, the Drive Through House...all designed to make money off of the natural wonder that are Redwoods. 800 year old trees are common here, as big around as my car but 100 times more beautiful. Burls, carvings, whirligigs and souvenirs abounded. I resisted but did enjoy communing with my old favorite myth (above). I think he's a keeper!

And Sunday morning, the Big Event. We gathered at 7 am for the 9:00 start. This particular race was more low tech than most, despite being a Boston Marathon Qualifyer (no, not me, but it's nice of you to ask.) They postponed the start for ten minutes because they were worried not everyone was there! It was sweet.














All psyched up and ready to roll (right). The course was amazing. Cool and shady the entire way, passing enormous trees, thick with moss and tiny yellow redwood sorrel flowers. As the canopy here is still intact, the forest floor is clear of the dense prickly shrub and poison oak that chokes much of our land at home.

I ran and ran and ran...13.1 miles to be exact. 3 hours, 1 minute and 33 seconds later I was done. I raised $2200.00 for Leukemia and Lymphoma research, stayed fit and made lifelong friends. All in all, a season well done.

And a message for all of you; you know who you are.
And soon, I PROMISE....something about knitting or crafting. Which I will have to do at night since the weather is just too gorgeous to stay inside.