July 6-12 2010 – Idaho/Utah trip

Took a special trip to Utah for a baptism. Because mommy is pregnant and Emery had other commitments, it was just myself, Moriah and Brooke. We had a great time. We veered a couple hundred miles out of the way to visit Sun Valley, Idaho on the way down. I had some business to tend to. It was cool to see the place, as the last (and only) time I was there was 1987. It looks pretty different during summer! But I tell you what else, it made the trip feel SO LONG. I don’t know what it was, but man that highway seemed like it was never gonna end. The kids were troopers about the whole detour thing, and actually asked when we’ll be heading back there. I guess they really liked the hotel pool or something because man, that was a haul.

Then we headed down to Utah and were able to celebrate my father’s 76th birthday with family. We got to stay with my brother’s family for a couple nights. Man, those cousins had a blast together. I also got to see my bro’s office in downtown SLC and go to the “legacy center” for a swim with the kids. Fun times, man. Fun times.

The highlight of the trip, of course, was my niece’s baptism. It was particularly special for me because I was able to perform both ordinances. She asked me a few months before, and man what a special thing that was. I told her that I hope she writes it down in her journal and never forgets what this day was like for her. I really felt blessed to be able to a small part of that. She has a bright future ahead of her.

I had a moment of triumph on this trip. I bought an SUV a few months ago and wanted to give it a good test. I knew of a spot up on one of the mountains near Springville where you veer off the main trail and can climb a wall-like steep spot that feels straight up, then pop out on a tiny mountain top, just big enough for your vehicle. They call it the “Camels back” and has an incredible view of Mapleton and Springville. I had to try, so I grabbed my dad and my bro-in-law and we headed up the canyon. The road is very bumpy and has some rough terrain, but nothing too bad. Then you get to the turn-off spot and see the “wall” you’re about to climb. Two 4x4’s were at the bottom, drivers talking to each other, seemingly lamenting that they couldn’t get up the hill. But I was not deterred. I had come this far, I had to try. We got up half-way just flooring it in AWD. But then it literally stopped moving because the power was totally sapped. Not because it lost traction, but because the engine couldn’t push us up that steep of an incline. Wow. You look out the windshield and all you see is sky. It feels like you’re pointed straight up. I knew if I tried to go backwards it might get even uglier, so I had a moment of adrenaline. I could tell that even my even-keeled dad was looking at me with wide-eyes, internally cursing the predicament. Later, he said he thought we were gonna fall off the side of the hill. I also learned that many a vehicle has rolled off from that spot. Yikes. But I was not doubting. I threw the transmission in first gear and locked it in 4WD (has to be in 1st to lock, otherwise it’s in AWD). Gave it some gas. We rocked a bit, and with some real engine-revving effort, we hopped right out of the spot and climbed the remaining 100 feet or so. When we got to the top, I was in awe. Jumped out, ran to the front of the rig and saw what would have been a great advertisement photo. Sitting there, on top of the rocky mountains, having just conquered a tough climb. I was impressed. We spent the next 15 minutes or so looking over the view of the towns below. Really cool moment. And we made it down the mountain without tumbling. That was a bonus, too.

We also got to spend a couple nights at grandma and grandpa’s house. Got to play some hoops with my bro-in-law. Introduced the game “Tip 21” to him. Pretty fun game…I can play that game for hours and hours and not get tired of it. (In fact, that’s just what I did during many of my teenage years. But I digress.) This trip reminded me again how cool our family is and that there’s a reason we make all the effort to maintain family relationships, even (or especially) from afar.

A last note: The return trip from Utah to Portland always seems so much shorter to me. Of course, you gain an hour coming back, so during the summer you can do the whole trip during daylight. And the Idaho detour made the trip there seem much longer. But there’s something else. It just seems so much shorter heading home than it does going there. Lots of reasons, I suppose, but I still always am amazed at the phenomenon. Time for some forensics!

June 16 2010 – Emery’s birthday

Wow. Emery is 10. She had a fun “Friends only” party, which meant I had to keep the other sisters contained while they par-tay. Her big gift this year? Two holes in her head. That’s right, she got her ears pierced. Growing up. Wow. Sometimes I look at her, see how big she’s getting and can’t believe it’s been that long since she was little. Gotta enjoy it while they’re around, ‘cause something tells me the next decade will speed by as well.

My buns get scared

We're horsing around with the kids yesterday and 6-yr old Brooke looks at a scratch on my hand. She gets a concerned look on her face and says: "Daddy, whenever I look at someone's ouwy, my buns get scared." I respond: "Your buns get scared?" (glancing at Melissa with a smirk) "What do you mean, sweetie?" "Well, I look at someone's ouwy and I don't like it, so my buns go "ccghtt" (gesturing with both hands clinching) "You mean your buns tighten up?" "Yeah, they get real tight."

Couldn't contain the laughter at that point. So we concluded that she sees someone hurt and feels compassion on their pain and her physiological reaction is to tighten her cheeks. Now that's something I'd not heard before. What a sweetheart.

6/5/2010 - Run for the Roses

Ran the Sherwood 10k Saturday morning. Absolutely perfect weather for a race. Sunny and cool. 8:00 am start time. No excuses. Since I haven't run the 10k distance in the past, I didn't know what to expect, but hoped to beat my previous PR of 6:52 mile splits, which would put me somewhere under 43 minutes overall. I reached those goals, as I finished with 41:21 overall time, running 6:40 mile splits. I'm happy with that. Turns out I was 9th place overall out of 139 participants. But boy, every time I run one of these, I think to myself: "why am I doing this? This is so unpoleasant!" I think, for me, it's the build-up, training, performance and feeling of accomplishment. The overall challenge to see what this body can do. There just seems to be some competitive dude inside me that likes to get out there, push hard through the pain to see what the outcome can be. And hey, I got 3rd in my age division (males 30-39), which was good enough to win a glass and a ribbon. What's better than that?
A really cool thing about this event was that the route ran right behind our house, so Melissa was able to snap these photos while I passed them. You can see Moriah's outstretched hand giving me a high-five in the first shot above. That was a cool moment. Ironically, this was also the moment the guy behind me (who I was trying to KEEP behind me) was able to pass me (you can see him on the road on the right side of the first picture above). C'mon, bro! In front of the family?!? Have you no respect!? I'm celebrating with my kid! I spent the rest of the race trying to catch up to him, but wasn't able to catch 'em. Punk. (kidding)

6/4/2010 - 33rd Birthday

Wow. I'm 33 now. Well...could be worse...guess I could be 34! (kidding, future self reading this wishing I was still 34) The family made a special breakfast complete with Melissa's famous high-protein pancakes and homemade fresh blueberry syrup (awesome). The picture here says it all. They gave me a basketball rebounder I've been wanting (so I can stand there and shoot for hours with minimal ball retrieval). They also got me some clothes and to top it all off, we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. Birthdays are cool, but families are cooler.

5/31/2010 - Oregon Coast trip

We took the family out to the coast for the memorial day weekend. Stayed in a condo at “Otter Crest” (in between Depoe Bay and Newport) for 3 nights and really enjoyed the Oregon coast in a different way than I ever have. It’s usually a quick day trip or an overnight campout when I head to the coast, so it was cool to spend a fair amount of time there, especially with the family together. The resort had a pool on a cliff overlooking the ocean, so that made it pretty cool.

We swam in the pool, spent time on the beach, went to church in Lincoln City, drove my new SUV out on the beach near Pacific City and even got to try out my new wetsuit in the ocean water. WOW. The wetsuit makes the Oregon beach experience so much more enjoyable. Even though the water is 55 degrees or so, it felt totally comfortable in the wetsuit. Only one problem, though. There was a shark lurking not too far away from me. Literally, you look out and the fin kept circling just a hundred feet or so away. The picture shown here is for real, there was a shark right there! I couldn’t believe it. So, needless to say, I didn’t go out very far and I got out of the water pretty quickly. But I was in just enough to know that having a wetsuit at the Oregon coast is pretty darned cool.
We also got to experience the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. I’ve heard of this place all my life, but had never actually been there. They have done a great job, allowing the public to see sea lions, otters, sharks, etc. Probably the coolest thing there is the shark tunnels. There are 3 of them in the attraction and they do not disappoint. Some of the coolest looking sharks are literally swimming right over your head while you walk through. Really cool. The kids also got to touch some live starfish and other sea creatures. Moriah really wanted to see an alligator, and they had a few, and even one to touch/pet. They had a huge display of reptiles this time, so we saw so many different kinds of snakes that they all started looking similar! I would say the most peculiar creature there (to me, of course) is the jellyfish. What an odd creature. No eyes, no brain, and no central nervous system. But really cool to look at. Just don’t touch!

We had a blast at the coast this weekend. 3 days was just about right. It also reminded how cool the place where we live truly is.

5/22/2010 - Vancouver Lake Mock Triathlon

I was able to run in the 2008 Vancouver Lake mock triathlon put on by the PTC (Portland Triathlon Club). Weather conditions were not encouraging as I drove up to the ‘couv at 6:30 in the morning. Temperature gage stayed right around 44 degrees, meaning hopping into a cold lake (fed by the Columbia River) might not be very pleasant. They did some clinics on each general phase of triathlon (swim, transition, bike, run, nutrition). Well done and well worth the time. So, then it was time to dawn the wetsuit and hop in the water. The skies were threatening rain, but not much had really fallen yet. Did a mini warm-up in the water and it was time to rock.

SWIM: As we began, I was reminded how different race day is from training doing laps in the pool at the gym. I was toward the front of the pack, so there was a lot of body contact (arms and legs hitting each other, people swimming over other swimmers, etc). I was glad it wasn’t a real race, and I was also glad I did it because it reminded me of what to prepare for on race day. In the water, I also had some minor ‘panic’ type moments. Not severe enough to actually stop swimming, but I definitely found myself constantly popping my head out of the water to take in my bearings and assess the best path where I would not be hitting other swimmers’ bodies. I really never found that path until the end, so I ended up very uncomfortable and really felt like I was in ‘survival mode’ most of the time. Even though this was a very short swim (600 yard or so), I just didn’t want to imagine going on for a longer distance. I don’t think the panic was due to cold temperature, although that must have had some affect on me. I think it was just the overall banging into other swimmers and trying to sight where I was trying to go. Basically, all of the technique stuff I’ve been working on: out the window. It was survival time. It made me very inefficient, but I stayed alive and got out of the water ready to tackle the bike. All-in-all, the swim was rough, but very good to have experienced to prep me for future races.

BIKE: As we got out of the water and transitioned to bike gear, I found myself dizzy, which is very unusual for me. Interesting, even in a mock situation, the adrenaline is pumping and the body is trying to adjust after being in the water. Once I was on the bike, the rain began…and I mean it started to pour. One great thing: I was borrowing a friends road bike (not my mtn. bike), so I felt lightning fast. Since this was not a timed event, I had one simple way of gauging my progress: how many people passed me, and how many people I pass. I can happily say not one person passed me, but I passed many folks on the bike. I think the rain conditions made people a little more tentative, so I was able to make up some ground. I really enjoyed the bike leg, as it was a beautiful setting on a country road next to the Columbia river. Very flat, and I felt like I was flying since I was on a bike much faster than my mtn. bike (which I love, btw – but is not made for road racing).

RUN: The run was a nice combo of trail and country road setting, and relatively uneventful for me. I tried to count the folks ahead of me and I believe I finished around ninth or so overall in the sprint distance. My stopwatch read 1 hour, 26 minutes at the finish. Nice thing was, after the bike leg, the sun came out, so the group had a nice BBQ lunch set up for us at the finish. The photo shown here is one of the BBQ’ers cursing the rain during the event, but it turned out to be pretty nice in the end. Unfortunately, they had to set up during the worst weather. Interestingly, the rain hit hard again as I drove home, so it would seem the clouds parted for some nice sun just for us.

This was a really cool event and I look forward to participating in the future. A great way to start out the triathlon season.