Labor Day

It's a long weekend.  Time to get the girls in the truck and head for some "I'm sorry I was gone last weekend" make-up time.

Have a great long weekend and we'll be back next week!

Murphy's Day.

I Love Oregon

One reason I love Oregon is dogs can go on the beach.

We were here last November, in the pouring rain.  Dogs ran on the beach.

It would have been nuts to try this, but it also would have been fun to have had the girls meet me at the end...a nice beach romp would have been fun!

Murphy's Day.

Chaos

I always thought the definition of chaos was being owned by three labs.

I have a new one: over 1100 teams, 2000 vans, 13200 runners, all trying to get to the same place as fast as they can, on no sleep and very little food.

Murphy's Day.

Sleep

Part of the Hood to Coast race is trying to sleep.  You and your team relay over 198 miles in around 24 hours.

Which, needless to say, is very very very difficult.  In fact, I probably slept less than 1 hour from Friday to Saturday night (no, I am not in training to be in the Special Ops forces).  And ran over 16 miles...

And the girls are wondering why I am not getting out of bed at 4:30 AM this morning....

Murphy's Day.

I Am Alive But The Girls Seem Mad

So after running like I was insane...I finally got home and the girls seemed mad I was gone...

They didn't quite "get" Hood to Coast.

Murphy's Day.

Good Luck Mommie

And I am off....

Hopefully I still have knees on Sunday.

Murphy's Day.

Missing

I am already missing the girls, and I haven't even left.

Murphy's Day.

Two More Days

Some of you may know this, but in two days I leave to run Hood to Coast.

198 miles.

11 other team members.

Each of us run three legs.

I will be dead by Saturday night.

And it's the first time in years I have left the dogs for two nights.

Oh dear.

Murphy's Day.

Exploring

Really, there is nothing better for a lab than exploring.  As long as they know they are safe (Mom was just down the creek a bit) they love to "nose around."

Murphy's Day.

Still Reveling in Vacation

It's been over a week since we have been home and we're still reveling in our time away.  Even though we had to work, actually quite a bit, we found time to do some great things.

One was a hike to Lake Valhalla.

And it was.

Particularly for the girls.

What is not to like for them?  Water, time together, a long hike.

Murphy's Day.

Willa

Willa loved her time away from the city.

She ran like a crazy dog whenever she felt.

She played with her sisters.

And at night she crashed.

It did not get much better for her.

And that made me happy.

If you're having as much fun as your dog....

And I was.

Murphy's Day.

And the Reason I Love Eastern Washington

What a week.  The dogs romped.  And I got outside.

To this.

What is not to like?

Murphy's Day.

Spider Meadows

One of the hikes we did was Spider Meadows.  13 miles roundtrip.  Long and beautiful day.

Gave me a chance to remember Doug.  Douglas Mason.  A wonderful man who died way too young.  Whose passions were changing the world though the political process and mountain climbing.

I was married to him.  He died way too young.

The start of having dogs in my life was because of Doug.  We had this Airedale together, Alex.  Who was with me as a grieved.

As were Riley, Murphy...and as are Sage, Annie Oakley and Willa.

When you love someone, grief never leaves your heart.

Spider Meadows.  A long hike.  Marmots.  Wildflowers.  The mountain stream.  The mountains.  The people we met.

Murphy's Day.

The Hiker

So, on vacation, we went on four hikes.  Several of them quite long and on very hot days.

Willa loves it!  Running ahead, checking out all the smells.  She is totally a hiking dog.

Sage and Annie did really well, except on the last hike Sage decided she had enough and stayed back at the house.

Great time!

Murphy's Day!

What is Not to Love About Vacation?

Ok, more details later...but lots of fly fishing, hiking, fireworks (thanks to amazing lightening storms), great food, and did I mention the dogs are oh-so very happy?

We're back.

And in serious training for Hood to Coast.  Less than two weeks!

Murphy's Day!