I finally went mtn biking

I went mountain biking today and I now I am torn - is the mountain biking better or the road riding? I feel like I live in a dream land. I rode up the mountain today - no driving required - climbed a fire road and then ripped down the funnest single track I've done all summer. Yesterday I headed up towards Mt. Ashland on the road bike, saw a hand full of cars, and was on a beautiful road. oh- the decisions.

critter damage

I ran over a squirrel on the bike path today. It darted in front of me and there was nowhere to go but right over it. I felt it crunch beneath my wheel, but amazingly the little dude got up and ran away. shhewww! However, the black widow that I found crawling around in my living room wasn't as lucky. She's smeared all over the sidewalk out front.

entry improvements

My front door was looking a little too bland. On my ride up Green Springs I saw tons and tons of roses so I was inspired to make a fall wreath. Thanks to Holly for tromping around in the mud with me to cut willow whips and rose hips!

weekend with Holly

Holly came down from Seattle to visit me this weekend. It was her b-day a month ago so I finally gave her her b-day present and I wrapped this up as a joke. I tried to keep a straight face, but I just couldn't hold it together, esp. when she started striking a pose.

Holly found Evos Coffee house - apparently all the hippies rubbed off on her because she got one of those hair deals when we went to the Gypsy Rose. It looks cute on her because there aren't nappy dreads oozing out of it. We had great weather so we went for a hike in the park. It was fun to have her here. She helped me a ton with my house too. I like it more now. I found some great madrone twigs tonight - can't wait to put them up. They smell really good!

labor of love

It is cold and rainy this week so I headed off to the Ashland farmer's market yesterday for chilies. I was disappointed that there weren't any roasted chilies there, but there was a very wide variety so I made a huge, delicious batch of green chili last night.

I wish I had my camera on my run last night. The light was so great - it was foggy, raining, but oddly very crisp and clear. Great run through Lithia Park. The rain brought a dusting of snow to the top of Grizzley Peak too. It's getting closer :)

another beautiful day in Ashland

Yesterday I went out on a locals favorite ride called the Green Springs Loop. I can see why it is a favorite. The fall color was great and the climbing was broken into 3 sections. I ended up decending the climb that I went up last week so it was nice to put some things together too.

I am getting settled and trying to get my apartment in order before Holly arrives this weekend. I am excited to see her! I have dug through all the boxes, unpacked everything and have most of it organized. It was a challenge due to the "mix up" with the movers. I have the kitchen in order and made 3 soups this weekend. It was so nice to be able to cook things that involved a bit more than a small sauce pan or or mini grill (although they weren't much more involved...baby steps ;)

job report

I just finished up my first week of work and happy to report that it was a lot of fun. This is the great view from my office - it's kind of distracting :) We had a few deadlines this week so I got to jump right into the thick of it. Interesting projects, two schools and residential redesign, at scales that I haven't worked on in a long time. Next week I"ll start working on a park project and another school project so I am looking forward to grading and getting the brain back into technical mode.

The movers arrived on Tues. and I was glad to see them. I must say though - if ever you hire movers - I would NOT recomment Avalon Van Lines. Horrible experience! Most of my furniture was damaged and things had been "repacked", i.e. boxes dumed into very large boxes so things were completely jumbled and a nightmare of a mess. To make things even more interesting, when the movers got here they told me that a few things had been "mixed up" at the warehouse so they had me on the street going through boxes asking "is this one yours? how about this one?" Needless to say, I am missing quite a few things and I inherited some others. I am just so glad to have a home base though that I am beyond caring at this point. In fact - it's kind of scarey how well I am taking it all - just completely rolling with it, laughing when I find the random stuff and thinking, gee I wonder if I'll find this or that. It's just stuff - it comes and it goes.

inaugural ride

It has been cold and rainy the past few days, but today was a perfect fall day so I took Eddie out to explore a bit. The past few days of cold brought snow to Mt. Ashland and Shasta - bring on the skiing. I discovered that there is a cross country ski area only 15 miles out of town! I rode up there today - what a deal. I went out for a short ride but still got a 9 mile sustained climb in. I back in time to play soccer this afternoon, at which I managed to pull my quad. oops! more stretching next time. I did meet another female cyclist - a mountain biker no less - at soccer tonight. I'm excited to have someone to go mountain biking with.

I start work tomorrow and the movers should be here Tuesday so it's going to be an exciting week. I am looking forward to getting back to work and to sleeping in my bed.

I've arrived

I'm here in Ashland after two liong days on the road. The sunrise was beautiful, as was the sunset. The rest of the drive was boring boring boring. The wind across WY was hideous but I did see lots of snow. It seems like I missed fall. I got to Ashland and the rains have started too. I thought the most painful part of the drive was through eastern UT. Come to find out this vastness of ugly is the Bonneville Salt Flats. The movers haven't arrived yet, so I'm just hanging out here in my empty apartment watching the TV I bought today. I am so addicted to Grey's Anatomy...what can I say.

Iowa

Dad and I went back to Iowa this weekend to visit Gram and pick up Mom and Dad's new camper. They are going RVin'. Dad and I got to check it out last night too - we camped in the Wal-mart parking lot. I didn't realize that was allowed but there were a lot of people camping there in Kearney. It wasn't the typical camping trip, but it was the first time I've ever slept in a parking lot outside of a Wal-Mart so in some funny way it was an "adventure".

We had a nice visit with Gram too. It was so nice to spend some one on one time with her. Dad went to get the camper and Gram and I hung out and talked about travels and trips, her adventures with Jessie Hill (her 100 year old friend who passed away last week), etc.

After supper we went for a drive out to the cemetary to see the new angel. It was kind of weird so the Marys thought I should see it. It's small town living - what else can I say. The sunset was beautiful! Earlier in the day we went to the house where Johnny Carson was born. It's right up the street from where Gram lives and it's the big thing that Corning is "famous" for.