Slowing down...

Since we moved to Tahoe two and a half years ago, we have been going non-stop.  We have been constantly adventuring in this area and we've come to know it pretty well (we think).  While there is still SO much to see and do here (and many are things that we haven't done at all yet), lately it seems we have been slowing down a bit.  We haven't been going on long crazy road trips or exciting new adventures lately.  Thus, the reason I haven't had many things to post about and my posts have seriously been lacking pictures lately.

I'm definitely not sad to have things slow down.  In fact, I feel like life is a bit more "normal."  And even though we haven't had many new adventures with pictures and stories of new places, we have still be getting out and enjoying Tahoe and all it has to offer.

With my half marathon rapidly approaching, I've wanted to stay in Tahoe every weekend recently so that I could do a training run with friends.  That has been tremendously helpful but definitely limits our traveling. In addition to running more (only on the weekends though... can't seem to get motivated for solo runs during the work week), we've been doing a lot of mountain biking.  I'm starting to really love mountain biking thanks in part to my new "big wheel" bike and also to my persistence of sticking with the sport even though it made me want to cry and/or puke.

We have a go pro and we have a nice camera that we should be taking on bike rides to get some footage for the blog BUT, we just can't seem to get motivated to take it out of the bag and turn it on.  Crazy right?  Also, we kinda make fun of people wearing go pros when they're only riding easy trails.  It just seems like in order to wear a go pro you should be a redbull sponsored athlete doing super awesome stunts.  I know that previous statement is not true... but it seems that way to me.

Saturday morning we planned to do a 20ish mile mountain bike ride.  Pretty far by mountain biking standards.  We woke up to bright blue skies but an 80% chance of rain for the day.  Deciding not to risk getting stuck in a storm, we opted for a much more popular and therefore crowded trail system, but at least if the weather turned bad we knew we could get back to the truck quickly because it would be ALL downhill.

We climbed 2700 vertical feet to the top of Armstrong Pass.  I burned 1700 calories.  It took us roughly 3 hours to get to the top (maybe a little less, I'm not 100% sure and we did make a few stops along the way to rest/eat a snack, etc).  And it only took an hour or less to get back to the car.  It was 17 miles roundtrip and I carried a go pro and camera in my backpack the whole way but only took one picture (while I was waiting on Mike to make some adjustments to his bike).  Lame.  I gotta get better at taking some pictures/videos.  Sorry.

We hit up Subway to refuel on our way home, made a quick stop at the store for a few things, then back to the house to shower and relax.  We made grilled tuna steak sandwiches and salad for dinner and sat drinking a beer while the 80% chance of rain FINALLY rolled in!  We even got a few rumbles of thunder.  It was awesome.

Sunday morning I woke up at 6:30 for a 10 mile run that I REALLY didn't feel like doing.  But, I dragged myself out of bed, had some coffee, texted my friend who agreed to a long run, and eventually got myself out of the house.  We walked up Old Meyer's Grade which is a steep 1.5 miles up (no idea how much elevation gain but it FEELS like a lot), then we ran down... twice.  So there's 6 miles.  Then, we ran through the relatively flat neighborhood nearby for an additional 4.2 miles.  Luckily, we have a friend who lives nearby so we stopped in to top off our water bottles (thank again LeeAnn).  I've gotta say: it was a particularly brutal run.  I'm not sure if it was so hard because I was tired from Saturday, or if it was just hard anyway.  Maybe both.  What I do know for sure is: if I can do 10 miles, I can push through and do 13.1.  I know I said that in a recent post, but I really believe it to be true.  Guess we will find out in 2 weeks!

So that's what's happening in our neck of the woods. Now I'm gonna go eat my body weight in food because I can't seem to get full anymore.  Let's hope the next blog has some pictures!

If you're happy and you know it...

...clap your hands!

Ok, so I recently posted about how lazy and unmotivated I've been lately.  And how I only want to eat foods that aren't particularly good for me and how I've gained weight and blah blah blah.

Well, I'm training for a half marathon.  And I've been beating myself up because I haven't ACTUALLY been training.  The longest run I've done in my life has been 8 miles and that was at sea level.  The longest run I've done for this training is 6 miles...

... until Saturday.  A dear friend persuaded me to "poach" the hospital's "Bfit" program. They mark trails for long runs.  So, I joined her Saturday morning in the cool, cloudy weather and we ran 10 miles!  YEP!  I'm officially back on my training!  Woohoo!  I was so proud of us.  And I am feeling so much better about the race.  If I can do 10... I can do 13.1!  I just know it!!!

For some reason, at one point during the run, I kept singing "If you're happy and you know it..." with obnoxious repetition.  Thus the name of the post.

What also makes me happy is the fact that AFTER a 10 mile run, I felt good enough to go on a 7 mile bike ride!  Then I came home and did 1 hour of yoga!  What the heck is going on with me?  It's awesome!

 I was all excited from my epic day of exercise yesterday and agreed to another mountain bike ride with Mike today.  It was cloudy and drizzly... and there was an 80% chance of precip... but it's Tahoe.  It's never rains here.

Well, we climbed all the way to the top and guess what? It started raining.  Pretty hard by Tahoe standards.  THEN, on our way down, it started hailing!  And let me tell you something... hail hurts!  We had no choice but to keep riding.  I wanted to ride fast to get it over with, but the faster you ride, the harder it hits you.  As painful as it sounds, I couldn't stop laughing the whole time.  We were fine and we came home to eat grilled cheese sandwiches and steaming bowls of chili.  So warm and comforting.

There was one tiny little mishap at the start of the ride.  There are lots of dogs on this road (it starts as a road, then you drop into the trails at the top).  There was this dog on one side of the road, and (typical of dogs) it decided to dash suddenly across the road, right in front of my bike.  Basically, I t-boned the dog... it yelped... I went down.  It was all very graceful.  Luckily, I was fine.  The dog was fine.  And the owner of the dog was very apologetic.

Anyway, I'm very happy (and I know it) to be feeling a little better.  I think I'm slowly crawling out of the funk I've been in lately.  I fully intend to keep this momentum.  Also, what makes me VERY happy, is the random surprise we got this week from two of our friends in NC.  They sent us a HUGE canvas picture that they took while they were out here visiting.  It's a panoramic shot from the top of Mt. Tallac and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We have the best friends!  I'm sort of hoping to do a smallish living room remodel (mostly furniture... hopefully) and then I'll post some pics of the picture in all it's glory on our wall!  Stay tuned!

Sorry for the lack of pictures!  

Mother's Day and Downieville... again

Let me start by saying how AWESOME Friday night was.  We didn't do anything exciting BUT, we did have an awesome thunderstorm... with RAIN!  We got some snow during the past week but that all melted pretty quickly.  The thunder clouds started rolling in Friday afternoon.  We cooked dinner and sat at our table which is next to the window.  We just sat and watched it storm.  It was SO nice.

Saturday morning we woke up early, fixed breakfast (grits, bacon and eggs... yum) and then headed back out to Downieville so that I could ride the mountain bike trail.  It's 16 miles of downhill-ish biking (there's some climbing involved, but not much).  It was awesome.  We had just enough time to eat a burger and fries for lunch, then took the shuttle back up to the truck and headed for home.

GLAD I DIDN'T NEED THAT BACKBOARD! 

THERE'S A SWING ON THE TRAIL

THE TRAIL FOLLOWS THE BEAUTIFUL YUBA RIVER

SUCH BEAUTIFUL WATER!

Sunday morning I woke up early (on the one day I could've slept in... ridiculous).  We had breakfast... went to church... and then went paddleboarding on Fallen Leaf Lake and Lily Lake.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures though.  Not even 1 single picture.  Oops.  It was a beautiful day.  We were excited to paddle Fallen Leaf because it's usually too rough.  It was flat and calm...

... until we got out into the middle of the lake.  Then the winds picked up and created white caps (small ones... but still).  We sat on someone's dock for a while, waiting on the wind to die down. There house was all boarded up so we figured we were ok borrowing their dock for a few minutes.  When the wind didn't die down as quickly as we hoped, we paddled back, and drove a little further down the road to Lily Lake.

Lily Lake is beautiful but small, and much less clean/clear.  It's a little murky but it was full of wildlife... geese and their babies... huge beaver dams and some small little dams that created a wetland effect.  Plus, you're surrounded by HUGE mountains that still have a little bit of snow on them. It was nice.

We came home for lunch and talked with our moms to wish them a happy mother's day.  Then switched our boards for our bikes and headed out to ride a local trail with some friends.  Overall, it was a great weekend, full of adventures... just the way we like it.

To our mother's: Words can't even express how much you both mean to us.  You raised us to be the people we are today (and we think we're pretty awesome).  I'm so grateful for your support and encouragement.  Thank you for being a wonderful role model to me.   If we ever settle down and if we are blessed enough to have children of our own, I hope I can be half the mother that you two were to us.  We love you dearly.  We miss you so much but we appreciate your support.  

Downieville, CA

I've been packing our camping stuff all week because I was so excited to get away for the weekend.  We planned a trip to Downieville, California for camping and mountain biking.  It's a popular mountain biking spot along the Yuba river where you can get shuttled to the top of the mountain and ride 15ish miles downhill to the town. 

Friday afternoon when I got home from work, Mike had the truck all loaded up and ready to go.  We hit the road by 4:00 and we were setting up our campsite by 6:00.  We were lucky to get the last campsite that you could reserve ahead of time.  We didn't get to pick our site... we just had to accept what was available.  It was by far the best campsite in the whole campground.  We were the closest site to the river.  We put our tent as close as possible without actually being IN the river.  It was shady and private.  It couldn't have been any better.  

SWEET LITTLE WATERFALL ON THE WAY. 

 Our first evening at the campsite, we were surrounded by mosquitos.  I hate mosquitos.  I'm terrified of covering myself in Deet because I've known people who got deet poisoning and apparently it's not pleasant.  I put on long pants and a long sleeve shirt but they were still biting.  I broke down and sprayed my clothes with bug spray.  I was so bummed.  The mosquitos were ruining my mood.  

Luckily, we didn't have to deal with them for long!  Right after setting up our gear we made a fire and smoked them all out of the campsite.  We roasted hot dogs and made s'mores.  I was happy again.  The next day, the weather was BEAUTIFUL!  It was a perfect 70ish degrees with a breeze that kept ALL the bugs away... except this one: 

 The next morning, Mike and his friend had reservations on the 9:00 am shuttle.  I had planned to take Zater for a long run to wear him out, then he was going to hang with Mike's friend while he fished so Mike and I could take the 1:00 shuttle.  

I decided to ride my bike instead of running and there was a perfect little fire road across from the campsite where I knew Z could run off a leash and there wouldn't be any traffic. It was an uphill ride for me but the grade was very gradual and easy.  Most of the road was in the shade and the temperature was perfect.  

We made it back to the campsite by noon.  I fixed a sandwich.  I waited on Mike to come back.  He didn't.  So, at about 12:40 I loaded up in the truck and headed into Downieville to see what was going on.  I got there a few minutes before 1:00 and Mike had JUST finished riding.  He was hungry and tired.  There was NO way we were making the 1:00 shuttle so he moved us to the 3:00 shuttle.  

I decided to walk around downtown Downieville before heading back to the campsite.  That didn't take long.  It is an adorable little town.  

ELEVATION 2900'
POPULATION: 325
"DOWNIEVILLE: A WAY OF LIFE"

THE ONE LANE BRIDGE INTO TOWN.

That's it.  You've literally just seen the entire town.  It's tiny.  But awesome. 

So, sitting around the campsite before our 3:00 shuttle, Mike changes his flat and does some maintenance to his bike.  To make a long story short, his bike was ride-able but not in perfect working order.  Plus, he looked tired.  I knew he didn't really want to go on a second lap so we decided just to hang by the river for the rest of the day.  (Luckily the shuttle company was kind enough to give us a refund).  

After ALL that excitement about riding... I wasn't even going to get to go.  But, we are planning a way to make up for that... which may include going back to Downieville again next weekend for a day trip???  Possibly?  

Anyway, we swam in the river.  I lounged in the hammock and read a book about hiking the Appalachian Trail (it's called A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson and it's hysterical - I highly recommend it). We ate salt and vinegar chips until our tongues felt weird (kinda fuzzy???).  It was nice.  We made an early campfire and cooked cheeseburgers.  We sat around the fire for hours and watched a HUGE moon rise.  Of course we ate s'mores again and then headed to bed.  I was bummed to miss the bike ride.  After all, that was WHY we were in Downieville.  But, I must admit it was still a pretty awesome day.  

Sunday morning we drank our coffee by the fire, toasted bagels with our marshmallow roasting sticks, and waited for the sun to come all the way up.  The weather at night was crisp and perfect for sleeping next to a river.  The mornings were chilly but the daytime was warm and sunny.  

Once we were all packed up, we decided to take the scenic route.  We drove up the fire road across from the campground.  

PACKER LAKE

LOWER SARDINE LAKE

BEAUTIFUL LAKE TAHOE!!! 

 It was SO nice to get out of town and see a new place this weekend... 

but it was also so nice to come home to this beautiful place.  

I still can't believe we live here.  

Hope you had a wonderful weekend too!

Seriously? It's almost May!

And now it starts snowing?  What?  Where was this a few months ago?

Ok, I will hush now because we desperately needed this snow storm.  And, we need about 10 more just like it to come through and fill our lakes and reservoirs.  I'm pretty sure that won't happen though.

Saturday morning I was woken up by the sound of banging coming from our basement.  I rolled over to wake Mike up and realized he wasn't there.  A few more loud bangs and I realized he was downstairs getting his skis out of storage... stripping the thick coat of wax off... the same wax he just put on because we thought winter was over.

We have 2 entrances to our basement.  One from inside the house: you have to drop a set of attic steps and climb down a ladder (not the easiest route).  A there's an entrance from outside.  The racket that woke me up that morning was because Mike was choosing route #1... to enter the basement from inside.  I couldn't figure out why he chose this option, compared to the easier option of just going outside, until I got out of bed and opened the bedroom curtains.  There was a solid 10 inches of snow on the ground... maybe close to a foot in some areas.

He headed off to ski and I stayed home and relaxed.  I did yoga.  I read.  I worked out.  I went for a walk.  I ran a few errands.  I basically did whatever I wanted.  It was nice.  And even though it's almost May and I'm more excited about mountain biking and paddleboarding than skiing right now, it was actually pretty nice to see the snow falling.

WHAT'S BETTER THAN YOGA ON A DAY LIKE THIS?

ZATER - DOING WHAT HE DOES BEST!

LIKE A KID ON A SNOW DAY!  HE JUST RAN BACK AND FORTH.

SUCH A BEAUTIFUL LAKE... EVEN WHEN IT'S CLOUDY. 

STILL SNOWING OVER THERE

STILL SNOWING OVER THERE TOO 

I really shouldn't be surprised to have a snowstorm in April.  Even last year we got almost 8 inches in one storm in May.  To my fellow North Carolinian's, you aren't the only ones with crazy weather.  Even out here we use the heat in the mornings and the AC in the afternoons (in the car... we don't have AC in our house... we don't need it... it's too nice).  

Tomorrow the weather should turn warm again.  Most of our snow is already gone.  What's left will be gone after tomorrow.  It was nice to see it, and I would love to see more of it actually. 

 Next weekend we are hoping to have some camping and mountain biking adventures so stay tuned!