Camping

CAUTION: If you are overly anxious, worried, or scared for my safety, do not read this post. I am here and am writing about my amazing camping trip, that is all you need to know. If you continue to read, do not get upset, I warned you!

Lake Merrill

For some reason it was perfectly normal for a girl to go off camping, traveling, and exploring on her own in the hippie days, and plenty of women still do this, but when I go to do any sort of activity I have many people anxious, worried, and cautioning me. Yes, there are the what if's this or that happens, but there is also the what if it doesn't happen. Then I just have fun and great stories to tell. It's always funny to see or hear people's reactions when I am out hiking and they find out I am alone. Or if people ask who I went camping with and I say myself they think it's cool, but you can tell they aren't totally sure what to think. I just have one thing to say, if you enjoy being outside and camping and have never gone camping by yourself, DO IT!! It's not only an amazing time to think and listen to yourself and nature, but it teaches you a lot as well. I have camped alone before, but never for three nights in a row. I learned many things, but one of the big things I learned is that I stay a lot more organized and clean when I am with others. I am messy when I am alone. I try to stay somewhat organized, but then I get to where it doesn't really matter if I have clothes thrown in one corner of the tent and bags in the other, no one is going to see it or care! I also do not give one lick of concern about my appearance camping alone. Another great reason to do this sometime. You have no one around you that is going to see you, so why care? Too bad we can't have this mindset all the time. Of course, I did clean my face, brush my teeth, hair in a ponytail because those things help me feel better, not because I want to appear better. One night I had on this simple black dress that is great for just throwing on after you take a bath in the lake, and I got a little chilled so I put on sweats under it and my sweatshirt on top of it with the dress hanging out and my chacos on. Must have looked ridiculous, but who cares!!! I love it! I don't care much in terms of what other people think of how I look or trying to look good for others, but not even having others around to look at you really teaches you that you can be the natural, simple person you were created to be and you are beautiful!

Another thing I learned is how being and camping with others is not only great for the company, but also great in terms of the work. When I camp alone I go very simple. Just snack food, fruit, granola bars, water, maybe a potato to throw in the fire, nothing too extensive. Just my tent to pitch and fire to stoke. Camping with others, they not only help do the work around camp, but we also tend to have a little more at the camp, more food, more equipment, etc. I enjoy having the conversation and fun that comes with others, but the simple camping is fun as well where I am in charge of everything that has to get done and what happens during the day. This is part of my problem when I am with others. Like when my mom was visiting, I felt like I was always waiting on her to be ready, and was very impatient, because I am not used to it. I am used to my single, alone lifestyle, that it is hard for me to adjust to accomodate others.

This camping trip was a very easy trip, I thought. I already had all my firewood, ended up only using like half of it. Had my newspaper and food. The only thing I really had to worry about was buying ice the second day for my cooler and refilling my water bottles. Really not much to worry about, the first two nights I camped at Lake Merrill just south of Mt St Helens. The only free area to camp that I know of in the area and where I was wanting to hike and bike. So even though I was not totally alone, there were other campers not too close but in the campground as well, it was a conveniet place to camp. The first night went very well, the temperatures were great. Last time I camped alone I couldn't believe how cold it got in the tent. Having no one else in the tent to help heat it up really makes a difference. But this trip I would only get cold early morning, easily fixed by putting on a sweater. But most the night just wore a t-shirt, it was great!

My first day I did an 11 mile loop hike on St. Helens. There is a hike up St. Helens that goes all the way around the mountain. The hike I did crossed this trail, goes up and over, then back down. So it's not like I was climbing up the whole mountain, but climbed up a ways. Ran into some guys on the way down that were just finishing up a three day long backpack trip around the whole mountain. They looked very tired and ready to be done! They said it is some 30 miles to do the whole thing, no wonder they were tired! But then, that's about 10 miles a day, not too bad. It's just carrying the gear that gets ya. My battery on my good camera died at the end of this hike, so had to stick with my little camera the rest of the trip, which I still don't have the cord to since I have not been home since I moved to Oregon, so still can't upload those pictures, unfortunately.

Looking out over some of the destruction from the eruption of St Helens

Looking up at St. Helens, looks like I am close to the top, but I know if I tried to start climbing up, it would take a long time!
Looks a lot different now with less snow on it

Mt Rainer!

When I got done hiking I knew there was a trail I wanted to bike in the area and was planning on doing a long hike the next day so decided to eat something then go biking. This was a 10 mile bike ride, 5 miles of climbing up. What was I thinking doing this bike ride right after hiking 11 miles? It was a struggle! Mainly because it was almost 5 straight miles of climbing up right off the bat. The bugs were ridiculous too. I even put bug spray on and still, if I stopped moving they were swarming. To add to it, I ran out of water. At the top I hiked up a little bit farther, great views, and drank some water from a little stream on top. Figured it was safe enough I was so far up, and man it tasted good! I usually don't run out of water like that but I forgot how much more effort I put into biking than hiking and how I chug water so much more when I bike. Then going back down was amazing! Definitely worth the pain and questioning myself while going up.

Driving back to camp was exhilerting. The sun was at that hard to see the road but gorgeous through the trees 8 o'clock hour, sun sets about 9-9:30 in the mountains. So driving through the curves, windows down, wind in my face, light shining through the trees was the best! Definately a great way to end the day. Got back to camp, rinsed off in the lake, then started my fire. Slept good that night!

Usually when camping I wake up early because it gets warm or the sun is bright. Not this next morning. I was in the trees, so not much morning sun and it was a bit chilly, so I didn't wake until 9am! I couldn't believe it! I was kind of mad at myself too because I was wanting to pick up camp and drive to this other hike, but then I calmed myself down and told myself it didn't matter. I had plenty of daylight and no one to get mad at me. So I picked up and drove about an hour to my next destination, a 13.6 mile hike up Silver Star Mountain. I wanted to do this hike because it was in the area and because what I read about it was that it was an epic hike, one that had to be done! Being on my own I wanted to take advantage of doing a little more difficult of a hike, but not so difficult that I didn't have to be with someone to help push me to finish it. It was a long hike, yes, but not like the steepness of hiking a 14er. Just driving there was an experience in itself. I drove through the beautiful WA mountains, through some cute towns, and past many cute houses and farms. Through a campground and then 9 miles on a dirt road in my little car. Amazing how long driving 9 miles can take! By the end of this camping trip my car was very dirty, felt like home again! I expected to be the only one on the hike, the little amount of people that choose this hike is part of what was said makes this hike great. Most people choose the easier 4-5 mile hike to the top of Silver Mountain. I was not alone, though. I saw a cute older couple about 3.5 miles in, I think that was their turnaround. I was proud of them going that far! Then a little while later three guys came up behind me. I hate getting passed when I hike, and the only reason they ended up passing me is because I began experiencing my stupid vertigo problem and had to stop until it passed, which it never really did, just got to where I knew I could hike without falling over. Most the hike was out in the open sun, not too much shade. So it was bright and hot! When I made it to the top I could see why it would be called an epic hike. I could see 5 volcanoes all at once. Mt St Helens, Mt Adams, Mt Rainier, Mt Hood, and Mt Jefferson. It was great. If you have never been to this area, the mountains here are so unlike anything you ever see in Colorado or most mountain ranges. These peaks just stick up in the middle of no where it seems. Like when you drive through Portland and all the sudden Mt Hood pokes out from around the building right in front of you and you feel that magnificent God's power moment that fills you up and warms you! The mountain I was on, Silver Star Mountain, is the highest in the immediate area, so that is why I could see so many different peaks. But it in no way compares to the peaks of the volcanoes around. And apparently on really clear days you can see the Three Sisters, south of Mt Hood. This was a clear day, but apparantly not clear enough because I could not see them.

On the summit I talked to the three guys some more and they said there was a spring just down the other trail a bit that we could drink. They took me there and I filled up my camelback, good thing because it was a hot, long trip hiking back. I hiked back with the guys, which was great to have the company. One guy, Chris was definately fun to chat and hike with. Experienced some bad vertigo again, evidence of the fact that it is not related to energy expended because it happens hiking downhill as well. I got nauseas and dizzy and had to stop to recover a few times. Chris was cool though, he didn't mind. I only had to stop a few times, it's just annoying that I have to worry about it hiking now as well as running. WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!!!

When we finally finished we were hot, dirty, and tired. I hadn't decided where I was going to camp that night. I was either going to stay on top of the long, dirt road and just camp up there, on top of a ridge line, looking out over the mountains, or drive down and rinse off and find somewhere else to camp. Well, the guys kind of convinced me to go down because there was a waterfall at the bottom of the dirt road where we could get in. It was chilly water and had to stay moving when in it but it felt amazing! Nice to rinse off and get my bath, this feels great when you don't shower for three days! And the waterfall was awesome to get under. Jumped off from the top as well! It was good to have the company and hang for a bit. They recommended to me some nice places to camp just up the road from the campground.

I drove up another dirt road a while and even though the sign said day use only, no camping for 8 miles, I found the perfect spot and camped anyway! It was awesome. Right next the the river, in the trees, quiet except for the sounds of nature! This is the part of camping alone that teaches whether you are cut out to handle being alone and being in quiet. As corny as this sounds, I ended up singing, it was kind of comforting. But most the time I just enjoyed listening to the campfire, river, and forest. People say camping alone is a great time to think, well when I tried to think about what I was thinking about I realize I don't really do much productive thinking! If that even makes any sense. My brain never stops running and never stops thinking, which is why I can't be hypnotized, but its nothing really too important or uplifting. Its kind of funny. I try to focus my mind on just enjoying what is around me, spending time with God and thanking Him for all he gives me, but then my mind wanders and I don't even realize it! When I go camping alone I always think I will do a lot of reading, but I never do. I don't like to be next to the campfire and have a light on, so its too dark to read and during the day I am too busy hiking and exploring.

To sum it up, I am safe, I had fun, nothing bad happened, and yes, future camping/hiking/biking/exploring trips are going to happen, SOON! My next challenge for you, go spend a night alone, in the wilderness!

Chelan (Sh-a-laan)

No, this post is not just about my mom, it's about the amazing time she and I can have together and the origin of her name, (my middle name). Many people wonder why she is named Chelan, many think it is a very random name, pretty (or so they so), but have no idea where it came from. Well, before my grandparents were married, my grandmother visited a friend from college at Lake Chelan, WA; in the town of Chelan, WA; in Chelan County, WA. Chelan is an Indian name that means deep water. Lake Chelan is the third deepest lake in the nation of 1486 feet deep. I guess my grandmother fell in love with this name and the lake, she was not married yet when she visited, then didn't even have my mom until 6 or 8 years after they were married. She knew that's what she would name her first daughter. Since it is my mother's name, and my mom gave it to me for my middle name, we decided the perfect mother/daughter trip was to visit Lake Chelan. She had been here once before I was born, so I needed to see it! The lake is only about 5 hours from here, so perfect time to go there while I am living in Oregon.

Day 1: Pick mom up and drive to Wanatchee (which is where we stayed because it was too expensive to stay in Chelan). The drive was going from the mountains to the plains, but it was pretty the whole way. Chelan area is not as desert like as I was expecting, there are vineyards and orchards everywhere! It's gorgeous. Definitely tons of fruit stands, very hard not to stop at all of them to get fruit! We did get quite a bit though.

Day 2: Explore Chelan and swim! It was HOT in Chelan. I say that because I have barely had temperature above 70 in Seaside. I loved it! It was so nice to walk around in shorts and no coat! Mom was hot, of course, but she survived! First we went to Blueberry Hills to pick and eat blueberries! It was so much fun. Mom has done this before with strawberries with my brothers when they were little, but I never have. I think I ate more that I actually had in my bucket! According to the scale at the end my mom picked more than me, but I am pretty sure I ate more than her! They were delicious.

Blueberries!!!

Mom pickin, no her nose...blueberries!

Getting serious!

Yum Yum!

After blueberry pickin' we walked around the town of Chelan. Actually a cute little town, with some very nice stores. Found a scrapbook store that had a Chelan kit, definitely got it to make a little book! After walking around, it was off to swim! Man it felt good, especially after the hot day. The water was a little cold, but what do you expect from snow melt! It felt great just to get to swim and then soak up some sun! The water was warmer than the ocean, I think, it may have just been that the sun was actually shining!

Day 3: Ferry to Stehekin. Lake Chelan is a very long lake. You cannot drive from the Chelan end to the other end. The only way to get to the north west end of the lake is by boat or plane. The town of Stehekin is at the west end, a very small, simple town. There are cars there because there is one paved road for about 23 miles or so. There is a little restaurant, bakery, craft shop, gift shop, and cabins you can stay in. That is about it! I would love to live there. Gorgeous view, lake and mountains, simple life, good temps, hikes galore, and minimal tourists (since it's hard to get there). We rented some bikes to bike up to this awesome waterfall and stop at the bakery on the way back. Then we explored around town a bit (doesn't take long), then took the ferry back to Chelan.

One of the many cute little houses in Stehekin

Mom was sneaky in some of her picture taking, had no idea she took this pic

On the ferry

That evening, after getting some fruit at a fruit stand, we went to this classic rock concert at the Lake Chelan Winery. It was awesome. Mom didn't think she had the energy to go but I knew she would enjoy it. And she did! She loved it, enjoyed the music (which I knew she would), and relaxing with me. The weather was amazing sitting on the grass playing card games. Everyone around us was eating and talking, it was funny to be chillin playing cards, but tons of fun!

Day 4: Off to Seattle, goodbye Lake Chelan. Just driving to Seattle we could feel the temperature declining. Man was it amazing in Seattle! Not too hot to sweat, not too cold for a sweater, PERFECT! In deciding what to do in Seattle, it was very tough to know what comes to mind when you think of Seattle. I guess the Space Needle and coffee. Check, did those two things, but we couldn't really think of what we just HAD to do while in Seattle. So we just did whatever. Went to Pike's Place first. Downtown Seattle is crazy! First, it's impossible to find anywhere cheap to park, second, I have never driven in such a hilly city, I was glad to be driving an automatic. It's always interesting to walk through cities and people watch, or just walk and see what kinds of people you encounter. Always an experience! First destination, the original Starbucks. Of course we had to get Starbucks in Seattle! It's so funny to watch how many people you see walking down the street with a coffee cup in hand. Definitely part of the northwest culture, COFFEE!! I feel dumb for not knowing that the reason Starbucks brew is called Pike's Place is because the original shop is in Pike's Place on Pike Street. Didn't know then, but I know now! Kind of cool. Then off to walk through the Market. It was so packed full of people, mom had to hold on to my shirt following me and it was LOUD!!! Quite the experience. We went back the next evening and there was nobody. Guess we just hit it at the wrong time, wrong day. It was cool though. And we saw the famous place where they throw the fish. Anybody heard of this? Its famous for a video they show in many work orientations for teamwork, working together, that sort of thing. Didn't see a whole lot of fish throwing like I imagined from the video, kind of disappointed in that, but oh well.

Had to hold the fish to get a picture with him, no thanks!

Best information guy ever, quick, efficient, and helpful

Any takers?

Sampling some tea!

Oh my, makes my mouth water seeing all the tasty looking fruit

Original Starbucks. Mom was able to snap a quick shot before someone got in the way

Then off to see the Space Needle. Driving to the needle started out to be a nightmare. Tons of traffic, I couldn't figure out why there was so much traffic, didn't seem like a high traffic time. I do NOT do well with traffic, that small town girl or something, I don't know. But any tiny bit of traffic I get in I become a different person. I am not happy, the road rage kicks in. So I just said, whatever, we are walking. My poor mom, we had already walked all day in downtown. But she is a trooper. I found a quiet area to park in and we walked the who knows how many blocks to the Space Needle. The good thing about the needle, you can base your directions off of it! haha, kind of like using the mountains to know which is which. We knew we were headed in the right direction because we could always see the needle. The cars were just lined up back to back as we were walking, VERY glad I didn't keep driving. We didn't go up to the top of the needle, too expensive. We just admired it from down below! Long walk just to stay at the bottom and stare up at it! We were walking around some more and randomly walked into tons of booths and concerts. It was weird. Some big event was happening that we had know idea about! That's why there were so many cars! We were so hungry and sick of people by then that we did not spend much time wandering through the booths. We found something to eat and trekked back to the car. It was so random to run into such a huge event that we had absolutely no idea about! By the time we made it back to the motel, mom was done for. Too bad mom, still a whole day to explore Seattle, got to take advantage of it!

Day 5: Bainbridge Island. A friend recommended to me that this was a fun place to visit if you are in Seattle. So I got my mom up early and we took the ferry over to Bainbridge in the morning. The most simple process! Didn't think I would find decent parking at first, but then luckily stumbled upon a cheap parking garage, had to walk fast to make it the ferry with 10 min. before it departed. Walked right up, no line, bought our $6 tickets and walked straight on to the ferry, it was great. Chilly morning so we didn't last out on the deck for too long. Bainbridge is very cute. We could have driven our car on the ferry and drove around the island but I didn't realize how doing this is actually very simple, but is more expensive. I would have loved to have rode my bike on the ferry and ride around the island. Instead, we just walked. So we were stuck mainly in the touristy area, but the stores were cool and the one restaurant we ate at my mom's whole visit was very good; right on the water, cute waiters, good food!

Randomly I discovered that one of my friends from CO, Andrew, was visiting Seattle as well. Crazy that we were in the same place at the same time, I haven't seen him in a long time. He was with his friend and I was with my mom, but we were able to meet up and talk for a little bit. It was great to see him, in Seattle of all places! His friend recommended to us that we check out Alki beach. So we did, and it was gorgeous! A very popular area to run, bike, walk, etc. A nice path goes a ways right along the water. We got some coffee here and sat to watch the sunset and people. Such a wonderful time. I love that my mom and I can be busy doing stuff together and also just relax and just enjoy each other. She has to help me relax, and when I do of course I feel like I need to be out doing something, but I really love getting to chill and be with her. So we sat and attempted to read, but the view and people watching was way too distracting to read much!

Day 6: Gorgeous drive back to Seaside so mom can relax! Yeah, she was a little worn out, but the trip is not over yet. Mom could not wait to get to Seaside to get cool, but when we did get there, she was complaining about the cold. She was wearing my coat, beanie, and gloves. She was ready to get in the heat again! She froze watching me at a softball game! Poor little mommy. I toughened her up and got her to ride my "boy" mountain bike. She did fine on it. She was afraid and doesn't like my bike because it has the "boy" bar instead of the girl style bar. She's funny. And I got to ride my road bike. Using both my bikes at the same time, fun! We rode along the Columbia River in Astoria, gorgeous view of the mountain, river, and of Astoria.

Day 7: Drive to Portland to take mom back to airport, sad day. We had some time to explore Portland a little. I took her to an amazing Meditteranean restaurant I discovered and then to get some tea at this awesome tea house I found in dowtown. Then we walked a long the Columbia, then off to the airport. Very sad to see her go. We tolerated each other very well. Her only complaint would probably be me keeping it too hot in the car while driving, much better to have the windows rolled down, but she prefers the a/c on. And my only complaint is having to wait on her to get somewhere. Otherwise a great time and wish we had longer. She said she could have spent two more weeks with just me as long as she had some relaxing time as well! I love you mommy!

Beauty

Last week, a co-worker and I did this awesome hike. Nancy is my co-worker that organized our Mt. St. Helens climb. She is such an amazing person! She is the most adventurous, active, outdoors woman older than 40 that I have ever met. She is also very kind and easy to get-a-long with. I am all about getting to hang out with her outside of work! She is also the one who let me use her road bike to practice on before the triathlon. She was so funny though because she was very intimidated to do this hike, being very nervous and not sure if she would be able to keep up. Cracks me up because she just did St. Helens with me and she has climbed Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainier, and who knows what else. NO reason she should feel intimated. But this hike was a difficult hike, nothing like climbing a volcano though! it was a 13 mile loop in Tillamook State Forest in which you summit Elk Mtn. and King's Mtn. It was fun! There were some steep and rocky sections, having to do a little scrambling. But the temperature was great, did not rain on us, just a cloudy view from on top; very pretty!! Of course, even though the temperature was perfect for hiking we were still dripping with sweat! haha. It took us a while, maybe 7 hours I think, but it was tons of fun. Had great conversation, enjoying the outdoors and hiking. Only saw two older ladies on the lower trail section. It was a great day. Can't wait to spend more time with her!

View hiking up, then I think the clouds rolled in right when we summitted and rolled out when we descended

Summit of Elk Moutain

These are beautiful. I was amazed at how many wildflowers I saw on this hike. Expected in CO, in OR you expect mainly just greenery

Last Saturday I experienced some beach dancing. I went to Cannon Beach (south of Seaside) with two other co-workers to do this beach dancing that this lady in Cannon Beach does. She syncs ipods together and has a theme to each dance session, then we just let loose and dance, be free, do whatever comes to us. It's so amazing to just not care what others are thinking of you and to be out on the beach, the cliffs and mountains in the background, listening to the music and connecting with myself as well as with God. The lady that does this has a dream for thousands of people to experience dancing on the beach. After doing this and talking to other people about it and inviting them to it I realize more and more how terrible us girls (and guys) are at being self-conscious. Who really cares what you do and what you look like out on the beach? One nurse tonight was telling me about how she needed to lose 20 pounds by September because she is going to a family reunion. We expect people to judge us by our outward appearance and we don't have confidence in who we are on the inside. And of course we are going to feel this way because we do judge based on outward appearance. You know when you see someone you graduated with or friends and family you haven't seen in a while, you compare their looks to the last time you saw them. You think, "they look thinner," or, "they have gained weight." WHY DO WE DO THIS?!?! Why does it matter how people have changed in their appearance over time? What matters is how their lives have changed. What are they doing now? Are they happy? Where are they? What kinds of things are they experiencing? It shouldn't matter to us what they look like. What should matter is that they are happy and feel good about themselves. And everyone should feel good about themselves. If we are generally good people and try to do good and be kind to others, we should feel good about ourselves. Not a conceited sort of good, but a good because we are alive and well and trying to live life to the fullest. God created us all so differently and uniquely and in his image. No matter our outward appearance we are beautiful, inside and out. It breaks my heart to hear people criticize themselves so much. I was talking to one person a few weeks ago who I admire very much and is a very happy person but after talking for a while, I discovered how they have had their fair share of self-image disorder problems. It amazed me! I am constantly surprised to hear individuals whom I admire and think have the greatest hearts, smiles, hair, or whatever; but they are not confident in themselves. I have been wanting to get my personal trainer certification for a while. I feel since I am not model perfect, but am, in general, confident in who I am, I can help people be more comfortable in working out and pushing themselves to achieve their goals and happiness in themselves. Doing this would not only be a great opportunity to help people feel good in their outward appearance, but in their inward selves as well; in who they are as a human being. Unfortunately, as a travel nurse, I obviously do not have a stable environment, schedule, or life in general. Never really knowing where I am going to be from one place to the next. So I have decided to post-pone my desire to get my certification until I am a little more grounded. I still desire to help instill confidence in people. My challenge for myself is to compliment people more. It is amazing how compliments boost moral so much. And my challenge to you is to do something that can help make you feel more confident in who and what you are. An example is beach dancing! I'm not kidding, go somewhere, whether it be public or private, even your bathroom, put on some headphones and just let your body do the talking. If you do start in the bathroom, I challenge you to eventually head out and do it in public. It's actually kind of fun to see the kinds of looks you get! Whatever you choose to do, do it with confidence, because you are beautiful and amazing and God loves you and created you how you are. You are an inspiration to others, be an inspiration to yourself as well!

The days that I was off last week and over the weekend, I was on call during the night so I couldn't go anywhere, which turned out to stink because there were so many people around that I wanted desperately to go camping, all by myself, in the middle of the woods! The weather wasn't the greatest last week so I kind of enjoyed some days being a home body and getting some stuff done. On Saturday, after the beach dancing I really wanted to go somewhere that I wouldn't just run into more crowds. Where would I find that here, I had no idea. Turned out I found this lake about 30 min. away. Got to bike up the road and trail to get to it and I was the only one there the whole time! Did not see anyone until coming down there was a family backpacking up. It was amazing! I got to read, write, and take a nap! It was a bit chilly, but it was awesome. Probably helped that the highway was closed and I had to haul my bike across this ravine. It was just what I needed that day! And I think we are actually supposed to get some weather above 60's this week so that is very exciting!

The ravine I had to lug my bike up, was a lot steeper and higher in person

Soapstone Lake

A trail went around the whole lake

Remember, love yourself and others. Be confident in who you are...

Beach Yoga

How amazingly lucky am I? I worked all day with Jennifer, the other travel nurse, and we were so envious all day because there was not a cloud in sight outside, VERY rare for around here. It looked amazing, we wanted to be outside so bad. So after work we decide we are going to head down to the beach and do some beach yoga. It was so cool. A tad chilly so I had us do some warm-up exercises. Anyone heard of Zuzana? She has some great body only workouts. Then we did like and hour of yoga on the beach while watching the sunset. It was fantastic! Then I did this interval workout with her. It felt great and was so fun. Great to do a different kind of workout and have some company. Fantastic evening! God is amazing, I am so privileged for all he blesses me with.

Luck Over

View from top of these beautiful waterfalls right up from campsite

I am pretty lucky when I think about all that I do and how little I get injured. I have definately had my fair shair of scrapes and bruises, only had a sprained ankle in flag football and a broken pinkie in high school. This week my mountain biking luck finally wore off. I already have received a few scars on my legs due to little scrapes from the bike itself or nature, but this week was a little more significant. No worries though, just some scrapes, no broken bones! John and I decided to do this awesome trail that follows along the Mackenzie River southeast of here. Its a little east of Eugene, OR. The trail is 26 miles long and cross country. I was very excited because I heard and read great things about the trail, but a little nervous because someone told me it was an advanced trail. Before we even get on the trail we are riding down this gravel road, I am in the lead and approaching a corner, I slow down a bit, forgetting that I was on gravel. I head into the corner and my bike totally slides out and I fall and skid along the gravel for what seemed like at least 10 feet. John said he kind of saw the fall but got a little nervous he was going to slide off the road so didn't completely see the whole thing happen. Got up with the classic Lyndsey injury that my family and a few friends know all too well. Told my parents and Luke I did a classic Lyndsey injury and they knew right away that I had scraped up my knee. I have so many scars on my knees, what's another one, right. Got my arms and left fingers as well. Bike turned out just fine except for a little evidence in the left handlebar. Then, of course, neither of us really have any first aid stuff with us, so I just clean it up a little in the creek and call it good. This was difficult because it hurt so bad washing it off and didn't have much to wash it off with besides the water, so I did not get it cleaned out very well. So we head on into our ride, my arm and knee hurting a little, bleeding down my leg, and much more reserved riding than I would have been had I not hurt myself. Needless to say, the ride took a lot longer than it probably would have otherwise, but luckily John was patient and waiting on me.


The knee looks better because the bleeding finally stopped

Besides the crash, bleeding, and hoping the injuries don't get infected, the ride and trip turned out well. It was a great trail. Had some technical areas going over lava rock, but overall the trail was perfect! Not too long or steep of climbs, nothing way too technical and the distance went by fast it seemed. Part of it went along a gorgeous lake with the hills and the sisters peaks in the background. We got to the end and I experienced hitchhiking for the first time. We actually did the whole thumbs up hitchhiking thing for a while, which wasn't working out too well. So I am over at this little general store and this guy walks out of the store and heads over to his little, old jeep looking thing. Not sure if our bikes would fit in it anyway but I decide to go up to him and ask him where he was headed. He was headed where we needed to go and didn't know how far he was going so said he would give us a ride. He had a dog in the back and a cool rack on top, so we threw our bikes on top and scrunched into the back. Couldn't talk much to him riding up the 20 miles because it was loud in the vehicle, but he seemed like a cool guy. Much better than riding our bikes all the way back up. I should have taken a picture of my first hitchhiking experience!

Last night I got to go out the the beach with some friends from work. We had a big bonfire and we attempted to do some clamming. Unfortunately we didn't even see any potential places of clams. Did some digging, but nobody got anything. The experience was cool. It's actually very difficult to get the digging thing into the sand, but it's pretty fun. Hopefully I can go again sometime and actually get something. You have to get a license to do it just on the rare occasion you will get stopped and asked to see a license.

It's been interesting here at work. We have a lady that is 36 weeks pregnant with twins and the hospital is pretty much just all about the twins. The doctor wants two doctors here for the delivery, two on backup, two nurses, one on backup, the CRNA (anesthesiologist), a respiratory therapist and one on backup, etc. Its ridiculous. Part of the small hospital mindset I guess. But the only two warmers we have are already set up for them, one they had to dig out of storage who knows where. It is way overboard its driving me nuts! There are more people due to have babies before she is. Craziness. So we have this nurse call schedule we have to sign up shifts for when she comes in they need to call another nurse in. And the doctor wants to do a c-section if she doesn't deliver before 38 weeks. Why? I have absolutely no idea! It blows my mind. Anyway, a little small hospital outlook.

Triathlon

Post-triathlon


I have a new addiction...triathlons! I just got back from doing my sprint triathlon on June 12th with Clint and Kylee in Oklahoma City. We were so nervous before it and not really sure what we were doing or how we were going to do certain things. The day before we registered and received our info, bags, etc we needed for the race. Thought we were going to be able to ask questions this day (since we were very green at triathlons), but they turned out to be very unhelpful. After registering I had to go get the road bike I was renting. I got a sweet Cannondale. It was awesome. I am addicted to road biking now, but still love mountain biking more. I am wanting to find a nice, inexpensive road bike to buy because it is fun, plus I want to do more triathlons! I didn't get to ride this bike more than just a little practice to get used to it and for the race. Bummer since it was so nice, but we were too busy and only had it less than a day. The night before the race was really busy. Had to go back to Shawnee, get everything ready for the race, like make sure we all had our bikes, had the right pre-race food, figured out what we were wearing etc, etc. The figuring out what we were wearing part was a little complicated. Took us a while to decide, it was pretty entertaining and hilarious actually! We probably went to bed between 12 and 1 and got up at 0430. Really didn't feel too tired when I woke up. And didn't have that hard of a time going to sleep or sleeping. I have been much more nervous before races than I was for this one. We got all loaded and head to OKC, when we pull into the parking lot we see all these athletes unloading their bikes and getting ready. Clint and Kylee used their mountain bikes, which shouldn't have bothered other people at all since that gave them that extra advantage for them using the faster road bikes, but I guess people just like being judgmental. Going into the triathlon I was expecting to feel totally out of place, but figured there would be other people around that didn't really know what they were doing either, but this was not the case. Before the race, in getting ready and warmed up, we kind of got stuck up, bad vibes from people. But as time went on and during and after the race, it turned out to be a very friendly environment and encouraging. After the race this random girl even told me great job as I walked by her. It was great.

There were only around 225 or so people in the race. I was 199, Kylee 200, Clint 196. So we were at the end of the line. The swim was in a pool so they did what they call a wave start. So they start one person at a time, spacing them out 30s or so. One starts, reaches a certain point, then the next, etc. So we didn't start until more than an hour after the first person started. There were people done with the whole race by the time we even started. Crazy. Luckily it was a slightly cloudy day so it didn't ever seem too hot during the race, which I was worried about. Being a very inexperienced swimmer, I have absolutely no idea how to really pace myself swimming. I just tried very hard not to start out too fast, but also didn't want to go too slow. Ended up handling the swim very well, just had a burning head at the end. Probably from the cap, goggle, water pressure, etc. I don't know, but it eventually went away during the bike ride. After the swim I sprinted to the transition area, threw on my shirt, socks, shoes, and helmet and ran my bike out then mountain and took off. I was excited my transition was a between 1 and 2 min, which is faster than I thought it would be. I ended up swimming in my shorts so that helped a lot. The bike ride felt very good. It was fun. Did not seem like 14 miles, it went fast. At the end I put in a lot of energy trying to pass a few people so I was very winded starting my run. Which was an odd experience because unless I sprint, I never really get winded running, its usually a side ache or the fact that I am so dizzy and nauseous I just can't see straight and almost pass out. So I started running winded, so just with that I felt like I was going slow, then, of course, I get dizzy after only 5 min. of running. I felt very slow the whole way. Luckily I never got so dizzy that I was about to fall over, so I was able to keep running. At the end of the run everyone was so encouraging, saying I was almost there, cheering and clapping. It was great. And no one could leave until the race was completely over, so there were lots of people around. I felt terrible by the end, but also great for completing a triathlon! The run was definitely painful, but I enjoyed the bike and swim. Which is weird since its running that I have done so much more of. But I beat my goal run time, I couldn't believe it. I ran a lot faster than I felt. I beat my bike goal time as well but not the swim goal time. I had no idea what to really set my goal time for anyway, so know I have a base time to go from. After the race, they gave out some prizes and the medals. It was an awesome experience. Poor Kylee turned around too early, stupid people at the water station didn't help her out. So she got dq'd for not completing the run. And I had to be in the 25-29y/o category since I turn 25 before the end of the year. So I got 5th place in that category, but would have placed first in the 20-24 y/o category, darn! Now I am going to start shopping around for a bike and find the next triathlon I am going to do! Oh, and go to the Dr. and see if we can figure out what the heck this stupid vertigo thing is about.


Me waving hello as I pass Clint's sister, our only supporter!

The trip to OK turned out to be very fun, busy, and uplifting. Got to see my best friend, old co-workers, other friends, and have new experiences. Played frisbee golf with Kylee and Clint, did the triathlon, baby shower for college friend, rock climbing, Benedict Street, many other sports and activities with Kylee, met up for social time with old-coworkers, experienced Oklahoma flooding, saw damage from the Oklahoma hail storm, and much more. I am so thankful for all my friends I have and for them spending their time and energy to spend time with me. I wish I enjoyed the state of Oklahoma more so I could spend more time with all the great people there! Makes me sad to think about leaving Oregon now because of all the great relationships I have formed here and all the great things to do around here. But that is life and part of what happens beings a travel nurse.

Out with old co-coworkers:

Esther and Audrey


Esther and Wendy


Sharon and Esther

Before leaving for Oklahoma, I had to completely be moved out of the vacation rental I was in. I moved everything to my new place, the upstairs of the house of a supervisor here at the hospital. Her and her husband live downstairs and we share the kitchen upstairs. The upstairs has living room, bathroom, and two bedrooms. They were going to rent out both rooms, but I told them I would pay a little more to have the whole upstairs, a little more privacy. When I got back from OK I have been working everyday since so I was living without anything put anywhere, just all in boxes, not knowing where anything was. Finally today I had a little time to get a little more organized. I think it is going to good living there. They have an older cat and a kitten. The kitten is great. He will cuddle up and sleep next to you. Granted he wakes up at four in the morning being a rascal and keeping you up, but he is a good kitten. I think they are going to fulfill my cat desire enough that I don't think I will be getting my own cat right now. Just in the past few days I have felt like I have kids or something because the cats have caused me to get lack of sleep, but they are fun. I also got some horrible bug bites in Oklahoma that after a week are finally not itching anymore.

I guess May here had some of the rainiest days in history, now June is having tons of rain as well, but also some of the coldest days. Barely getting above 60. It's crazy. I am really hoping things turn around soon so I can have some nice days to enjoy all there is I still want to go do when I am around here. I have tons of stuff in mind that I want to do this summer, I am excited! Just planned some good hikes and bike rides with some co-workers today!

Unfortunately, I was a loser with my camera again this trip. I didn't take one picture. I even told Kylee I needed to make sure I took some pics. Darn me, I suck! I don't know why I did that. Sorry...

Family

Last weekend I was able to go to San Antonio for Luke's promotion to Captain. Turned into a big family reunion. My whole family was there, my cousin, aunt, and grandpa. Jackie's (sister in law) parents, aunt, and grandmother were there as well. It was awesome to get to see everyone, and especially spend some quality time with Luke. I hate not getting to see him but a few times a year. I miss him so much. We have so much fun when we are together. We played frisbee golf, racquetball, tennis, dragged me along on his morning pt run with his squadron, as well as kidnapped me one of his work days. It was fun going running with him and the guys. Luke hurt his ankle recently so he was not as fast as he would like to be, but he did good. I like how he knows he can just drag me along wherever and to whatever. Luke is such a positive and intelligent person. He is great to be around! Sometimes he gets so excited talking and getting to be with his family that he forgets to concentrate on what he is doing. One time after picking my parents up at the airport he went passed the exit he needed and didn't realize it for about 20 minutes after he was supposed to exit. He did the same thing picking me up from the airport this past weekend, only he realized it only after about 5 min. past the exit. He is funny. It was fun spending time with Jackie's family as well. Nice to talk with and socialize with. Her grandma cooked some very good Filipino food. Got one of the recipes so I will have to try it sometime!

During Luke's promotion ceremony, the colonel speaking about Luke did such an amazing history of his life that some of Luke's relatives may not even have known about him. It was cool. Then saturday night Luke and Jackie had a party at their house. Some squadron guys and their spouses came but it was mainly just family. Good thing we had lots of family there! They would have had tons of leftovers. I spent so much time with Luke that I felt like I didn't really get to see the rest of my family too much. Just saw them in intermittent spurts it seemed like. But I'm glad I got some quality brother/sister time!

It never gets too warm here in Oregon so I only have one pair of shorts here. And it's still been pretty chilly here, so when packing for TX I kind of spaced the fact that it was so warm there. It was HOT and I only had one pair of shorts! Man, it was so hot and humid. I don't like how we can go so many days without seeing the sun here, just wet and cloudy, but I would take this anyday over that hot and humid climate. I sweat so much and so fast that I just can't handle that. But after being back here a week and today was the first day I saw the sun, I started to change my mind, but decided I still like it here better. Because on days like today, when the sun comes out, temps in mid 60's, green all around you, it is AMAZING!!!

I had a difficult time being able to train when I was in TX, but luckily I was able to get a little training in every day. I got to swim with my dad, that was fun. He made me realize I should probably think about the start of the swim, didn't even think about the fact I may need to dive to begin the race. So I worked on diving a lot with him. It was fun! And then this week a co-worker let me borrow her road bike to get some practice in. I used to hate riding on the road, but after riding the road bike on the road, it may be a new addiction! It's so fun. Don't think I will ever like it more than mountain biking, but it is totally different and fun in its own way. Especially on pretty days like today, makes for a very enjoyable ride! I think I am going to have to look into finding a cheap road bike! Then after my training today I did yoga on the beach! It was awesome. It was a little chilly and windy yoga, but not too bad. Can't wait to do more of that this summer! This whole triathlon training thing is an experience. There is so much more to think about than I originally thought. And it's hard to train for something like this when I have no idea exactly how I should be training. I'm fine with the running, as long as I don't get dizzy. Its just the swimming and biking that I have no idea about. I like getting some good swimming in, I just hate smelling like chlorine all the time! Training is also difficult when I work night shift because no matter what, working night shift makes me never feel rested, no matter how much sleep I get (which usually isn't much at all and not effective sleep when I do), and I have a serious lack of motivation when I work nights. I hate it. When I am finally done travel nursing I am determined to not work night shifts. I am definitely not programmed to be a night person!

This week I have started moving some things over to the next place I will be living until my assignment in OR is finished. I am renting the upper part of the house of a nursing supervisor at work. She and her husband will be living there part time in the lower part, and the kitchen, bathroom, and living room are upstairs. It will be interesting. But I think it will be good. She has cats so I know I can definitely have a cat there, which I am going to hopefully get after I get back from my trip to OK next week. I leave next week for OK, and have to be all moved out before I leave. I get to spend a whole week in OK with friends and old co-workers. I am very excited! Less than a week of training left! Better not let my four days in a row of night shift give me lack of motivation to make me slack off. Got to take advantage of the last week!

Sorry, no new pics. Everyone else was taking so many pics at the promotion, so I took a break and didn't take any. May regret that decision.

Friends and family... I love you and miss you!