We went for a hike!
And at the end of the hike this happened:
Popped a tire on the gravel.
Limped back to town on the spare and had to buy a new tire.
Artemis and I were wiped out afterwards!
Oh my goodness the hike was so busy though!!!!! One of the busiest hikes I’ve been on, probably won’t be going back there.
Early to bed for me!!!!
Hello from Naples, Italy!!!!! We are docked here from 7am-7pm. From 7:30am-about 3pm I have a planned excursion through the cruise line. We are hiking part of Mout Vesuvius and getting a tour of Pompeii. After that we get dropped back off at the ship where we will leave in search of pizza!!!! Gotta have pizza in Naples, I think its the law, or like a commandment.
Gathering before the excursion.
Great view from the top! Well not even the top yet.
A view of the crater…..there was some steam coming out hmmmmm
Pompeii!!!! It was huge!!! Way bigger than I thought it would be.
I was really suprised by the ingenuity of people that far back, you could tell which were shops and which were houses. The shops had little groves in the doors where gates were pulled across. There will little pieces of marble in the roads and floors to reflect lamplight at night. It was amazing all the things they came up with.
There are some amazing details that have survived this whole time. These sculptures were amaziny still in tact.
Look at the wall frescoes and that fountain!
Pizza!!!!!
Best gelato to date! I got coffee flavor and it was to die for!!!
We stumbled upon a giant piazza while walking around. That happens in Italy, you just stumble upon amazing sights around any corner.
Tomorrow a slow, relaxing day in Sicily!
Happy Saturday morning!!!
Yesterday the BF and I headed out for a little hike. We slept in and had smoothies for breakfast, I worked a little bit on flashcards for my Medical terminology class and had the last little 1/4th of a cup of smashed potatoes before we headed out. It was just over an hours drive to the trail so we stopped just before we got there for something to drink and cookies hahahaha. The trail was nice, mostly shaded and not too many people, we passed maybe a dozen people so I was able to let Artemis off her leash for about 3/4 of it.
Most of the trail meandered near the Salmon river, which was pretty shallow.
Lots of trees equaled lots of shade. Though being near the river it was a bit muggy.
We did an out an back trail so we stopped at mile 3.3 to turn around and head back. I brought a tortilla, 2 pieces of ham and some cheese and we shared a tortilla roll up for some energy to get us back.
It was a lot of rolling hills so we ended up running back about 2 of the 3 miles, maybe a little more. We made it back to the car pretty quick which was really nice. We decided to go out to Red Robin for dinner for some big juicy burgers, but I was good and got a side salad instead of fries. It was delicious. That was my day!
I really like the trail. AND Artemis went into the river!!!!!! She has never done this, normally I have to stand really still by the edge and coax her down and scoop handfuls of water for her to drink, this time she actually got in the water! More than once! Breakthrough!!!!!!
Holy crap only 2 more weeks!!!! I am so excited for this quarter to be over, I feel like I am going to be swimming in oceans of time. Next quarter (summer) I am taking medical terminology online so I am going to have so much more time.
Food from the week:
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
The bf and I also walked to baskin robins and got ice cream.
Friday
Last Saturday my great friend was in town for the quickest of visits, she was here for a funeral, my boyfriend and I met up with her and her friend after work Saturday afternoon. When your friend is in pain and drinking it away and asks you to drink with her, you do. So I did. I don’t drink much and when I do its usually a glass of wine or something (though I will be trying more wine soon but more on that later) but I try in general to limit myself to 1 glass of whatever it is. I wasn’t the best with my limits in college and I don’t ever need to go back to that. Anyways, I ended up drinking 4 cans of Mike’s black cherry hard lemonade, this is how much of a lightweight I am now, I got drunk off 4 cans basically fruity beer hahahaha. We were at a golf course and ended up just staying there so I ate a hot dog. Thankfully I was in bed by 10pm because I had to be up at 5am for work. But those 4 cans were too much for me, I woke up sick at 2:30am and needed to get something in my stomach, I ate a pop tart. I was hung-over the next day, hence the Mexican food on Sunday and Monday. I cannot believe how long it takes to recover from a hangover now!!!! Like the whole week to feel 100% again. Anyways that was my weekend lol.
Monday I relaxed in between classes but Tuesday I got my butt out for a walk and a run. The roommate and I did 1.3 miles walking then I did another 4 miles on the treadmill.
Wednesday the pup and I got out for about 1.5 miles walking in between classes
Thursday I went out for a run and got 3 miles in. This run was quite tumultuous and will do a whole post on it in a few days. Beware for TMI hahaha.
Friday the BF, the pup and I went for a little hike. 9.4 miles. I will do a more in depth review on the hike next week.
This was a pretty big jump in miles for me this week and I am feeling it in my legs and feet. But I am excited, this is how to get back in shape and lose weight! 19.2 miles total for the week between walking, running and hiking.
Can’t wait to see what next week brings!
How was your week?
Did you get any miles in?
What is the best meal you had this week?
Howdy!
I mentioned last week that the BF and I went hiking at Smith Rock State park so I thought I would do an actual review and talk a little more about it.
Smith Rock state park is out near Bend, OR. Weather wise it was almost perfect, after many days of dark dreariness we entered the land of the sun! Bend gets a lot more sunlight than Portland and this particular park looks more like it belongs in Arizona if you ask me. It was probably about 70-75 degrees with sun and a few clouds so it was amazingly beautiful. Of course there was a storm rolling in and we hit the beginning of it but I’ll talk about that later.
It was a Friday morning and I happened to not have lab so we decided a hike farther away would be ok. We did get a little bit of a late start though, by the time we were up and ready, hit the grocery store for snacks and really got on the road it was about 10am.
It was just under a 3 hour drive for us so by the time we got there, got situated, bought a $5 parking pass and headed out it was about 1:15pm.
I took a few pictures of the area before we started. The surroundings were so unlike the area of Oregon we live in!
That is what we are about to hike up??!!!
It was an aptly named trail, at least the ups and downs were but I would say only about 1-1.5 of it was difficult. The rest was pretty flat.
Gotta get a nice picture before we get all sweaty and gross.
The view from the top was great, very pretty.
That is what we had just hiked up. There were actually quite a few stairs, it felt like I got a major step up workout hahaha
The information shop area place had a nice little map that was free that showed you all the trails.
We did Misery Ridge which was the most elevation wise but was only 4 miles. We would have added on a smaller hike but about half way through our 4 miles the wind started kicking up and the clouds started rolling in. We drove the rest of the way into Bend and had dinner at the Deschutes Brewery and restaurant. I had an amazing burger after all that hiking hahaha. I may have also had a beer sampler but being as I was tired and had worked out it only took 3.5 of the 6 to hit me so the BF finished the last 2.5 for me hahaha, I am so not a heavy drinker anymore.
On the way home the clouds really started rolling it and we even hit a little snow going up over the pass back to Portland. It was 34 degrees so the snow wasn’t sticking yet but it probably stuck later that night if it kept going.
Overall I really enjoyed this hike, I wish the clouds hadn’t rolled in so we could have hiked longer. There was only the one difficult part of the hike though going up and over the ridge, Brandon was a little bored the rest of the way and we even ran a little on all the flat parts. Maybe 3/4 of a mile to 1 mile. Smith rock state park is very big with rock climbers, there were A LOT of them, it was fun to watch them but terrifying to think of being up there. There is also mountain biking and on the flatter, rolling hills parts that could be fun.
As far as dogs go, they are allowed but sometimes Artemis pulls and I would have been terrified that she would have pulled me off balance and I would have fallen, there are some definite drop offs. Thankfully I did not bring her on this hike. Also I prefer to hike with her in less populated areas so I can let her off leash and she can go at her own pace.
Overall I enjoyed the hike but it is way to far of a drive for what we got out of it hike wise. I did very much enjoy myself though.
Until next time, have fun trailing the blonde…………
Happy May day!!!!!!!
(Image from google)
I hope the weather is nice so you can get out and enjoy it!!!
Workout goal this week-3 workouts in any form.
I got 2 workouts in last week, 1 walk/run and 1 hike. The weather wasn’t too bad and I should have gone out on Saturday after work for a little run but I was lazy instead hahaha I am working on it! The weather looks promising for this week so fingers crossed!!!!!
A few pics from the hike
She is so in her element when she is off least in the forest with no one else around
What are your goals this week?
And with that we are almost 1/2 through the quarter and are about to say goodbye to April!
School this week was ok. I skipped chem class on Monday, I was in a bad head space and needed to chill.
I relaxed with the puppy and watched some TV.
I am not feeling as dedicated this quarter though, probably because I am working full time as well which is a big adjustment.
I discovered this which tastes way too good and is probably going to kill me. I am slowly getting used to my new schedule, but by Wednesday night I am so wiped out.
Tuesday I got a little food prep done, mini frittatas
Which make 2nd breakfast/early lunch a breeze
Pretty delicious and ready in less than 5 minutes!
I also broke down and spent $35 on a magic bullet, protien smoothies are a great start to the day!!!
Then I had some pizza and salad, balance right?? Hahahahaha
I also went for a little walk outside with the roommate then jumped on the treadmill.
I need to start yoga again. My lower back is killing me and I think its pinching a nerve in my leg.
What I am currently listening to:
It is SUPER interesting, at least I think it is.
Friday it was pretty nice weather so after lab the BF and I did a little 4 mile hike! And before we left he made pot roast, threw it in a cast iron pot and let it cook on low until dinner time…….so good!!!!!!
Howdy!
Friday the boyfriend and I thought we would go for a little hike. We picked a spot, got some snacks, and packed up the dog. I was excited for a fun hike, our first one together!! We get there and start walking up the trail and……….it’s almost all ice
This might not have a been problem if my shoes had better traction, if i wasn’t clumsy, and if the below dog didn’t like to run into me at full speed ans knock me over
I turned us around pretty quickly, so our hike eneded up being a grand total of .75 miles.
We picked up a pizza Friday night.
Another yummy pizza. Peperoni, sausage, onions and peppers.
Saturday we mostly relaxed, I got a delicious root beer float from A&W!!! Yumm, i hadn’t had one since September
Sunday was a study and read day for me
Got my HW done
Watched some old episodes of amazing race
Then decided I felt like reading
I had some company…….though my company kept passing some nasty gas
And i enjoyed a bottle of hard cider to go with it!
And now I’m tired and want sleep.
Even though I didn’t sleep very well I woke up to the cutest face ever!
I can’t get over how flipping adorable she is!
After the freezing night we woke up to frost on the ground
Artemis in her little sweater
We had a great view!
After some breakfast we packed up and were on our way!
We were tired so we rocketed back to the car. Plus going down is faster than going up so it took us about 1/2-2/3 the amount of time to get back to the car.
On the way back Artemis got bit on the butt by a bug, poor thing, I gave her 1/2 a benadryl and that took care of any swelling and she is fine now. I got stung by a yellow jacket, my first sting in probably 20 years, good thing I’m not allergic!
I’ve never been so happy to be back in my car lol. The dogs passed out pretty fast. We stopped for McDonald’s and Starbucks and made the 5 hour trip back home.
Monday was a lot of relaxing, we all dogs included, spent most of it on the couch but I managed to get some laundry done and a bit of unpacking and some grocery shopping done.
How was your weekend?
Do you like the uphill or downhill better on a hike?
We were out the door by about 7:30 and hit McDonald’s for a high calorie breakfast. Both dogs were excited but unsure what was going on as well.
The roommates little dog dog got too excited/nervous and barfed a little. So our start was cleaning
Then we were off on the 6 hours drive!
It took us about 5 hours to get to the area then another hour to go the 15 miles on dirt/gravel/pot whole road to the trailhead.
And we are off!!!!
The first 3.5 miles of the trail were beautiful!!
Had nice rolling hills and crossed the water several times.
There were some interesting water crossings
Artemis was a little hesitant of the flowing water in the beginning then she got a little more comfortable
We had some fun kookie moments
So after those nice 3.5 miles we took a little break, had some pop tarts and snacks, love trail food, and drank some water and Gatorade. Poor Carra got stung by a bee. Then we headed out to do another 3.5 miles to the top……except these 3.5 miles were straight up! 1500 feet in about 2.5 miles.
I was pretty slow on the uphill so she would stop and wait for me to catch up. She is sooooo freaking cute and sweet!!! Or she would turn around and come find me.
I was dying a little.
I stopped and took a break about 1 mile from out stopping point because the direction milage was a little off and I was dying!!
These block got me through the last mile.
She settled in behind me for a little rest behind me
We slugged it the last mile and settled in.
Got our tent set up
Nice little view from out campsite
Can you find Artemis?
Someone passed out really quickly
We ate, listened to a little bit of a book on tape and tried to sleep
It was a loooong night. I finally dozed off around 9:30 then at 10:30 Artemis got up from our feet where she at been sleeping and bounded up toward me shaking. The poor thing was freezing. I got her halfway in my sleeping bag and cuddled up. She warmed up and I turned my sleeping bag into a blanket for us. She warmed up got comfy and fell asleep. But every hour or 2 either she would wake up and move around or part of my arm would go numb cause I was laying funky trying to keep her warm. Needless to say I didn’t sleep well. Of course once I was awake it took me another hour to fall back asleep.
I got 4-5 hours of sleep.
But overall it was a good day.
Trailing the blonde 