Been a while since an update. Same old same old….I have thoughts about what I want to blog about and then when I go and do it, my brain goes blank….so sad.
What I need to do, is do a draft post with just thoughts/subjects. So when I go and write one up, I have a reminder for myself.
I’ve been maintaining at the gym. Nothing earth shattering. After using the treadmill for about 18months straight, I’m getting a little annoyed on it. So I’ve been using the elliptical machine the last 2 days. I like that it is easier on my knees, feet & hands (I death grip the treadmill, no matter what speed). I also like that it working totally different muscles and so far, when I get off of it my legs feel jelly like. What I don’t like, is that it doesn’t force you keep the speed so I’m getting a good sweat but not the soaking, down pouring sweat that means I’ve burned more calories. According to the machine, I’m burning about 200 calories less and about 2 miles less then I’m use to. But I know that the speed I put on the treadmill is nothing that I would ever be capable of doing naturally without it forcing me and my death grip. So I just need to get my routine on it and with there being 2 versions of that machine at the gym, learn how to make them work the best for me.
Our kitties are still cute and ornery……grin Drew almost acts like a dog when you call him and loves to play with hubby on the cat tree. You try to correct either Drew or Sakura about something and they look at you like to say “what?” Heck, when hubby has pointed his finger at Sakura to scold her she turns around and rubs her face against it…..LOL Totally makes us laugh…..grin
Alexis is still hard at hearing, meowing (yelling/screaming) at us, because she can’t hear herself. Wondering if she is going senile, since she’ll do it in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. She never use to make this kind of noise until she ended up sick over a year ago. Not she just hasn’t stopped…..drives us batty. I keep wondering if those 4 days at the vet for the thyroid treatment gave her separation anxiety. She hadn’t been overnight since she was fixed as a kitten 14yrs before. She is use to us traveling and leaving for a few days, but that is when she is left home with everything she is use to. I just wish she would stop being so loud….
We had some friends come down for a visit a few weeks ago. We took them to see Crown Point Observatory and Multnomah Falls, everyone has to see that when they visit. =)
We finally did some Portland things and went to Voodoo Donuts & Powell’s Books. Wow….those donuts were awesome….grin And a bookstore, 3 floors and a whole city block…..I loved it! Ironically my favor subjects (politics, history, social issues) were under my favorite color (purple). Need to go back down there and go to the Chinese Garden and visit more of the shops.
We have had a really mild winter. According to the news we are about 6ft below the average snow pack on Mt Hood. That is not a good thing….that is our summer water when we go into our dry season. Part of Oregon are under drought warnings. It is from the El Nino….all the wet weather is going either north or south of us….California and it flooding….that is our normal winter rain. So on one hand, concerned about possible drought conditions for the summer, but it really has been nice for winter. Everything started budding in Feb, about 5 weeks earlier then normal.
With the nicer weather, I’ve been wanting to get out on one of the nice days. So hubby found a nice hike in central Oregon, about 2 & 1/2 hours SE of here. It is what they call the high desert. Boy, once you are going down 26 on the east side of Hood, huge difference in the vegetation. You get use to all the green wooded area on this side of Hood and the Gorge that it is hard to imagine it being anything else until you see it.
We also really got to see Mt Jefferson better then we see from this side. Normally we just barely see the tip of it on a clear day from high points.
Those smaller peaks to the south (left) of Mt Jefferson are the Three Sisters.
Closer look at the Three Sisters. Hope, Charity, & Faith.
That “small” peak is Mt Hood. So not use to seeing it look so small. =)
We went to Smith Rock State Park for our hike (this was our trail http://www.nwhiker.com/SmithRockHike.html ). It was only 4miles….which was nice distance wise……but it had heck of a climb up and down. That 1st miles was a witch. No matter how much you do at the gym, it never prepares you for climbs like that. It just totally wipes out your stamina. We did the hike in about 3hrs. According to wiki, they have shot several westerns there and it is “generally considered the birthplace of modern American sport climbing”
I’ve already posted all our of pics from this hike in my facebook, just need to make a gallery to post them all here.
I actually got a good pic of hubby.
Our traditional self-portrait. =)
It was really great to get out of the house and our routine for a change. I never like long drives, but we did get to see the snow on Mt Hood. =) With not getting our average the snow line was much higher then normal and melting. Wasn’t even required to have chains on. We really want to explore all the different parts of Oregon for hiking. So we are leaning towards the coast for our next day hike, since we haven’t done that yet. We would love to get to Crater Lake for camping and hiking this year.
