Running on the Swim Tour

WOW! 

 Days like today, I wish I had a second home in Oregon. It's 9:00 am, and the temperature is perfect for running. Sunny and cool.  The air smells so clean here in Gresham!  Vibrant greens and other colors are popping out all over the place!  After dropping Ashlee and Jacque off at the pool, I decided to take a spin around the Mt. Hood area. GORGEOUS! I don't even think that I was one mile away from the pool, yet I felt like I was in the forest!


Thursday, July 26th:  I headed to the track and made almost one loop around, then ....DETOUR!  I decided to take a little path that was just off the track.  Looked as if it was some type of trail.  I made it about 100 yards, and was surprised to find a chain link fence. Back to the track, and detour number 2.  This time I took an asphalt trail that took me around a couple of buildings out onto a main road.  Then I saw a little lake and figured out how to get to it. Started running around it, only to find ...yes, another fence!  I was laughing to myself. So I backtracked and found another train kind of in the middle of the campus.  It was so weird. I was in a parking lot and less than 3 minutes later I was in a forest!  Today I ran 3 miles and I enjoyed every single minute of it. I did not care about my pace. I did not care about my distance.  I felt like a kid in a candy store!  I just kept turning here or there, and loved discovering new paths and sights.  Yes, I was cautious, and I did see other people and dogs on the route I chose.

I have not had a run like this for a long, long time.   It's days like this that I am grateful that I can run.

Saturday, July 28th:  As I have been driving back and forth to the pool, and the grocery store, I noticed a steep hill. I couldn't even see the bottom of the hill from the main road.  That's my hill, I thought. WOW!  Can you say steep!  Loved running down it! At the bottom of the hill was a local fruit stand....I went back later for fresh raspberries.  3.10 today. Wish I was staying in this area a little longer, without an agenda!




A trip to Portland wouldn't be complete without a visit to Voodoo Donuts!



Ya, I ate this Voodoo Guy and loved every BITE!