Better than a good day at the office: the rest of the story

Where have I been... I know... not giving my lovely little blog enough attention. I guess it must be the combination of summer and increased work load. So to those of you who have not lost complete interest, bless your heart, I am going to focus more on this little baby.

This last week it was, I will honestly admit, a much needed break from sitting in front of a computer.

Our "Staycation" was great, and now back at the office, reflecting on it, I had fun. From BBQs, The Deming Log Show, Mt. Seymore, Whistler Bike Park, Solstice Party, and much needed R&R (after the party, but the whole week felt pretty chill).

Yes, we really spent an afternoon at the Log Show. We took in such events as tree climbing, double bucking, log rolling... you know, all those great logging sports?!?

The other highlight of the vacation (what could be more exciting than a log show you might be wondering...) was Whistler! **Phew** It puts "a grin across my face that you couldn't beat off with a hammer" (an exact quote from a man we met on the chair lift). This is about as close as one can get to biking heaven. Three full days of riding... pure fun! No crashes (well no high speed diggers), a condo to ourselves, good weather, and some weekday riding. I want to go back this weekend, I think my climbing gear is about to gather some dust. **We brought our bouldering pad and shoes, sure we would be dieing to stop in Squamish on the way home and get a good pump, we went to the bike shop and then to the brew pub instead...**

We rounded out the vacation with a bang up Solstice party. Which was a cherry on top of the weekend.

Better than a good day in the office - DAY 1

John and I took the week off (applause!!!). It is great weather here in Bellingham and we are not going anywhere! This hasn't ever happened, we are staying in town this week and playing in the PNW. Sorry to my coworkers, Big sorry to them, thanks for letting me leave in the midst of this crazy project.

John took last Friday off as well, he said he woke up with a smile. There is music to my ears! If felt pretty good to be coming home Sunday night and not have to worry about getting up Monday for work... Now it is 7am and I am up because I want to be! This is going to be a good week!

Reason #1 for not being in the office: We got to eat lunch at Wasbi together. YUM! Instead of going to the office being stuffed we went bouldering at Seahome. Bouldering at Seahome is much better in the afternoon than after work, there is actually sun that can creep through the canopy.

Reason #2 for not being in the office: I will take pushing my downhill bike up trails, washes, rocky gullys... in a full face, with leg guards, sweating profusely and then to for me to pick the wrong trail to ride which leaves us more lost pushing our bikes uphill both ways.... before sitting at my computer any day.

Yes, John took me to the North Shore of Vancouver yesterday to ride. We went to Fromme first, which was a blast! My bike was so much fun! Here, there is a gate across the access road, which leaves us pedaling up a good hour on "the perfect road," it is hard to imagine that there is a road out there that is enjoyable to pedal big bikes up but I just have, there are about seven switchbacks on the road (as John told me this, I was ready for a hanus Cleator Road of sorts) but the grade of this road was so gradual, it was really the perfect climb! Since the climb must detoured a lot of folks, the trails as John pointed out, are still in amazing shape. It was great to ride (even if I pushed probably more than I rode) these amazing trails. This is really what you see in all those crazy bike videos. I really can't wait to get back there. It was a blast!

After that we went for a little exploration to Mt. Seymore and the town of Deep Cove. Mt. Seymore id the same ball of wax, but you can drive 11 kilometers up a nice highway and shuttle the trails. Us not guaranteed another ride back to our car and the thought of pedaling 11 km up a road was completely out of the question. We ended up powering up an easy trail and riding a few other trails (this is the whole part that kind of blew up, pushing way further than we had imagined, riding a poor trail choice by me, sweating really hard...), but at the end of the day I had a smile on my face and was stoked to have ridden these trails (I hope John felt the same way, after waiting on me all day).

The last stop was a little town called Deep Cove, a little community nestled by a bay on the side of Mt. Seymore. If you are in Vancouver, pop down, I think we want to move there!