Week in Review (August 19 - August 25)

Tuesday (14,132 steps) - Walked Olive before going to work in the office. First fun thing of the day was getting a free pastry and cold brew from the coffee place downstairs. I had some drama in the morning with bank issues when I tried to pull money out to pay Ariel's tuition. Ended up being an all day endeavor of going to multiple banks to close one account and deposit money into another (with a bank in the middle that was useless). Had a meeting at lunch, best part was free food! Got in a short Peloton ride so I wouldn't break my streak. Rushed home to start packing. Went to Torchy's for dinner. Short Olive walk, finished packing, Bosch!

Wednesday (15,896 steps) - Actually got up early to get a short run in since we would be traveling and I wasn't sure what activity I would be able to squeeze in. Run wasn't bad! 

Also took Olive for a walk. Ariel and I got out the door on time, with a stop at Dunkin'. Traffic wasn't as bad as I feared and we were parked at my office with plenty of time to walk and catch the train. Security was a breeze. We were in the last boarding group, but since we were flying Delta there was still plenty of room in the overhead bins. I watched the documentary about The Biggest Loser - it was interesting! After we got off the plane we hopped on the shuttle to get the rental car. Once again, couldn't get the CarPlay to work on both of the cars we tried. What the heck!! So annoying. We still took the Hyndai Elantra, and Ariel was assisting with navigation. Even though it was early afternoon in the middle of the week, we hit a TON of traffic heading through Tacoma. By the time we stopped at Chic-Fil-A for lunch we were STARVING. A lot more driving, with Ariel falling asleep, so it was a little lonely. Stopped at a Walmart along the way to pick up more bandaids since my flip flops were cutting into the top of my feet. We got to the BnB Lisa had rented fairly late, after 7:30. It was a SUPER cute house in the middle of nowhere.

There wasn't anything for dinner since we were so late, so we headed back out and drove into Forks where we picked up Subway and a 6 pack of beer. It was a busy night getting everything ready for the big day!

Thursday (18,810 steps) - I had planned on getting up early and going for a longer run/hike, but then the girls said that they were going to get coffee and then go walk to a waterfall, so I invited myself along. First, we went to a cute coffee shop in Forks, then to a waterfall that Alyssa had found. We got a bit turned around but finally found the waterfall after wandering around a bit. 

My favorite selfie - Ariel, Me, Julia & Alyssa

Ariel and Alyssa

We had a lot of laughs on this walk/hike and got lost trying to get back to the road. We headed back and the girls decided to start getting ready. I had found what I thought would be a good loop that was only about 15 minutes away. First, I ended up on the wrong road (without phone service), then when I got on the "right" road, I realized that I probably shouldn't even be driving on it. AND, what I thought was a trail was actually the very same road I was driving on. Oh well, I got in just under an hour of running.

I had to rush back to the BnB after, since I was now running late! I had to shower and get dressed since we had a set schedule for the wedding!! Ariel and I rode with Ivan and Brian to our first stop of the day, Ancient Oaks trailhead in Olympia National Park. We walked with the photographer to see where we were going to be doing Brian's "first look" pictures. By the time the bride showed up, we were already VERY behind our schedule. 

Lisa and me, friends since 1999!

The photo shoot took a long time - but what a gorgeous setting! Sharing a handful of the 100s of pictures I took.

Ariel, Julia, Alyssa

Me and Ariel

We were starting to lose daylight and still had a long drive ahead of us - heading out to Ruby Beach for more pictures and the actual wedding. I was glad to have brough my R1 as it was breezy and definitely cooler on the coast. The photographer had a ton of gear to get down to the beach, so she had a rolling cart. We had all OUR stuff in a giant plastic tote that we made Ivan carry. For whatever reason, the photographer had everyone crossing the water - there was a small, not sturdy looking "bridge" of driftwood that she actually slipped off, but thankfully did not ruin any of her FIVE cameras. Ariel and I were the only ones that climbed over driftwood instead of getting our feet wet.

My absolute favorite picture of the day is this spontaneous picture I got of Lisa just messing around.

Plenty of more pictures were taken - again, just a few of the ones I took.

Amanda, Ivan, Alyssa and me

I don't have any pictures from the actual ceremony since I was paying attention and not taking pictures - will have some when the professional pictures are done. Pics of the champagne toast!

Ariel, me, Lisa, Brian, Amanda, Ivan, Rosemarie

Shortly after all these pictures, it started to get dark - real fast! We had a small amount of cake and the first dance, but we basically had to get out pretty quickly since we had to walk back to the car with all our stuff, trash and NO lights!

It was late when we got back to the BnB. The kids crashed pretty early, and Rosemarie and Amanda went to bed early since they were going to be out of the BnB first thing. I stayed up to have a beer and hang out with Lisa.

Friday (22,657 steps) - Up earlier than I thought I would be. We all still had to pack up and clean the BnB before heading out. Me, Brian, Lisa and the girls decided we would get brunch before separating and doing our own things on Friday night. We decided to stop for a "short hike" to a waterfall, Marymere Falls. Spoiler, it was over two miles round trip, so with pictures and such, took over an hour.

Somewhat ironic was walking past the trailhead for "Storm King" - which was one of the two trails I had thought about doing, but seemed too difficult for the girls after I got more information on it (apparently very technical and ropes and such closer to the top).

Lisa, Julia, Ariel, Alyssa, me - one of my favorite pictures!

This may have taken longer than we thought, but I am really glad we did it. The falls were really pretty and I enjoyed being out in a new place. We stopped to get food (by now, it was 1 pm, so it was lunch and not brunch) in Port Angeles. 

The girls had been researching possible areas to hike on our way to Seattle, and Ariel found one nearby in the National Park, the Heart o' the Forest. So off we went. Julia opted to stay in the car since her ankle was hurting, so it was just me, Alyssa and Ariel. 

It was a very quiet trail, in two hours we only saw a dozen people. There was also no "reward" at the end of the hike, unless you count this cairn and a heart-shaped boulder.

It was really pretty, however, and I did enjoy spending time with the girls! When we got done we decided to stop and get a sweet treat before the LONG drive to our hotel. 

By the time we got through Tacoma (thankfully a LOT less traffic than when we got into town), we were all DONE. Lisa booked us a hotel near Pikes Marketplace and I'm glad I stopped at the valet since I couldn't figure out where parking was - because that's all there was, valet. We unloaded all our stuff and checked in. It was after 8, so we walked a few blocks to pick up a pizza.

Stayed up late talking and finishing our spiked lemonades (everyone but Ariel is over 21, lol).

Saturday (12,271 steps) - Set my alarm so I could get a shower in before the girls got up. We got ready and headed down the street to the breakfast/coffee place I found. Delicious!

We didn't have a ton of time before I had to drive Alyssa and Julia to the airport :(  Ariel and I went to Target so I could get a new pair of headphones since I had accidentally left mine at the BnB (they found them and are sending to me, but I needed something for the flight). While deciding what to do for a few hours, we found a free botanical garden, so we went and walked around. Was really pretty!!

We then went to Costco for gas and to get a slice of pizza for lunch. We didn't have a ton of time left, so we went to a close-by brewery. Out of hundreds of breweries, managed to pick one that I have already been to. At least I got a new beer!

Flight was uneventful. Watched a few episodes of Gossip Girl. Landed early and Ben picked us up and dropped us off at my office to get Ariel's car. We had a quick dinner after getting home before bed. LONG DAY.

Sunday (10,131 steps) - We were clearly EXHAUSTED as we somehow stayed in bed until NEARLY 10 AM. That hasn't happen in probably a decade (unless it's after a huge race, but even then, it's certainly not a regular thing). We had told Ariel we would take her out to brunch before she headed back to her place for school. We went to the newer brunch place nearby and it definitely did not disappoint!

Took Olive for a walk. In the afternoon we went to 4 Noses with Olive - the weather was finally pleasant for once. Olive walk, Bosch.

Monday (17,126 steps) - Work from home. Didn't take long to get caught up. Took Olive for a long walk and then went for a run. This was fun because I 1). tested out a new bra since my favorite bra is now discontinued!!, 2). Wore tights (I got some new REI ones that I want to try out before I throw on my pack for my next race) AND 3). Wore a singlet even though I tend to chafe when I wear tanks these days. Spoiler - run was pretty good, plus I got to pet a dog, so that was fun.

I wasn't there, but A sent me a picture of her and her friend for first day of sophomore year!

After work I went to Jared to have my semi-annual ring inspected, did a delivery on my way home (a-holes cut my tip so I wasn't happy). Hope for Olive walk in the drizzle, dinner, Bosch!

Stats:

• 111,023 steps
• 10.39 miles run
• 19.38 miles walked/hiked
• 15 minutes of cardio
• 0 minutes of strength