Why ride a bike?

If you find yourself saying.. "I like your rack!" and "How's your saddle?" you might be into cycling.

Marcie and I keep managing to get back on our bike! I am LOVING it! I am inspired by it, I dream about it, and I am upset when I can't ride my bike. I want to pedal further, faster, and find the next route that will be beautiful beyond description. I LOVE riding my bike!!!

The first picture is me after some pretty big hill climbing. We went up over North Plains and the views were emotional with the sun coming up over the valley.

Before the hill climbs (not the same day).. I rode 65 miles from Beaverton to Vernonia! It was my favorite ride yet, and I am most proud of it! It was so much fun to be with a bunch of other cyclists, and really push myself.
I fell more in love with my bike on this ride then I ever thought possible.

I have done a few other rides, each with it's own unique flavor. And the best news for me is that I convinced Emile to get a bike, and he found one tonight. I'm sure there will be pictures to follow soon.
Oh, and if anyone has read this far... don't worry I will be getting a new helmet soon. I know it is kinda silly looking. :D

First big ride

This is me after my first BIG ride! I went nearly 40 miles this morning at the break of day! I couldn't have done it alone though. My friend Marcie is an all-star biker, and is showing me the ropes. I feel... amazing after it is all done. Can't wait till next weekend's 62 miler!

We started by riding the ferry....

avoiding some low flying aircraft...

riding some hills past the cows, farms, llamas and watching the sun come up...

Rode a 130 ft elevator (only outdoor municipal elevator in US)

Cruised down some monster hills (after climbing them of course)...

Ended up walking the freeway to cross the river ...

Crossed through some of the most scenic parks around...

And ended up back at my doorstep!!!

My new bike

Maybe I'm a racer... maybe a cyclist... maybe a wishful thinker... but for now, I'm hitting the road! I finally got my new bike and I couldn't be more excited! !!! !!!! (hence all my exclamation points!!!!!)!!!!

The bike is perfect. Perfect size, perfect color, and buying it from really nice people made the experience even better. They took pristine care of it.

So, this weekend a friend and I went out and rode 24 miles at about 5 in the morning. It was out on a beautiful country road on an island. It was euphoric and I can't wait to go out again! The views were beautiful, the smells were a nice blend of cows, flowers, berries and fresh air right off the river. The picture below isn't me... but this was the road and one of the views that I had on Saturday morning.
When I figure out how to take pictures while riding... then I'll add more shots.

North Oregon Coast

Camping at the coast must start with salt water taffy and Seaside was the perfect stop before we set up our site at Ft. Stevens SP. We each picked lots of our favorite flavors and ended up with sick tummy's from all the sugar!

We went on the bumper cars....

And when we got to the ocean... we found some good friends there who taught us a thing or two about skim boarding.

We played around sunken shipwrecks...

Spent the evenings and mornings here...

Ate a new treat called "Woofums"...

Master Chef...

Hiked the Astor column to launch glider planes.
Who would have thought the kids would end up in tears after they threw their planes off?

Played into our inner child and gawked at the Goonies house...

Waited for the Trolley to come and take us on a grand tour of Astoria...

Believe it or not... this is the place to get the best Fish and Chips you'll ever eat! We waited for 30 minutes in line.. and I'd do it again!
Played as a family...

Ate some sand for dessert...

Found "Battle stations" to let our imagines go WILD!

And had special time on "Simon and Mommy's" beach!

We didn't even get to see all that we wanted to. I guess we'll save the rest for next time!

The way we celebrated

For our anniversary we ran away for a night. We went hiking in the Gorge and then stayed the night at Skamania Lodge. LOVED IT!!!!!!

Here are a few pictures to remind me of the sweet and memorable time we had.

ten years ago

Ten years ago we were surrounded by the best people on earth! Our best friends and all our family came to support us on our journey together. I knew we would get to ten years.... and I can't wait to see twenty, thirty... fifty...

We look a little different, but one thing remains the same. I love this man! I guess my heart spoke to me clearly when my maturity couldn't even understand the gravity of what I was about to venture into.

My heart is full of gratitude and love and I suppose that is just what I am supposed to feel on an anniversary.