Once again, it's been a while since my last post and I have pondered a lot of things. Running, parenting, headphones. You name it.
We've been on a couple vacations and I really like vacations. We took our last vacation of the summer recently and in the last couple of weeks we went to Bellingham, Washington and visited Sam's step-sister and her family for a couple of days on our way to Whistler, B.C. This was all in an effort to break up the drive from Portland to B.C. We left Friday morning, not as early as I had wanted, although I had said repeatedly that we should leave early in the morning to get ahead of any traffic. Sam said we could leave later and likely be okay. Boy was he wrong. We got delayed in traffic at several points along the way and then traveling with two kids, you're destined to stop more than you would prefer because someone is bound to need to use the restroom at the most inopportune time. What normally would take 4 hour, ultimately took closer to 6, yes 6! Can you hear an I told you so?
Upon arriving, we had a bite to eat, a drink walked around to the water (Aunt Shannon lives right on the water) and off to bed. I was pooped. The girls were besides themselves excited that they were going to be sleeping with their 16 year old cousin. They were virtually star-struck, it was so sweet. And, the added bonus: Aunt Shannon has 2 cats and 1 dog. The girls love cats (I however, hate cats, not to mention, I'm allergic to them). Next morning, the girls are refreshed and ready to hang with cousin Ariel. Uncle Randy is home now, too and so the house is abuzz. I get dressed to go for a run, what I usually do to check out a new place, and the weather is near perfect: cool, overcast, in the 60's. Shannon and Randy tell me about this interurban trail that runs for miles through the woods at the top of the hill. I'm off to find it. I use the headphones that came with the iPhone, which are pretty crappy, but for now, it's all I got since my good pair have a short. Fortunately, the mapmyrun program picked up the interurban trail since I didn't know where I was going otherwise, but once I found it, oh wow! What an amazing trail that is. If you are ever in the Bellingham area, you should check this out. I ran on the trail for 5 miles and it was superb, so scenic and forested and peaceful. You could run for miles and the terrain is perfect, some hills, but nothing that would make you curse your mother's name. I saw a few other runners and walkers and bikers. It was ... magical running.
Back at the house the girls were getting their toenails polished by Ariel and afterwards we had a fashion show. We went on walks, played ball with the dog, made s'mores. The most exciting thing the girls did there was lit giant sparklers, courtesy of Uncle Randy. Eytan said it was the best day of her life. It was pretty great, actually. I would definitely hang out with them again for more time because they were such great hosts and the location was so incredible. But, by Sunday morning, it was time to move on to our next destination: Canada.
Fortunately, from Bellingham, it's only 30 minutes away so we made a quick stop at Trader Joe's for some provisions and booze, then the gas station then off to the border. The US/Canada border is where the fun began. The border patrol guy was a real charmer (you should detect a hint a dripping sarcasm, because in all actuality, he was a complete and utter prick). I believe I answered all his questions correctly, but maybe not to his satisfaction. I may have looked to Sam for confirmation/affirmation one too many times. I didn't know what day we were returning; was it Saturday or Sunday? He asked our reservation number. I said we didn't have one and things really took a turn then. "Well, you can explain it to the officer."
We were all detained in the office, mwah, mwah. That guy clearly hated his job because he was a real d-bag. After parking the car and going inside the office, we waited to speak with an agent at the counter. Finally, the agent calls us and asks us who owns the car, why we are going to Canada (US, junior varsity) who we work for, what kind of work we do, blah, blah, blah. Okay, wait while I check this all out and leave your keys. Eytan and Ayelet were running around like crazy kids at an amusement park. I had to tell them to ratchet it back because nobody was having any fun there. Finally, they call Sam over grill him and decide we can enter the country. Seriously, canucks?
We arrived in Whistler and stayed for a week. I went running, gosh, I think two, maybe three times while I was there. I used the crappy iPhone headphones and I used Sam's headphones once. My favorites are Klipsch headphones. They really seem to form to the inside of your ear well and stay put; unlike some others I've tried. I feel like I had another good pair, but Ayelet broke them while we were on a family reunion vacation in Alabama...curses, kids. I replaced them with some Yurbuds, 'designed especially for women' ear buds. Guaranteed not to fall out because they are designed smaller to fit a woman's ear. Well, those were a complete fail. I had low expectations for them. Not only because they were marketed specifically to women and they colored them purple (they also sell them in hot pink, because all women naturally gravitate toward those colors, right?) But, I was curious about the small design and the never fall out guarantee. If it was true: awesome. If not, I was absolutely going to contact them about their BS. And, I did. Now, I have no earphones other than the standard issue crappy iPhone ones (did I already mention that those suck?) At any rate, the running in Whistler is great, even if the earphones aren't so great. So many paved trails throughout for runners, walkers and bikers or whatever your activity. I had a nice run my first time out and made it back without incident, although I got lost. Almost prophetic: lost around Lost Lake. That sucked. Ultimately, I managed to make it back but geez, all those resorts look alike. Next time out, I went again around Lost Lake but this time I was going to go around the perimeter of the lake. Sam had said he had run around the lake and it sounded nice so I would give it a whirl.
I begrudgingly went out for a run after talking myself into going for a run because I was so exhausted I didn't even want to go. I then decided, I'll just go for 2 miles and call it good. But, then once out there I figured that's insulting (to myself) to run that short of a distance. So, I should run farther and really make it a good run, i'd only be cheating myself otherwise. Besides, i'd only feel guilty if I didn't really give it a good go. I ran and passed several people and saw another woman that I had seen running on another day. We said hi to each other and kept going. I got to the unpaved portion of the Lost Lake trail to go around the perimeter of the lake and passed some walkers and a woman with her to dogs. Continuing on, I was feeling good, a bit winded, but good otherwise. My crappy ear phones were getting sweaty and one fell out of my ear and as I looked down to tuck it in my bra strap and walk forward I looked up and up ahead on my left nearest the bank by the water I saw a black bear that looked at me. Whoa. That's okay, I don't need to see the perimeter of the lake or take a longer run, i'll just go back this way towards the woman with the dogs and sprint towards her, because she wasn't that far ahead of me. I don't think I had run that fast in a while and I knew that running away from that bear was not a wise thing to do, but I didn't want to stand there either and I knew running toward it was a bad idea as well and I was stunned into silence. Now I know what fear does for me: silences me.
Once I caught up with the lady with the dogs I told her I saw a bear and she said she was not going to go back that direction (although she was much more bear prepared than I and had bear mace. I had nothing, not even a whistle or bear bells). My entire run from that point on was a virtual sprint, even though there were people around and the likelihood of seeing a bear at that point, in a much more populated area of the trail was very, very remote, I was not taking any chances. My pace was the fastest it had been in a long, while: but for good reason- FEAR.
I now know, for me, good headphones are essential (one of the essential things) to a good run, if you listen to something while you run and to not have to futz with a pair of headphones while you run: PRICELESS. Yurbuds, you suck! Klipsch, you rock! Good earphones allow you to escape your life while you run and solve problems effortlessly, which in turn, makes me a better parent.
