Buck on Stage Rd, Mt. Diablo

Summer Photos Are Up

http://www.dropshots.com/beefydrut

I dropped all our summer photos on our Dropshots site, link is above.

Truth

I read this today and it hit home on so many different levels, for many different reasons. 

Whether you've been the one to judge, or the one being judged....let this one sink in for a while.

Long Weekend, Long Post

Not a great picture, but this is the blondest I've been in years. When it's pulled back, you can't tell though because it's dark underneath.

My feet's happy place.

Feels like I'm always going up. 

Trying to capture all the cobwebs in the foot prints on the trail. It was sparkling with webs.

This tree...like a supermodel trying to blend in at KMart. It just stood out so beautifully, even with all the other trees around.

Total overachiever. Almost too much beauty!

 Myles and Papa built a "Latham" tree house. I sacrificed the lights from the fireplace in my bedroom. He was stoked!

What it looks like from across the yard. Ignore my blower laying there, I use that thing daily. Our Mulberry tree dropping leaves like crazy.

 Lots of Farkle outside in the evenings. We have Screech Owls at night that swoop through and screech. Pretty cool.

 You may notice I'm a firm believer in lighting candles for yourself...not waiting for special occasions or having company over.....and they are citronella candles cuz the skeeters. : )

 This is a room full of old school fun at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, where we spent Monday.

 Above, he has on his game face, and below, behold his serious gamer stance.

 At the hottest point, we saw 105 degrees on the car thermo.  It was super hot, and super crowded.

 This is mini golf. I had to sit out because...wait for it....they only allow groups of 4 or less.  Personally I thought this a great opportunity to get rid of a kid....but the mom in me decided I'd go grab a coffee and people watch while the family golfed.  But before they golfed.....we all laser tagged! It was so stinkin fun!! Sophie got the highest score. I'd do that again in a heart beat. So fun.

All those black dots in the water are surfers.

We left Santa Cruz in search of a beach with a clear patch of sand...that's Capitola down there, it was jam packed, too.

Capitola

We did find a beach. Not cheap to go to, and my State Park Pass didn't work....but we bit the bullet to be able to get the kids to some water.

 

Lot's of kelp and flies. It was kinda gross. But, we did see lots of dolphins, so that made it a little better.
Hope you all had a great 3 day weekend, too!

Hill Repeat Friday

A weekend post is still coming, but I'm backing up to Friday...cuz it's my blog....and I can. : )

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Man, I hadn't done this hill in a long, long time. I've mentioned I'm in comeback mode after taking summer off. I did a week of 3's, a week of 4's, and this week is 5's. Next week will be two 5's and a longer run. Slow and steady climb...except for Friday. That was the day I decided for no real reason to get my 4 in by doing two 2 mile loops on "the hill".

It kicks my booty every time.  If you're local, it's at the lower Castle Rock parking lot. Not the paved trail end, but the single track that heads up out of the far end of the parking lot. Just go up, to the right on the fire road, then stay  left and keep going up. There are lots of options for ways back down, but I do a 2 mile loop. 3 times is my limit if I intend to walk the next day. Friday I did 2 loops to stick to my 4 miles. I think I had another lap in me, but I'm sticking to my slow, steady build back to where I like to be.

 Behold....ok, in real life it looks straight up because, well, it's nearly straight up.

 If you look just right of center in the below pic, that is Castle Rock Park, where the potties, pool, and ranger station are.

 "Yo, mama, what are you doing to us?", said the legs.

 If you turn around at the top, this is what the trail looks like, it just drops straight down.

 But, after the climb, I indulge in some beautiful single track.

 Convincing myself the first lap is always the hardest!

	You can see the Strava elevation profile here. It's not a long hill by any means, but I do like that Strava's profile does capture the grade. It's fun to look at after the fact.

I Saw Pavey!

Well, you guys know I'm weird about my mountain. I choose to run out there because...well....I like the quiet. I like being alone out there, and not seeing people.  I also like that the mountain is near and dear to many people, and that they love to get out and enjoy it. Contradiction, yes. I make no apologies : )

I knew today there would be people. It's another hot week, people get out early to gett'r done. No worries, I'm prepared to keep my head down and gett'r done myself. I would like to apologize to the couple who came around the corner and witnessed my clean up efforts from a snot rocket gone wrong. It happens. No worries. Keep my head down and gett'r done, now with snot smeared all over my face. Awesome.

A thing about keeping your head down...if you're at the top of a hill, and someones coming up the hill, even with your head down, you see them. And who did I see?? The one and only Pavement Runner!! On the mountain?? He did a post about summiting Diablo a week or so ago, and at the time I thought maybe our paths would cross at some point, though I'm not sure how much time he spends on trails since from what I gather he's mostly on roads.  Then again, Sharman used to tear up the mountain on a weekly basis and I never once spotted him....so who knows. Anyhow, Pavey has a great blog we've followed for a while. He's got his hand in about every local running pot there is, is known and loved by many.  From what I've seen on line he's usually sporting a super smile and awesome socks, and mostly runs road, with  some trails here and there, known for being  a super upbeat, happy, cool dude, hubby, and dad. Since he's local, like same town local, I was stoked to see his Diablo post. Because, like I said above, while I don't like people on my mountain....I like people on my mountain : )

So, running downhill, super out of shape and breath, with snot now dried to my face, I mustered up a "Are you Pavey? Love your blog!" He said yes and asked my name, which I couldn't remember for a second. It's Beth. Made me wish I had a Brazen bib on, I could have just looked down and read it off. Also made me wish I hadn't forgotten breakfast in the chaos of getting 3 kids out the door to school.

Anyhow, if you don't know of this dude, check out his blog. Buy some cool socks or a tank.

Hopefully I won't be such a gross nerd if our paths cross again...but most likely I will.

Working on a weekend post for later.

Hot Trails

Friday of last week I had to do the dreaded cutting a run short and finding a shortcut back to the car. It was so hot.

 On a different run, I saw one of my favorite things....upward shooting rays. I don't know why I love them so much, but I do.  Usually the sun's rays shine down on us....but occasionally, if you are higher than the sun....they shoot up.

 We went bowling twice last week. The summer "Kids Bowl Free" thing is still going on, so we just pay for shoes and get to bowl 2 free games.

 My kids are super stylish. Way cooler than I was in middle school.

 Lots of Lego action going on in our house these days.

 From this morning's run.  Beautiful, but crispy dry. Leaves are falling....but it's still in the 90's....torn between Summer and Fall. I'm ever on the lookout for Tarantulas right now as we are entering the season, but non so far.

 Not that you can tell, but I got new highlights in the time between the first picture in this post, and the last picture : )