Best. Fall. Ever.

I am loving this weather! The bike rides and the hikes have been glorious and I am so glad to live in the Coeur d'Alene area. On Columbus Day, Steve and I rode our bikes from Hayden down to the east end of the North Idaho Centennial Trail. Check out this view!

Higgins Point at the End of the Centennial Trail

 The Centennial Trail goes from Higgins Point (our destination) along the shoreline and then through Coeur d'Alene (we stopped for lunch at Bakery by the Lake) to the Washington border and to Spokane (not quite infinity) and beyond for a grand total of  60 miles. On the Idaho side, there are some tricky places (mostly in Post Falls)  but the governing foundation is working on them.When I moved up here in 1987, I really missed Boise's Greenbelt Trail System. Someone must have heard my heart's desires because that is the year that the gears started moving on this project. Thank you - North Idaho Centennial Trail Foundation! www.northidahocentennialtrail.org

Steve on his recumbent bike on the the Higgins Point hill

Bloomsday! Oh what a glorious day!

Photo by Jesse Tinsley- Spokesman Review

For me, this what Bloomsday is all about- not the winners but the people with the hoses, the bands, the spectators that cheer us on, the crazy costumes, lots of water stations, and last but not least- all the other runners.  It's a very big party that I get to go to once a year. This was the 36st annual race and 47,882 runners crossed that finish line. I started running this race back in 1978 when my coach at North Idaho College took his long distance runners to the 2nd annual race. There were only 7,800 but it was the biggest race that I had ever been in and the next year it grew to 12,000. I have the T-shirts and the memories of many races (no, I am not sure how many) and I loved them all.  A favorite was when my brother came from Germany and my mom and my daughter Samantha joined me in the race. My brother raced and the three generations of women just had fun being together while we walked the course.
Yesterday, my son Thomas and I ran- not together - he finished in about an hour and I took half again as long. The weather was great (mid 40's to 60's) and I have a new dark blue T-shirt and had a great time. One of things that I love about living in the Coeur d'Alene area is Spokane. It is close enough (30 miles) to go to for special events but far enough away that I feel like I live in a small town. After the race, we saw The Advengers movie in Imax and 3D- something that we can't do in CDA -it was the cherry on top of a brilliant day!