Portland

Cool town indeed....very Boulder/Austin like- as in liberal, eco friendly - recycling, composting all over, no plastic bags etc, lots of facial, neck, arm tattoos, many living on the street, very young and a cool town....but sadly I feel old and out of it.   Especially when you get me near the Kickstarter crowd-  I am just not hip, open to all new ideas and okay a bit lost when the really techies are chatting it up. 

John is motivated, moved and excited and I am annoyed.... what is wrong with me?  So I have been exposed to the XOXO crowd for about an hour now.  I am not allowed into the real conference but I am hanging out in the "fringe"  Everyone is "so excited" in a way that creeps me out a bit...animated and "don't you just love this" ... funky clothes and a totally different world than mine.  So I am wanting to embrace what is different and open my mind which is a main criticism of my by my husband, he thinks I am closed minded,  which I think I am generally pretty open minded. 

What is really sad....I felt more at home hanging around the Chehalem Mountain Therapy Riding Center after the run yesterday.  I guess not so sad but interesting.  I was out of my element with horses and the country and families with physically and mentally challenged kids...but I loved the environment and the feel,  My point, I can be out of MY element and still be happy. 

So onto my element...the Chehalem Challenge was a brutal kick ass race,  14 miles and over 1600 feet of elevation- but it was stunning- sweeping views of vineyards and valleys all the way to Portland.  Really small race- 11 to be exact and amazingly nice people.  This is a 1st annual and a fundraiser for the Riding Center.  There was also a 5K and other activities throughout the day.  The course was marked with paper plates on posts, the aid station was a car that drove amongst us offering water and bananas and it was quite and scenic.   There was a guy who was competitive with me and we had some fun...I passed him on the uphills and he was killing me on the downhills - seems he tired a tad to hard as his quads seized up badly around mile 11 at the bottom of a 9% grade hill and I "took the lead" Really fun...the first and only time I will ever win a running race.  They even had a prize and wholly cow...4 passes to Disneyland- how nice is that!   My kids are psyched - for those who don't know me - I don't do Disney of any kind. So my kids are deprived of that "happiest place on earth"  Although JD went on grad night and Riley recently volunteered at a race there.... I will take them to Australia, NZ, France, Spain,, Monaco, Mexico, China, Ecuador and soon Cambodia but so "Magic Kingdom" for me...so now even better- free tickets.   

It was fun....and post race food was veggie chili and cornbread and delicious.  After seeing some demos and saying goodbye I headed back and manged to book a massage.  Now what a day!!!  Rounded out the day with a wonderful dinner at Ox...wonderful Argentinian food in a cool atmosphere.   John went back to see a film  Indie Game - the Movie which he said was so worth it and I went to bed...which was worth it too :)

And today...more of my element- awesome 24 hour fitness in town with a nice pool for a solid recovery swim and light workout-  followed by good food and settled down at Peets for an afternoon of work.  All good.... and we fly home tonight!