Closeness

After my mom passed my dad gave me a few of her personal things.....which I am so, so, so grateful for. I think the items I like the most are two of her watches and I wear one of them every day. One is two-tone yellow gold and silver and the other is only silver, which is the one I normally wear since yellow gold and I don't match very well.

Well, I was putting on the two-tone one this morning and when it touched my skin, just for a brief second, I could feel her. I sensed her love and almost felt as if I was being gently hugged. No, I don't think her ghost was there actually in the room, hugging me. This was a feeling that originated much deeper within me and lasted only a fleeting moment and then was gone. It brought a tear to my eye and I remembered how much I loved her hugs......even though she would inadvertently dig her fingers into my sides and crush my chest so hard it ached :-)

I'd give up so much just for one more hug. Guess I'll have to wait until my time. Until then, I thank God that I have little moments where I feel close to her again......

*SIGH* Why Did it Have to End?

I'm convinced that nature is God's version of Prozac or therapy, at least for me. He created so many gorgeous things in this world......mountains, old growth trees, little sparrows, lush forests, hot sunshine and valleys. We went camping this weekend, if you couldn't guess :-) The Oregon Rally Group was putting on the annual Oregon Trail Rally in central and coastal Oregon. Erik and I went, along with a few of his co-workers and their friends or fiances. We had such a blast driving around in the woods, finding cool spots to take pictures and even more fun, finding interesting, hidden places to "relieve ourselves".

The weekend started off with a nice, long drive from Federal Way to Hillsboro, Oregon. We stayed at a place called Horning's Hideout, where Erik and I have stayed a few times before. I've probably mentioned the peacocks in the past :-) Anyways! We built a great fire and tried to stay warm. Horning's Hideout is WAY down a the bottom of a ravine so it was quite cold.....but it was worth it for the scenery. The owners had set up our firepit and even left us a tuplip on the table..... We will definitely be back again next year!

We were up with the sun on Saturday morning and started out with breakfast, which was Fried Piles (a bacon/egg/english muffin meal made Hadlock style). We then went to Hillsboro Stadium to see all the Rally Cars lined up and ready to go. THEN, it was a long drive out to the Tillamook National Forest to start the mayhem :-) My heartbeat jumped when I heard the first car about a mile away from us, roaring down the logging roads. The first few cars are always the fastest and give us spectators a thrill with loud entries, flying rocks and tons of billowing dust. GOOD STUFF. There was a long wait until the next pass through that corner, so we all piled in our trucks and headed up a really steep hill, up to the top of a mountain. There, we had an ariel view of a few sweeping turns, which was awesome despite the fact the cars were kinda far away. We fired up the grill and made yummy burgers and drank tons of beer. Oh and the sunshine!!! We were probably up oh, about a thousand feet or more and it was still over 70! Erik got a sunburn on his neck and face, as did the rest of us. We built complicated rock towers, played with Charlotte (the little Jack Russell that was hanging out with us), ate grubbin' camp food and enjoyed the fresh air without all the distractions of life. Wonderful. Best time ever. Didn't have a care in the world. I wasn't thinking about work or money or my mom or my weight or my issues with friends or anything else....... complete relaxation. Won't ever forget it :-)

Phew! As if that wasn't enough fun, we headed out towards a campsite Erik and I had been a few times. We found a site all nestled back into some trees and got settled in. After getting all our tents set up and things put away, we settled around a huge fire, roasting brauts, drinkin' cheap beer and munchin' on goodies....great times.....beautiful scenery with HUGE trees and a cool river nearby.

We ended up walking down to that river early Sunday morning......it was breathtaking. The sun was hot already, even at 8 in the morning and the breeze coming off the river was just perfect! Eventually, we noticed we were actually at a spot where 3 rivers came together and joined forces, which was cool. Charlotte loved trying to nip at the little shore waves and the boys got a kick out of trying to build rock towers using oddly shaped rocks :-) I took a ton of photos, but not all were digital so I can't post some of the coolest ones here.

The rally race on Sunday wasn't quite as exciting as it was on Saturday, but that's not unusual. After exploring logging roads and cool dirt trails, we finally decided it was time for one last grilled burger and than we needed to make the long trek back up I5.

This last weekend couldn't have been more perfect if I had planned it myself. The people we were with were great, the food was excellent, the rally was good, the weather was incredible, we slept great and got to ignore email, cell phones, traffic and the news....... perfection. All I could do on the way home is recap everything we had done and thank God for creating such a fun place to explore.

I am refreshed........ 100% rejuvenated and ready to take on the next thing..

I've been trying to post photos here but Blogger is apparently having trouble uploading photos........ again.

Oh well! I'll try to post 'em this week sometime.

Time to work now!!

Wanna See Something Really Cool?

Check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/w/Pikes-Peak-Peugeot-(-Impresionante-)?v=nCgs1LbQtJg&search=mustang%20turbo%20diesel%20truck%20hp%20drag%20race%20strip

You must have Macromedia Flash Player 8 to view it. You may be able to download for free, I'm not sure.

Anyways, check it out if you want a mini-thrill through the eyes of a race car driver :-)

(It's best viewed with sound - and turn it up!)

:-)

Spontaneous Sunday Morning

Well, I think it’s safe to say that Erik and I hate being indoors. Why? Because on Sunday morning at around 3am, we were woken up and couldn’t go back to sleep. It was actually about 4am because of the time change, but anyways. We didn’t want to drive down to his place in Federal Way since he had to be in Everett later and neither of us could fall back asleep anyways. SO! We went for a drive! Seems to be our specialty :-)

We had originally decided to head up to the pass and watch the sunrise……..well, we ended up in Ellensburg and drove all around in the mountains. The sunrise was gorgeous, as you can see.













We had a blast just driving around on bumpy dirt roads, munching on goodies and chatting about this and that.

After exploring some mountains and roads (one of which we couldn’t continue on because of a deep stream right in our way), we decided to head back west. I ended up napping and after a while and I guess Erik was tired too, since we stopped at a rest stop and took a nap. As you can see, it was very bright and Erik wanted to cover his eyes :-)




















On our way back, we stopped at Snoqualmie Falls and took a few photos. Neither of us had been there for a long time – it was SO beautiful.




















Anyways, it as a great way to spend an early Sunday morning……. Out in the fresh mountain air. I would encourage anyone who can’t fall back asleep in the wee hours of the morning to throw on a coat, get in your car and find a great place to watch the sunrise. It was refreshing to say the least.

Can anyone believe it’s APRIL 5th already?!?!?!

April marks the start of another busy, yet really fun summer……

Upcoming Events:
PNB presents Sleeping Beauty – April 15th (a gift from Erik’s grandparents)
Oregon Trail Rally – April 21-23rd
First Hydro Race – Banks Lake, WA – May 6-7