solar squirrel

Well, our vacation in Oregon is almost over :(  We leave tomorrow to go back to Ohio.  It seems like we just got here!  Tuesday was a gorgeous day and we decided to go fishing since we didn’t know if we would get another break in the weather.  Todd’s dad is an experienced fisherman so he took us out on the Rogue River.  It was so beautiful!

Rogue River

We caught 3 fish, but none that we could keep.  You’re not allowed to keep native fish and that’s what I caught.  Todd caught a sucker fish and a steelhead but we had to throw them back.  It was still really fun and that was the first time I had ever caught a fish by myself!  We used fish eggs from the fish we caught last year as bait:

steelhead eggs used as bait

Notice the tweezers - Todd’s dad said that you shouldn’t touch the bait because the fish can smell if you have touched it.  He also treated the eggs with Borax (?) I think to keep them from going bad.  They looked REEEEEELY gross because after you had them in the water they got this whitish membrane on them that was sort-of hanging off.  Todd thought that was the ticket to catching a good fish though and tried to make that happen every time he put the bait on.

Todd the happy fisherman

We both were fishing and Todd’s dad was doing the rowing and instructing.  It was like we had our own private fishing guide!  He would steer the boat and tell us where to put our lines in and what bait to use.  Then when we got to the spot on the river where we would fish, he would row the boat against the current so the boat would stay in the spot as long as possible.  He must be buff constantly rowing against the current like that!

Our fishing guide and instructor (a.k.a. Todd's dad)

It’s been really snowy here ever since Tuesday.  Our drive from Grants Pass to Portland on Friday was super snowy!  There were highway patrol on the road blocking anyone who didn’t have 4 wheel drive and making them put chains on their tires!

Snowy drive north

This was driving in the middle of the day.  It was so beautiful!  The tree branches were all individually covered with white fluff.  I sure love snow!

In other news I have not really worked out at all.  I think I have gained about 40 lbs.  Yesterday Todd and I tried to go running but it was super windy and my face felt like it was freezing off so we only ended up doing about 7 miles.  Here is a current picture of me that emphasizes the weight gain in my stomach and lower half:

Me posing to show off my new winter weight gain!

So, needless to say; I will be going full force with my workout schedule when I get home (Monday late night).  And as ‘luck’ would have it, I still don’t have a job, so I’ll have PLENTY of time to workout!  Woo hoo!  (Though I still have 2 courses that I have to do work on, but at least things will be slow for the next 2 weeks because of the holidays - hopefully those 2 weeks can be used to jump back into being in shape!)

Buckeye 50k is seriously up in the air for me at the moment. I don’t know if I’m going to be in good enough shape to run it, especially having missed 2 weekends worth of running - one of which was a milestone long run (22 miles).  What do you guys think?  Should I just shoot for doing the half marathon?  Will I be able to get back 2 weeks worth of running in time to do the 50k in the middle of Jan?