Feeling more at home – hitting the trails!

This weekend was exactly what the doctor ordered – I was feeling a little out of place, anxious and maybe even a tad homesick last week – and then the weekend happened. Friday night we laid low after attending yet another semi stressful puppy play group but if we’re being honest here, we lay low most Friday nights so its not too out of the ordinary for us. #gettingold

On Saturday morning we took Abbie on her first real hike . We chose Powell Butte – a bunch of trails just SE of us (about 15 minutes away) mainly because they are dog friendly and not as heavily trafficked as Forest Park.

 

 

She was going bananas for all the new smell – and basically wore herself out with sheer excitement. We only ended up making it about a mile before Abbie was done.

 

 

I think it was partially due to the fact that we were interrupting her usual morning nap time and partially because she was a little cold.

We brought her back home, fed  her some lunch and then hit the Forest Park trails to get in a good 5 mile run. We explored the Maple Trail – and took Firelane 4 up, up, up, up and then over to Quarry Road which was a sloshy, muddy mess – and then back to the Maple Trail before making our final descent to the car.

Getting out on the trails – both for our hike and our run – reminded me of why we moved here in the first place – we are literally 15-20 minutes from an assortment of parks, trailheads and outdoor activities – and everything is so freaking green!! After our little 5 mile exploration, we decided we’d need to get the map out and figure out where we want to explore next….so many trails, so little time!

When we got home, we had to take our muddy ass shoes off and go upstairs in our socks so we didn’t track it in and then practically threw ourselves in the shower. Pretty sure muddy shoes are going to become a pretty constant thing for us….

 

We were both pretty hungry but figured we’d better take the sleepy little pup out for an evening walk before making our way to dinner. Surprisingly enough, Abbie was still so pooped from her morning hike that she just kept sitting down on the sidewalk. Ha. We took our tired pup home and headed out to dinner – our original plan was to hit up Por Que No but the long line + two hangry people just wasn’t a good combination.

After some aimless, hangry walking, we ended up on N. Williams and planted ourselves at Hopworks Urban Brewery. Hopworks is all about being eco-friendly and serves organic beers, fresh and local ingredients in a sustainable building. My favorite thing about Hopworks is the fact that they serve Radler’s – yes, I’m talking about lemonade and beer – and yes, I ordered one. And no, I am not embarrassed to admit that I loved it. I fell in love with Radler’s while visiting friends in Germany in college and I’m still just as in love with them now. I also had the Thai tempeh wrap with french fries and we shared an order of  the black bean corn cakes which were the star of the meal. The wrap was good – crunchy veggies, tempeh and a cilantro lime sauce – but I actually would have preferred all of that in a bowl (shocking, I know). I felt like the actual wrap was a waste – kind of soggy, really – so I just peeled it off and ate the insides (muahahahahah).

 

Sunday was a yoga kind of day. We took the 8:30 am Soul Shakin’ Yoga class with Alex at Yo Yo Yogi and it felt amazing. Soul shakin’ amazing.

After shakin’ our souls, we got our caffeine on at Barista (naturally) and then grabbed the pooch and went on a 2.5 mile hike at Tryon State Park.

Since it was a little later in the day and slightly warmer, Abbie was up for more miles. She was in puppy heaven – so much to sniff, so much mud to tromp in and so many people and puppies to greet. It’s a beautiful park – one of these days we’ll be back to run through it.

 

Probably the best part of our hike was the aftermath….

 

This week, I’m looking forward to:

• Running with the LunaChix Portland team
• An evening run in Forest Park with Casey
• Trying out a neighborhood yoga joint
• Trying out Me Fitness
• Thursday morning run with #sweatpink sis, Natalie
• Thursday night yoga with #sweatpink sis, Karolynh
• AND then……the best day….ALYSE and NATHAN ARRIVE IN PORTLAND for an EPIC eat, hike, drink, play weekend…..YAY!!!!!

What’s your plan this week?

Stay sweaty y’all!

XOXO,

Jamie