Biking the Oregon Coast

We biked the Oregon coast two weeks ago and it was incredible!! We didn't have much time, and it's pretty complicated to get back to your car after you leave it behind, so we ended up taking turns driving to keep the car with us. It worked out perfectly- we'd drive the boring stretches and bike the interesting ones. And we didn't have to carry all our camping stuff on our bikes, we just left it in the car. I could only handle 20ish miles each day, and it was really nice to call up the car when I couldn't take any more biking. This is a must-do trip for any outdoor enthusiast.

The first day in Portland we visited the Ten-Cleys and then continued on to Lincoln City to begin the biking.


The first night we caught the most incredible sunset.  We played in the cold water and I could hardly believe how good it felt just to smell the ocean and listen to the waves again.

  Harrison begging for a kiss  
   Todd marveling at my belly and me at his ;)  
Todd Frolicking and practicing karate:




And doing headstand yoga:



My "21 Weeks along" photo:



Harrison's "0 Weeks along" photo:



The second day we began our biking (Todd and I took a small detour trying to figure out some medical/pregnancy issues, but we soon rejoined forces to make our way along.)





The real reason we brought Nat and Har along was that they'd drive ahead and set up lunch :)



One of many stops:

 

We camped that night near Yachats and took ridiculously long hot showers (included in the $20 per site camp fee!  That is $5.00 per person to camp and shower- what a deal!) without realizing we'd created a line of cold campers waiting for their turn. Oops. The next day we stopped at a lot of tide pools. There was a ton of sea life to explore and discover.



Nat and I feeding a crab to an anemone:



There were tons of starfish:

 

And tons of seals. It was fun to watch the seals fumble and scramble around on the rocks. They're definately not graceful creatures out of the water.



Nat and Har exploring:

 

Typical breathtaking Oregon Coast view:

 

 

  

A Hammond vacation isn't complete without a little bouldering.

 

 

Nat and Har:







We stayed that night at an RV park in Winchester Bay amongst thousands of massive RV's. They all had ATVs, bar-b-qs, awnings with Christmas lights, and all the other comforts of home.  Someone even brought along their ping-pong table!
Call me old fashioned, but it's not camping if you can play ping pong in your "yard" after taking a hot shower in your "tent." LOL

The next day we biked Sunset Bay State Park and I took my first road-bike fall. It was pretty pathetic, I wasn't even moving but couldn't get my foot out of the pedal so I just tipped over. Ha ha ha. Todd and I biked the second half of the day partially in the rain. It felt SO GOOD.  There's nothing like a great vacation to remind you how fun life can be. I did hit my exhaustion point 20 or so miles into the rainstorm and I could hardly stand up while waiting for the car to pick us up. Good thing we had a car! We camped at Humbug Mountain State Park which had an awesome beach to play at. Todd and Harrison swam in the icy water with some curious seals. The next day was full of beautiful beaches. I was pretty tired and volunteered to drive this day.

 

The seals were as curious about us as we were about them. We stared at each other a lot this trip:





Can you see the face? It's a Native American Princess staring up at the moon.









Natural Bridges Cove. This place was soooo cool!





See anything weird in this picture?  (The warped head in the corner ha ha.)







We ended our biking a few hours ahead of schedule, so we headed inland to get a head-start on the 16 hour drive home. We camped in middle-of-nowhere Lakeville, NV. Then drove the rest of the way home the following day.

Kitten

We babysat a kitten for a few days.  She was TINY and just 6 weeks old.  She would
only stand on three legs, so I called her tripod.

She was the cutest kitten I'd ever seen.

Anyway, on her third day with us the leg she wouldn't stand on swelled up really big so

 we took her to the vet and were told she had an abscess and needed surgery.  Fewf,

we'd saved her, and I had been afraid she was going to die because she was so pitiful and sick!

She had the surgery and I brought her home.  And then she died anyway.

And being the hormonal pregnant woman that I am, I was completely heart broken. 

And I still am.  :(

I realize it was just a kitten I'd only known for a few days.  But it was still really sad.

Salt Lake Century

I participated in my first road-bike race!  I've been cycling regularly for about a month, but had never actually ridden more than 14 miles.  So I knew for sure that I couldn't do 100 miles!  Or even 70.

I opted for the 40 mile route instead.  (Honestly, 40 miles on a road bike is not a big deal.)

The first 20 miles took me about 55 minutes.  The second 20 took me three hours.  :)

I did take an hour lunch break in there.  But coming back to the finish line was slow-going!  And my bum was super sore from the darn bike seat.  Regardless, it felt great and I learned a few things.

1- Don't get too lost in your thoughts during a race.  I completely missed a turn, and everyone behind me just followed me and missed the turn too.  Oops.
2- Drink twice as much water as you think you need.  I thought I was drinking a lot but not much came out of me when I used the bathroom.
3- Find spandex that doesn't squeeze you right on your bladder- especially if you're pregnant. 
4- Don't assume that you can outrun a giant turkey, even if you're on a road bike.

I got one phone picture of the race- it's me and Natalie.  She's the super-biker who rode the whole 100 miles!

Happy Half Way!

I'm half way through this pregnancy!  Yay!

I've been on a blogging strike waiting for a friend to update hers first...  You know who you are...
But I don't want to forget these pregnant times.  So here's an update on the first half.

Month 0-1 I felt fine.

Month 1-4 I felt awful.  Nauseated, depressed, utterly exhausted, unmotivated, you name it.  One of these months I was supposed to gain one pound, I gained seven because all I could do was sit around and eat butter cookies and cheesecake (if I wasn't napping.)  Blah.  Todd cooked a lot of meals and cleaned up the house for me during those gloomy days (THANKS! PLEASE KEEP IT UP :)

Month 4-present I feel great!!  I woke up about 6 weeks ago and felt like weeding the garden!!  It was a miracle!  Since that day I have remodeled my bedroom, de-cluttered the house, held a garage sale, planned a vacation, picked up road biking, completed a 40 mile bike race, and even cooked a lot of dinners.  Thank goodness for the second trimester, I don't know if I'd have another kid if it were miserable the entire time.  This last month I was expecting to gain 4 pounds, and I actually lost one- because I'm finally exercising and eating fruits and veggies again. I have gained about 12 pounds so far.

That about sums it up!  Here are photos I've taken along the way.

We Have a New Hobby

Any guesses what it is?
(No, it's not dismantling bikes.)