Race Report - 2012 Cove Lake 5k

Hers:
I'm patting myself on the back right now. You want to know why? Because I completed my first 5K! Yup. The "un-runner," the introvert, the non-competitor, the girl afraid of crowds, and (most recently) the injured ran her first race, The Cove Lake 5K, on June 16, 2012.

It was interesting to say the least. We began (like every race does) in a crowd of people. At the sound of the gun, we all started jogging at once. I felt like I needed to run ahead of everyone, like something was after us, like zombie apocalypse. After a few minutes though, the crowd thinned out with most everyone in front of me. Apparently, I'm slow. *giggle*

Trail Report - Slave Falls/Needle Arch Revisited (A Father's Day Hike)

I really couldn't ask for a better family. Constantly and always on my mind, are the Great Outdoors. Having four walls around me on a daily basis is actually quite confining, suffocating, and if it weren't for the light switch, the fluorescents would be deadly. So when asked what I wanted to do for Father's Day, naturally I wanted to get in the woods for a hike with my girls, and that is exactly what we did.

I had two hikes in mind, one being at Frozen Head, the other in The Big South Fork. Considering that Robin and I had just run a 5k the day before and Robin's back has been and still is in a "shape," I figured hiking to the fire tower at Frozen Head wouldn't be such a good idea. So I opted for the Slave Falls Loop trail. Robin and I hiked to the falls and to Needle Arch last year while she was pregnant with Bug so I figured we could revisit them now that Bug is here.

Duraflame® Roasting Logs™ Review

We were recently asked if we would like to try out Duraflame®'s new product, Campfire Roasting Logs™. We do have a fire pit out back, and we spend a lot of summer and fall evenings out there relaxing after sunset. With Bug around though, we hadn't had very much "relaxing" time. This particular evening was no exception. Bug's bedtime had come and gone, she had fought sleep for two hours, and we had finally won the battle. After a long day and with two bored teenagers in the house, we decided it was time to kick them (and ourselves) outside for a little R&R by the fire. The girls decided they wanted S'mores, and it was then that we remembered we needed to do this review. Duraflame® had been kind enough to not only send us a Campfire Roasting Logs™ pack, but also a S'mores Kit to go with it.

Rhododendron Gardens in Full Bloom - Roan Mtn. State Park

Last weekend we took the time to ride up to the Rhododendron Gardens at the top of Roan Mountain outside of Elizabethton, TN. It's a pretty long haul for us and the weather was brutal, but with circumstances as they were we knew it was the only time we'd have to see the blooms this season and get Bug up there for her first visit. We also wanted to avoid the Rhododendron Festival which is being held this weekend - Sat. June 16 & Sun. 17, 2012 from 10am-5pm. I hear it's a wonderful event, but we wanted a little solitude on top of the mountain.

O&W Bridge - A Hike on National Trails Day

We were recently blessed with the opportunity to do an actual hike (and by "actual" I mean something more than a half mile with a stroller) since Bug has been born. Since she's been doing so well in public, we decided it was time to carry her into the woods. We chose the O&W Bridge trail (4.6 miles) because of its ease and accessibility. A few weeks previous to this day, we'd tried to hike this trail and found that (1) it is not stroller friendly by any means and (2) thunderstorms looming + baby = bad idea. The trail, however, is virtually easy with small elevation gains and the occasional rocky runoff crossing.