Til We Meet In Hell & A Birthday Party

This year's Till We Meet in Hell TMR Annual run and end of the year get together dawned clear and warm, very different than last year when Amy and I were walking in a winter wonderland at Thorncrag! Amy came over early with donuts (because, well, donuts ;) ) and we headed north together, meeting up with a big group of Monsters in the parking lot. Val once again devised a fun loop, complete with many hills and the option to pose as statues atop the empty statue base. My intent for the day was to run easy and get in whatever miles happened in the 1:30 allotted. I ran some with George and Pete, then George and Val, then Xar, then a bit with Amy, some with Tyler, most of a loop with John and the last loop by myself. Managed to eek out 6 laps for 7.2 miles, coming in with about a minute to spare. It was a great day to be out, and the format is fun as it allows for many chances to see people along the way. Ryan and Sam came over and hiked/ran a lap so I got to see them out there too. Even better was that my butt wasn't tight/sore/anything. Hurray! I'm calling it a good morning all around for sure! After the run we headed over to Guthrie's for food, drinks and merriment. Many thanks to Val for organizing; always a great way to finish up the year and revel in all of our accomplishments, our friendships and the great group that is Trail Monster Running. We are lucky indeed!

TMR crew

Running with John

John being goofy ;)

Me being goofy ;)

Great statue guys!

We were having so much fun at Guthrie's that we didn't leave ourselves quite enough time to get to our afternoon fun on time. Sorry Phil, Kristen, Anne and Thistle! We zoomed over to Hideaway Farm to join in on Thistle's 3rd birthday celebration, only to find everyone waiting for us in the horse carriage. Oops! Sam's love of dogs delayed us - when Randy brought out his dog, Riley, at the end of the party, that was it. We were there for another half hour ;) It was the perfect December afternoon for an outdoor party complete with pony rides, a farmyard visit, many laughs and bumps on the horse carriage ride, marshmallow roasting in the fire pit, and a Bald Eagle flying over along the Cathance. Such fun and we were so happy to join in the celebration!

Carriage ride

Marshmallow roasting

Mule ride!

Fun riding

Birthday cutie!

So excited!

This is fun

Three goofy kids

Sam explaining something.... ;)

Great day to be in the woods

Cathance view

Late December river

Carriage ride

Late afternoon light through the orchard... these trees are over 100 years old!

Goats!

So cute

Oh hi there

Visiting the horses

Beauty

Mini donkeys!

Oh yes, I took a mule ride too... I could not get up in the saddle without use of the step stool though. HA! ;) There was much laughter about that. He was much taller than I anticipated!

Laughing or terrified? I'm not quite sure ;)

Quite a day! But such fun :)