Long Weekend Fun

Had a nice meander out in the Cathance on Saturday morning, although feeling slightly sluggish as I didn't sleep well on Friday night and all the celebrations and cake from the week may have finally caught up with me! 😁😂😉 Still, a lovely misty morning to be out on the trails, as the foliage was popping and the river flowing nicely. (8.0 miles)

Anne had her birthday party Saturday afternoon at a glass art place in Lisbon, where the owner apparently also has a large collection of insects. Looking forward to seeing Sam's art creations, and also, looks like there was definitely some interesting bug action!! 

Walking Stick

yes, that is a tarantula 😱

Sunday morning, Ryan took off early for his all-day volunteering shift at BBU while I got a little extra sleep and waited for the sun to rise before I headed out for my run. Nice morning for a mellow run around town on the roads with a short trail exploration on the Highlands trails mixed in. (10.0 miles)

Then Sam and I headed over to Bradbury for the afternoon. This year, with a change in course, part of our shift at the aid station included a traffic stint out on Elmwood. It involved a lot of waiting and looking up the trail for runners, with a little bit of flagging and car stopping and chatting with runners mixed in.

Traffic duty view

Trail visitor

Mom and Dad came over mid-afternoon and Sam and I took a walk with them up into the field and down to the river. Such a nice afternoon to be out! Lots of milkweed floating in the wind as well as these neat little insect fluffballs flitting about. Turns out they were woolly alder aphids. Such an interesting sight!

Milkweed pod

💕

Sam wanted to stay for the rest of the shift, so after our walk, it was back to cheering on runners and filling bottles and shooing bees away from the soda and hanging out with friends. Always a great day of volunteering and so fun to see so many people out racing!

Mom and Dad left on Monday morning to head back to NC. Always hard to say goodbye, but it was a great week and so nice to have them celebrating and exploring with us!

Sam was off from school and I was off from work, so after a bit of time spent relaxing and getting the house back together, I finally headed out around 10:00 am for a run. Normally it would have been a rest day but I didn't want to miss out on the chance for a day-off midday run! Headed out into the Cathance again, and I will just say it again, gorgeous. (6.5 miles)

Sam and I got some errands done in the afternoon while Ryan worked, oh and stopped for an ice cream too 😉😋🍦and then around 5:00 pm, we headed over to the Cathance for a late afternoon walk along the river. Nice to get out for a short family meander before dinnertime, and a good way to wrap up a fun long weekend! (1.2 miles walked)

A Sammy tree 😉

😍

Three hearts 💖