Red Rock Half Marathon

Last night Julie, Natalie, Heather Jones and Jeri Ellsworth ran a half marathon at Red Rock Canyon.  Steve and I rode a bus for spectators to the finish line.  It was a nice, cool evening with a full moon.  It was rather nice feeling a cool breeze compared to the hot temperatures we've experienced all summer long here in Las Vegas. We waited at the finish line for a few hours watching runners come in patiently looking for our group.

I guess our runners stayed together for the first few miles and then each ran at their own pace.  Natalie came in first at about two hours and 35 minutes.  Jeri was behind her a few minutes.  Then Julie came in slightly under three hours.  Steve and I took the bus back to Vegas at 11:00, so I didn't see Heather cross the finish line.  They were all excited to finish.  We were proud of their efforts.  Julie ran a half marathon near Yellowstone National Park a few years back with Sheldon.  She wanted to beat her time which she did.  Julie is planning on running a marathon near Boulder City in December and then the one they've been training for comes up in January in Orlando, Florida.

Natalie

Steve & Natalie

Julie

Natalie and Jeri

Julie

Jeri, Natalie, and Julie

Jeri, Natalie, and Julie

Back to Portland

Julie wanted to go to a wedding in Portland this weekend, so I tagged along. We flew out Friday after work and came home Sunday afternoon.  It was a quick trip but full of memorable moments. I am always amazed at how beautiful everything is in Oregon. Everywhere you look you can see green grass, green trees, green everything! I have often wished that I lived in Oregon, but I'm not sure how I would feel about all the rain which produces all that green.

Hertz had only one car left for us to rent at the airport.
As you can see, it was a red Corvette.  We felt like
we got really lucky at being able to rent
Lightning McQueen's car for the weekend.

We stayed at the coolest hotel.  It was called
Eloft.  Everything looked modern.
I think the lobby could have come right out
of one of Star Trek's episodes. 

This was our hotel room.  The TV was mounted on the wall.
The headboards were padded and mounted to a wall as
well.  Between the two beds on the wall was a
piece of material that looked like a cow's hide. 
The bathroom was behind the beds. It was a totally cool room
and to even make it better when you looked out either window
 you could see millions of beautiful green trees.

Julie and I snapped a shot outside the
Portland Temple after the sealing.

Julie looked gorgeous.  I couldn't
resist taking a picture of her by the
reflection pool outside the temple
while we waited for the bride and groom.

Here's our fancy car rental.  I loved the car
and loved the temple!  I have lots of fond memories
of the Portland Temple.

After the wedding we headed for Beaverton where the
Nike Employee Store is located. One of Julie's friends
arranged for Julie to have a visitor's badge so she could
do some shopping.  Julie was able to buy the rest
of the shirts for everyone who is going to Disneyworld
in January of 2013 for the Florida marathon.

After having lunch, shopping for a
wedding gift, and getting a pedicure
we headed to the wedding reception in
Salem, Oregon. It was a lovely reception;
the cake was beautiful.

I have to show off our pedicures.  Both Julie and I
went for totally different polish colors.  Julie got
purple, and I went bright orange.  I may be a little
ahead of myself for the fall color, but I'm okay
with that.  I am ready for fall weather and all the
holidays that come during the latter part of every year.

Thanks, Julie, for letting me tag along on your weekend
trip to Portland.  It is always fun for me to be with one
of my girls; this weekend was certainly no different!