run this town

After stuffing our faces at the food trucks one last time, we hit the road to Eugene. We made a beeline for the Marathon Expo, where I was treated like a VIP by everyone who realized I was from Yellowstone. I think it's safe to say that I was the only runner from Yellowstone in Track Town USA.

I was excited to hit up the original Nike store, but sadly we found out that it's now a construction site. The new Nike Running store had a little bit of a museum built into it,


but I'm sad they tore down the original.


My pre-marathon meal is always pizza, and I remember an old Runner's World that had an article about Track Town Pizza in it.


We ordered a pizza with fresh tomatoes, and the three of us cracked up when it arrived: by fresh we didn't think they meant "we'll put three whole raw tomatoes on top of your pizza after it comes out of the oven."


Race morning started at 5:00 a.m. and Steve dropped us off as close to Hayward Field as he could. I was excited but nervous at the start.


Here we are in our corral, ready to go.


After a brief computer delay, we were off.


Sarah and I were able to run together for the first 11 miles until the half marathon split off from the full.


It was a beautiful day, sunny with temperatures creeping close to the 70's. For a small race, it was fantastic--they handed out Cliff Shots and bananas twice, and we ran along the river with enthusiastic spectators cheering us on. The race finishes on historic Hayward Field,


and there was an announcer calling out finishers' names on the PA as you crossed the finish line. And oh yeah, at the finish? FREE PANCAKES! Along with the biggest and coolest finisher's medal I've ever received.



Eugene was a great #7 for me, and I'd definitely do it again if I have the chance.

While we were in Eugene, I kept seeing people wearing these AWESOME sweatshirts:


I. Had. To. Have. One.

We figured out that they were sold only by a local running store in Portland, and our chances of showering, checking out of the hotel, eating lunch, and making it there by 5:00 p.m. were slim to none. Yet...we pulled off the highway at 4:55 and the chase was on. Steve roared into the parking lot at 5:03 and we all cheered when we saw the "Open" sign still illuminated. He ran in, and I hobbled after him. Sarah snapped this hysterical picture of us exiting the store, victorious.


And with that, we said goodbye to Oregon.

portland

We woke up in Spokane, WA last Friday and made the final push towards Portland. One of the things we were looking forward to in Portland were the food trucks, and we found our first "truck" at a rest stop about 2 hours from the city.


I'm not sure why, but Steve opted to sleep in the backseat vs. listening to Sarah and I. We left him snoozing in the car and pulled over at Multnomah Falls,


an incredible waterfall along the highway.


Coming from wintry Montana, we couldn't get over how green everything was.



As we approached Portland, we got our first view of Mt. Hood in the distance.


That night, we headed across the river and hit up the "nighttime" food trucks. It didn't take long for all of us to become food truck converts--great food, for cheap.



In addition to hitting up a couple of micro brewery's, we also made our way to Voodoo Doughnut. All three of us had seen the place on TV and we patiently waited in the long line.


I decided on the Triple Chocolate Penetration (chocolate doughnut, chocolate frosting, and Cocoa Puffs) and the Bacon Maple Bar.


Let's take a closer look--mmm, bacon.


Before we hit the road to Eugene, we had to squeeze in one more trip to the food trucks.


I hit up one that was serving Indian food--for $6 I got all of this, plus nan bread.


We spent the 2 hour drive to Eugene dreaming up ways to bring food trucks to Gardiner...

on the road

We left Montana last night, bound for Oregon. Despite driving through snow all night, we did have a gorgeous sunset over the mountains as we approached Butte:

Last night's stop was Spokane, Washington. Right now we're bound for Portland, where we'll spend the night, before heading to Eugene and the race expo tomorrow.

Before we left the Park, two exciting things happened: 1) we saw our first bison calf of the year, and 2) we got TV! After 1.5 years without it, we now have access to sports (and the Royal Wedding). And it took all of five minutes for us to start fighting over the remote...

moose on the loose

Though the wind was howling and it was late in the day, when my buddy Ryan called and said he got out of work early and was ready to fish, I was out the door in 5 minutes.

Without much time, we decided to fish close to town, down by the airport behind Gardiner's recycling depot. We had gone out on Saturday and the warm weather meant there some fish rising, but today the wind and cold weather meant there would be no hatches so it was nymphing day no doubt.

While I was still tying on my flies, Ryan was on the water and quickly caught his first trout of the season


As Ryan settled in, I headed downstream and started fishing. I came to a big rock that I had to get around, and as soon as I got around it, I got the fright of my life as a moose that had been sleeping behind the rock, jumped up. Luckily the moose was as scared as I was and we both ran in separate directions.


I don't know if he was still waking up or he figured we were the ones that should leave since he was there first, the moose didn't go far


and even stuck around to see Ryan catch another rainbow (he's the brown spot in the trees in the back left corner)


Leaving the moose behind, we fished a good way down the river. Finally, before we called it a night, I hooked into a nice rainbow


All and all, it turned out to be a nice couple hours on the river.

charlotte

Last weekend we flew to Charlotte for a family wedding. You know you live in an isolated place when you get excited about the food selection in the airport...especially when that airport is O'Hare. We had less than an hour layover on our way out, which gave us just enough time to hit the new Rick Bayless take-out place in the United Terminal.

I had a torta with braised short ribs,


and Steve had one with pulled pork. We both had mango-lime fresca's to drink, which were awesome. Pricey, but good. Airport dining at its finest...

We left Bozeman in a snowstorm and arrived in Charlotte where everything was neon green. And warm--almost 80 degrees. And humid. We haven't missed humidity at all, and it was a shock to be in it again.


We had enough time to indulge in some Southern BBQ while we were there--mmm fried pickles are very tasty.


And pulled pork. Real pulled pork. Oh how we've missed you.


It was hard flying through Chicago and not being able to leave the airport to see family and friends (Go Blackhawks!), but we made the best of our time there and hit up Billy Goat for "cheezeborgers"


and then stocked up on Garrett's.


And Eli's cheesecake. And Vosges chocolates. And another mango-fresca for the road.

While we were away, the bison started calving. Visitors have been showing me photos all week of newborn calves, hopefully we'll see one ourselves soon.

the park is open

We spent most of the week preparing for the Government Shutdown, and what it would mean for us to live inside a closed National Park if it happened. But then at the 11th hour the budget passed, and so we decided that since the park was indeed open, we'd venture out to the Lamar Valley and Cooke City (cheddar bomb burgers!)

As soon we crossed the bridge over the Yellowstone we ran into a few bighorns on the side of the road,


and then watched a lone coyote make its way across Soda Butte Creek.



There were bighorns near the confluence.



A storm was hanging over the valley,


which was the perfect excuse to head to Cooke City for lunch.

Other parts of the country are experiencing spring and warm weather, and it's hard for visitors to understand why the roads in the park are still closed. Here's what spring looks like in Cooke City:




Oh, and when you're inside a restaurant, looking out the window, here's what you see: more snow.


We made our way to Buns n Beds for cheddar bomb burgers, but Steve and I were tempted by the BBQ ribs too. So we decided to split, 1 cheddar bomb burger


and 1 BBQ plate. Worth the drive, as always.


On our way back through the valley, the storm had finally blown over.

eighteen

The hardest thing about training for the Eugene Marathon has been the weather. While the rest of the country is experiencing spring, it's still very much winter here. And even when the sun shines, there's wind. Sunday's weather was 26 degrees with 9 MPH winds. And those were GOOD conditions.


We've been running on the East River Road, a two-lane road that parallels Highway 89, in the Paradise Valley. Over the course of my 18-miler, it was sunny, they snowy, then sunny, then snowy.


As I pounded out the miles, I saw my first mountain bluebird,


which means spring really is around the corner (somewhere, somewhere). I also had an entire herd of mule deer cross the road in front of me, and apparently ran right past a moose in the river that I was too tired to see.

For about a mile I ran alongside a herd of elk, running above me on the mountainside.


The weather is harsh, the hills are killer, but I'd be hard-pressed to find a more beautiful place to run.