Veronica qualified for the regionals this year. We headed to Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR for the event. Our friends Grace and Clara Fjermedal joined me for the trip. They will run in the 11 year old 3k event and Veronica will run 4k. Since it was just the four of us, I used Judy's car and picked up the girls right after school on Friday. The 230 mile trip should have taken about 3 hours and 30 minutes. Leaving at 2:45 PM on a Friday I hit every traffic jam and drove well over 6 hours with all the stop and go traffic. The girls were great, making sandwiches and watching movies during the trip.

An intoxicating mix of nail polish, beer, wine, and pre-race jitters

Go Rain City

Veronica, Grace, Coach Cory, Clara
We arrived in time for the traditional team gathering in the lobby of our hotel. The team paints their nails "Go Rain City" while number bibs are passed out. This event uses an RFID tag on the bibs to make the scoring very easy.

11 year old girls 3K start line (Click on the picture. Can you find Grace and Clara?)

Go Grace (#2601)

Clara looking strong (#2600)

The Finishing Chute. Grace spent much of the race with hair in her face.

The Finishing Chute. Clara looking fabulous as ever.

Immediately after a race, the participants simply type in their bib number and get a print out of the time.

Veronica is warming up for the 4k. The temperature is right at 40 degrees and there is a slight breeze out of the North. On the way to the race from our hotel, the twins asked Veronica what Kansas looks like. She noted that except for the mountains in the background, this is it. Flat terrain with a biting cold wind. Although the girls are in shorts and a tee-shirt, the spectators are trying to keep warm with coats, hats, gloves, and even the occasional sleeping bag.

Again, click on the picture for a larger version and try to find Veronica on the starting line.

2/3 of the way through the race and Veronica is looking strong. I like this picture it shows a chicane over her left shoulder. This course is relatively flat and open. It was so flat that the route was confusing with all the turns and backtracking. At several points the runners retrace a section of the course in the opposite direction. We did not do the walk-through on Friday but were told that it really did not help. The organizers used a garden tractor as a rabbit for all the races. The tractor lead the way so the lead runners know which way to go.

Veronica in the finishing chute

Crossing the line

Great job Veronica. This is a personal best.

After purchasing an event sweatshirt, we headed home. Without traffic the trip only took about three hours. Thank you Judy for the car. We averaged 36 mpg and returned home with gas to spare. All that on less than a tank of fuel. Gotta love that German diesel.

Today I needed some quiet time to make a few phone calls and make a few arrangements for Thanksgiving. Although I have an office in our home, I thought a little quiet time with a view would make the day more enjoyable. After dropping the boys at school, I rode the 10 miles to interstate 90 floating bridge. The picture above is looking East and I am about to cross it. That is Mercer Island at the far end.

The wind on the bridge is very cold and stiff. With temperatures in the low 40's today, I wore my neoprene booties, full head mask, and ski gloves. There was very little bike traffic on the bridge and only about six pedestrians. The sights are great but the traffic noise is very uncomfortable.

I found a little public beach on the island with great views and some sunshine to warm up. You can just see the West end of I-90 (above left edge of dock) where the first picture was taken from. I got out my pen, notepad, snack, and water bottle to relax and complete my phone calls.

I was pleasantly surprised to get a call from Erin Pletsch. This conversation made up for all the other calls I needed to make.

Here I am sitting in the park, enjoying the view and getting business done. A 15 mile commute (one way) on a sunny day with no traffic. I call this a good day at the office.

On Sunday we headed to a creek in Carkeek Park. The salmon are spawning and we got a closeup look of the fish. This was the real deal. 18-24 inch salmon navigate the turbulent waters to a gravel area perfect for spawning. The expired fish attract predators and can be seen all along the banks of the creek.

Edited to add a video of the giant fish!

The action will last all month!

Here is Étienne wearing the awesome Tyrannosaurus hoodie that Grandma Nancy gave him last Christmas.

I took the boys to Archie McPhee's today. Here they are proudly showing off the free items they got. I bought a new box of pirate band-aids, seen on the counter to the right.

Last Saturday morning I took Carl for an overnight with Jane. Forecasts showed our first big storm would hit. The skies were gray and wind gusts topped 40 mph. I elected to take a most direct route through Shoreline to the Burke-Gilman trail. My friend Kevin joined us. He is training for a fun ride in San Francisco with some professional cyclists.

Along the was we encountered a few downed lines, no power lines, and trees.

The wind was fairly calm and we did not get any rain on the way there. The Google maps route came out to an even 19 miles one way. I am still warming up to King Counties "Interurban Trail" with two way bicycle on one side of the road and instructions for motorists to cross, not merge for right turns. We successfully navigated all the hazards and made it to Jane's in 1 hour and 30 minutes.

On the return, I switched bikes to a single. Jane stored the tandem for me. The trees crossing the trail, see above, were all cleared for our return trip. Kevin and I elected to take the Burke-Gilman most of the way home. It was a longer ride but avoided the busy streets we used to get there. There was a light drizzle but no real wind. I did not even put on my rain gear.

We finished the ride with another 23 miles on the odometer. One feature of living at the North end of Ballard is that all rides end with a 300 foot climb. Thank you Kevin for joining me for the ride.

Last Halloween, we had been in our house just over a month and the kids all got costumes the weekend before. We were slightly more organized this year, but not much.

Veronica planned her own costume with her posse, and I never got a photo of all three kids together. Here, Carlton and Étienne try out their costumes as the Grim Reaper and Boba Fett. (I need to get a video of Étienne singing the Boba Fett Song.)

Veronica as a Minion from Despicable Me.

On Thursday, the boys had Halloween parties at school and got to wear their costumes. Carl makes slime, and Étienne got his face painted by a parent since he wasn't allowed to war his mask to school.

Bonus photo of our neighbor Aoife visiting big sister Maddy's classroom dressed as a Strawberry Fairy!

On Halloween night, both Veronica and Carlton went out with their friends to trick-or-treat. Godmother Jane came over to walk the neighborhood with Étienne, Steve went to play racquetball, and I stayed home to hand out candy. Étienne ready to go out, next to our Yoda jack-o-lantern (which I carved!) With the neighbor kids from both sides... four 7 & 8 year olds in three houses! Ava: "Wait, let me put on my tail!"

Veronica's posse stopped by and emptied out about 1/3 of the candy bowl.

Happy Halloween! Can you believe it's already November?