Running and Climbing in Eureka!

I'm truly sorry that it has been so long since you've heard from me!  People ask me if it's "good to be home" and I have to smile and say, "well, I'm not really sure yet!"  It feels like I've been gone far more than I've been home, which, really is true!  

I PROMISE at least a post ever-other-day from here on out!  It's been busy and I have a lot to catch you up on, along with more odds and ends from Africa!

Soo, here it is, starting with today...

This morning I got to participate in the Eureka Patriots annual 5K run!

There were over 100 participants up for the morning run, it was REAL windy and last night's (much needed) rain made the gravel route around the lake nice and muddy!

Mom and the twins met me on the home stretch with lots of encouragement and an awesome sign!

The finish line!

I finished 5th in my age category, just ahead of our neighbor, Susan, who was 3rd in hers! :)

At the beginning you think to yourself, "this is REDICULUS! I will NEVER, never EVER do this again!"  But as soon as you cross the finish line you think, "Well, that wasn't so bad... I wanna try again!"

And now, the real HIGHLIGHT of the day...

Eureka is celebrating their "Quazi" 125th anniversary, that's the reason for all the action down there today, so the whole family went back down this afternoon.  Right when we were leaving we noticed the sign on the rock wall that said if you reach the top of the "HARD" side you win $100! Sounds too good to be true, typical of carnival attractions, and we saw a kid try and fail... but I took a close look at where he fell and felt that I could probably manage... Dad wasn't convinced and I was reluctant to spend the $10 to give it a try, but I finally decided I had to try!  I started out and realized there's a reason the prize is $100, I had a sick feeling that my $10 would be gone but I pulled in as close to the wall as I could and kept slowly feeling out the rock... eventually I found it and made it up! I banged on the orange circle until the guy smiled and told me to come down, I stayed there, not cumming down until he confirmed that I'd made it!!  He yelled at his boss to bring him $100! ... the boss was not happy, and another worker came over in dis-belief and said he'd never seen it done before!

I had a good day in Eureka, SD. :)