The Loop- A-Thon

Across the creek from us on yonder ridge lies a quaint little private school. We enjoy traveling down, down our road and then back up, up their road to go to some of the community events that they hold. Today was their annual loop-a-thon fundraiser and it was the first time we participated. I thought it was a 4 mile loop, but in actuality it is 9 and a half miles. We did not do the whole course, but there were students who did and their teacher jogged almost the entire way. Wow. We were shuttled to the top of the ridge to begin our trek which cut the course down to a measly 8 miles! We arrived late because I kept my usual gentlewoman rancher hours and slept in, so we had an empty road to walk on as everyone else was ahead of us. It was cold and windy and we were fairly miserable so we jogged. Jogging warms you up!

And then I stopped to take a break on a cool seat along the way. Actually we stopped more often than once in our jogging to catch our breaths. We walked almost all the uphill and the steepest downhills.

It was fun having the view of The Ranch while we walked although it was not a good day for photography due to the low light. Oh well.

We passed this bus. I am sure it has quite a story to tell but I don't know it. Probably been parked here since the late 60's or 70's. Mark said that the story must include the folks who drove it here, and the friends who camped/lived in it, and the wildlife currently calling it home. I think it is kind of cute.

First checkpoint. People! We caught up with some of the people. Yippee! The jogging worked. I began chatting and walking and chatting and walking and walked away from the crowd and Mark.

I was told that this bush is wild currants. I haven't seen any on our side of the creek which is kind of strange.


Second checkpoint. If you look closely you can see our house right in the middle of the photo. At this point I decided to take a little walk behind a tree, to see a man about a horse, if you know what I mean, and wait for my beloved.

But then I left him again because he was really enjoying his chat with a local (Kyle) who knows all about the plants and animals and other scientific stuff. I was more into the exercise and the view.

Like this lovely pond.

One last steep hill and then I was greeted by the inviting buildings of the school.

Potluck and a few hours of lively conversation finished off the event.

We came home and I promptly entered a hot tub with a piece of chocolate and a glass of red wine. Whew. I was whooped. Mark on the other hand delivered a load of firewood and loaded up another load for another day. What a guy! Seriously. Of course our son, Zac, had spent his day cutting and splitting the firewood. But he is young! No bonus points for him.