Spelunking

I just can't go over to Bend or Sunriver without crawling deep into a few holes in the ground. Some people call this caving, others call it spelunking. 

It's so fun to escape the 100 degree weather and climb down into a cold cavern. These caves are always about 50 degrees so you need to wear a coat, and a headlamp...at least if you want to be able to see and keep your hands free, just in case you trip over fallen rocks.

It's easy to find these gaping openings in the landscape. You can't miss these lonely ladders sticking up out of the ground. And it's so much fun to climb down into the dirt. It always reminds me of Lord of the Rings and Middle Earth.

It's difficult to get any good photos when you're in total darkness but here are a few.

And when you crawl deep enough into the earth your eyes will start to adjust but then you'll turn a corner and you'll see the way out. It's a simple sign...light at the end of the tunnel.

I always try to find new caves to explore. One day I hope to be able to rappel into the Arnold Ice Cave. But first I'll have to build up my upper body strength to hold my own weight as I lower myself down into the cave.

How bout you? Have you ever wanted to crawl down into the Middle Earth? ;D

Tour de Crest

This past weekend was a few days filled with athletic events. My hubby and son did a marathon bike ride up the side of a mountain. They had a great time and even came in together.

They had to hop off their bikes at the end and run through the finish line. And I was there waiting for them.

SUPER VILLAIN kills 25,000 Bees

This is a story right out of a Marvel comic book. 25,000 Bumble Bees found dead in an Oregon parking lot and the assumption is insecticide is the killing culprit.

25,000 of anything is horrible but bees are critical. We need bees for pollination. And pollination for our food source. Without bees, we lose crops and food. But due to insecticides we're losing bees and cutting down our own food supplies.

And Monsanto is like the giant Lex Luther of the modern day world. It has been a major contributor to the decline of our bee population. This one corporation assumes the super villain role by creating genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) that kill bees. They must be planning on creating their own robotic bees and then charging everyone in the world for pollination. Control the food supply and you control the world. MWHA-HA-HA, they want to take over the world. 

But there's nothing funny about this Sci-Fi story, especially since it's real.  Farmers are even suing Monsanto over the destruction of their crops.

Control the food sources and food supplies and you control the population. But don't humans work in that corporation? I just don't get it. This is crazy sauce served up Monsanto style.

Getting Ready to Run a Half Marathon

Okay last year I ran a marathon and I wanted to do a triathlon but no such luck. This year I haven't been training like I did in 2012 because I sprained my ankle on Halloween. It was stupid. I was running in the dark and hit a divot and went down. The worst part of all is that it took six months to recover enough to even run... :( so I started running again in March (slow and short distances to build back up the strength in my ankle) it's been a super slow process.

But I signed up for the half. So, now I'm trying to prepare for the event.

How 'bout you...any set backs to your goals any secrets, tips or hints you'd like to share?

Meatloaf

Meatloaf was our theme for the day on Sunday. But not the singer. We were celebrating food...in the shape of a bread loaf but made of meat ;D

It was our monthly cooking contest. My family gets together once a month to have a food fest. We all have a theme we have to follow. This month it was . . . yep, meatloaf and we had 8 loaves to judge, eat and celebrate.

We treat the judges like kings and queens

And some really ham it up

And we really try to make sure it's a blind taste test. We have one person set out little samples in cupcake papers and have them numbered so that no names are associated with the bite.

And here's the winner for the meatloaf challenge

Next month it will be a Spam off.

World War Z

We all went to see World War Z.

I loved it. Thought is was filled with suspense and run, fast, zombiesque thrills without the usual gore of typical zombie flicks.

I also really liked Brad Pitt in this movie. And I'm not a big Pitt fan. Not that he hasn't done some good work but I always think of him as a pretty boy instead of an "actor" but in this show he wasn't the average Pretty Boy. He looked like a really human--which I loved.

Over all I would rate this fairly high. Now on the bad side...it didn't stick to the story in the book, but then that might have been really a difficult task. It would have been better if they had given the movie a different name than the book because if you go into the movie expecting to see a visual display of the book, you'll be sorely disappointed. But...if you go to the show for a zombie movie, I think you'll be entertained.

If you've seen it, let me know what you thought.

St. Andrews Legal Clinic Race for Justice

The Race for Justice is a fund raiser to help raise money for free legal services to benefit St. Andrews Legal Clinic.

It was a fun run.