High desert vacation and a little running...

Last week the family and I went over to Central Oregon for a little family R&R.  With such a scheduled life, it was great to get away and have absolutely NO schedule.  We did what we wanted when we wanted and, ahhh I loved it!  I managed to get 3 runs in last week - one the morning before I left and then two spectacular runs while I was there.

The scenery is just amazing.  Central Oregon is known at the "high desert" with lots of sage brush and juniper trees.  We were staying at my parent's cabin which is down in a canyon by the Deschutes river.  Both days that I ran (I did a 6 mile tempo run and a 10 mile long run while I was there) I left really early to avoid the heat of the day.   The climb out of the canyon is pretty brutal, but the view is gorgeous when you get up to the main road:

And then you get amazing views of the Cascade range:


Mt. Jefferson



The 3 Sisters

 These pictures really don't do the scenery justice because I took them with my phone and they don't capture the beauty of the mountains at all.  

I also had lots of company while I was out there...


hello there Mr. Deer!

There were deer, jack rabbits (which were way too fast to snap a pic of with my phone) and lizards every where.  It was very cool and a welcome change from my suburban neighborhood loop.

We also went for a hike at Smith Rock with the kids - my husband and I have hiked here many times, but the kids haven't explored here much.

It was really beautiful, but also very HOT!  We started off the hike all smiles:

My son was a trooper and he even had his dad do some trail running with him.

My daughter, however, was not as much a fan of the hike (mostly I think it was the heat) and she made sure to take a load off as soon as we were finished:

But we weren't GO GO GO the whole week - in fact, here's where we spent most of our days:

Most of our break was spent relaxing and playing in the pool.  We also met up with some amazing friends who live in Bend and enjoyed some great meals.  Very fun and I think just what we all needed.  Now we're back to reality, but I am still feeling the lingering effects of such a fun week.  I feel a little less concerned about keeping my schedule (or even having one at all if I can manage it) and a little more "go with the flow".  I definitely needed last week to take a step back and refocus on the important things.

Hope you're all having a great week!