Vacation 2008 was, to say the least, awesome. And I fell in love...

...with the mountains. And the cabin life. I loved waking up every morning to deer in the backyard, the view of the majestic mountains and billions of trees, the crisp air at 6300 feet, the silence, sitting on the deck and watching the sky for endless miles, feeling so close to God, telling the kids how all these awesome mountains, valleys and streams were not man-made but created by God, being able to tell they understood that, feeling like we were tucked away in our own little corner of the world, the fireplace burning every night, a tv with only 3 channels and no one caring. Ahhhhh. It was refreshing and the memories taken from that vacation are priceless. We have decided that someday...someday...we want a cabin of our own. Someday.

We packed in a lot of stuff in a week...Mount Rushmore, Reptile Gardens (twice), Bear Country, 4 soccer games (2 goals scored), Spearfish Canyon, Custer State Park, Keystone, hiking up the mountain in our backyard and seeing what was over the ridge, 1 half marathon, and lots of quality family time hanging out at the cabin.

The race was a great experience. I loved the whole atmosphere. It was an early morning for us, 6:30 am drop off at the busses but no one complained. I rode up to the start line with a gal from Harrisburg and we instantly hit it off. That's what I love about these things...thousands of people and there's always someone new to meet. It was a beautiful morning but coooolllllddddd. The first 5 miles were awesome, although my toes were still numb from waiting for the race to begin! Then I kind of hit that "wall" and thought on no, the altitude is going to bother me. I just kept going through mile 6 and I felt great again. I saw the mile 11 sign coming up and I thought, wow that was quick! But my balloon quickly deflated when a race worker came running up with a mile 10 marker to replace it. No way, it was only mile 10. But I kept going, soaking in the beautiful surroundings. The last few miles were long, I was getting anxious for the finish line because I didn't know where I was going to end, who would be there, how many people would be there watching, etc. As I got closer, I checked my watch. I really wanted to come in at 2 hours but I knew it would be tough with the terrain, altitude and not really getting in a good run in 3 days before. The finish line was so exciting....hundreds of people clapping, cheering and there was my family, standing there, cheering with the rest of the crowd. I ran faster and finished in 1:55:54.

I then celebrated with an icy Coke and a couple of beers. :)

So now we're back in the real world, hubby is back to work, kids are back to summer acitivites and still relishing in the memories of the mountains. I seriously could live in the mountains and be very content with it. I just hope soon I'll be content again with living in the plains and the wind. Sigh. It was a great trip and we'll go back again sometime for another round.