State Meet and Outdoor school!

Jon ran a good 1500 at the state meet. He finished 2nd behind an incredible runner from Rogue River. Below, Jon on the heels of Cole Watson in the 1500. Jon had a personal best time in the event running a 4:12. If you have a high speed connection you can watch the whole race here.



After the 1500 Jon needed to recover quickly because he had another race (the 400) about an hour later. It wasn't to be and Jon faded to a 5th place finish. Jon had a great season and he is deciding whether or not to run some events this summer.

Below, Jon prepares for the 400 meter run, but the look on his face tells he has not recovered from the 1500.


Amity sent 7 athletes in 10 events to the State Meet this year! What a great season for these kids. Here is the link to the entire gallery for the State Meet: Link

After all the excitement of track and the winding down of the season, it was time to turn our attentions to Cody and his trip with his class to Outdoor School! Every year for the past 20 or more years the Amity Elementary 5th grade class goes on an outdoor adventure to eastern Oregon. Lorelei and I tagged along for the first day and a half and we had a great time!

Below the 5th graders and their high school councilors preparing to board the buses. Can you find Cody and his straw cowboy hat?


On the trip over the pass of the Cascade Range we hit rain and snow! Lorelei helped out with the photography and a bunch of the pictures here and in the gallery are ones that she took.




We stopped at a fish hatchery on the way and as we topped the mountains and came down on the eastern side the sun broke out and we left the rain behind.


Lorelei and Cody at the fish hatchery.


Here is Cody and his rowdy group with their councilor.




It's amazing how much community effort, support and involvement go into this annual pilgrimage. The Amity fire chief went along and drove the big bus, the school superintendent was there helping out with everything from setting up shelters to cooking. The high school students volunteer their time to be councilors. What an awesome effort by everyone. The kids absolutely love this trip.
Below we arrive and everyone pitches in to set up camp.


Do you have ANY idea how much food it takes to feed 50 kids and all of their support group?


After dinner Reg (the school superintendent) helps out with the recreation.


As the sun went down the temperature dropped rapidly. Lorelei watches the festivities bundled up in everything she brought!


Later in the evening was a campfire with skits and fun stuff.


Lorelei and I stayed in one of the small cabins in the campground while all of the kids slept in tents. It got down into the mid 20's and some of the kids got really cold!
The next morning we warmed up the kids (and the adults) with hot chocolate, french toast and cream of wheat.


Then everyone boarded buses and headed for the High Desert Museum. Very interesting stuff here and we would like to go back and spend more time at this very well done museum.



Then it was off to the lava tube.
This tube is 1 mile in length and it's 42 degrees inside with NO lights it makes for a very interesting hike.




The total black-out conditions made photographing the event interesting because you could not see to focus and the autofocus on the camera was just going nuts trying to function.


Eventually the tube narrows and you can only continue on your belly. Some of the kids made it to the very end and touched the end wall. Below Cody crouches down to see how far he can make it.


After the lava tube Lorelei and I bid farewell to the outdoor school caravan. We headed towards Bend and spent the night there and the next day did some sight seeing and photography stuff on our own. The kids stayed for two more nights which included a night trip to an observatory. They had a great time. You can see tons more pictures of the trip here.

In Bend, Lorelei and I stayed here.





The next day we took our time driving home and stopped several places and took some pictures!


Lorelei was excited to see the baby geese and got this shot.


Beautiful rugged country here.


That's about it for now. If you want to see more pics from our trip and from the month of May,
Click here.

It's been a while!

It's been too long since my last post......life has a way of rushing by. It's been a few weeks of rain (heavy at times) and sun. The trees are all leafed out and things are growing like crazy. I spend upwards of 6 hrs a week on the riding mower trying to keep things cut to a manageable level.

Last Wed. night I woke up with a stabbing pain in my upper left side. The pain got worse and finally around 3:00 a.m. Lorelei loads me in the car for a trip to the emergency room. We get there and I am feeling better. We sit in the parking lot for a few minutes and I decide we don't need to go in and pay the e-room fee, so back home we go (big mistake). I lay down in bed and no sooner closed my eyes than POW, more stabbing pain, this time it has moved more to my central lower abdomen. For the next 3 hrs, life is not good and I begin thinking the end is near.

We make it in to the doctor around 11:00 am and they suspect a kidney stone. They want to do a CT scan at the hospital to confirm. I say to the doctor that it needs to be right away because the District Track Meet is at 4:00. He gives me a look and mumbles something to the effect that I wouldn't be going to any track meet this day. I iterate the fact that I would be and he comes back with a schedule for a 1:30 test at the hospital. Great! The nurse gives me a shot of some pain stuff that will last for 4-6 hours and off we go to the hospital. Now what time do you think the 1:30 test would take place at the hospital? Yep.....you guessed it.....2:30. The test goes fast once I finally get in. A quick sandwich in the parking lot and Lorelei and I are off to the District Meet. We arrive and are walking into the meet when the phone rings. The diagnosis is one kidney stone has moved to my bladder and one more is in my kidney. So at least we know where the pain was coming from. So I have been getting lots of pampering from Lorelei.

Jon ran his heart out at the District Meet. He easily won the 1500.

Below....Jon easily leads the 1500 on his way to a State berth.


Jon's next race was the 400 and he was pitted against the fastest guy in 3A in the state of Oregon.
Jon pulled ahead on the final stretch but Austin came back and beat Jon by less than 2 tenths of a second. Here they are at the finish line.



These two young men are awesome competitors and just great kids. They enjoy competing against one another.



This race took everything Jon had. He still had the 800 meter run scheduled less than an hour away. Right after the 400, Jon was called to the awards podium to receive his medal for the 1500. Still feeling the effects from the last race he is helped onto the stand by the second place finisher.



This day Jon was not to recover to run the 800. He qualified for the State Meet in both the 1500 and the 400 meters. This Friday is prelims for the 400 and both the 400 and 1500 are run this Saturday. Jon was voted "Male Athlete of the District" by the coaches. That makes him runner of the year for our District in both Cross Country and Track!

All the pictures from this meet are here.