beyond the dogpark III . . . much less pavement: two pals, two runs, two countries

Yikes!! I haven’t posted here with actual events for two weeks. A lot has happened! I’ll pick up where I left off last time and describe visits from two friends. Then (likely) in a separate post(s) I’ll describe my solo-once-more adventures in southern British Columbia.

As expected, the tire change went well and the very helpful BMW shop found a few other needed (and costly) maintenance items. Including brakes. I like brakes. At certain times I like them even more than the throttle. A few hours later, I rolled out onto the pavement and bumped my way along on the new knobby tires.

Bumping along, I headed over to the Spokane airport to greet my friend Debra. She hopped in her spiffy powder blue Taurus rental car (a.k.a. the “blue bull,” also “diablo azul”) and followed me back into Idaho. With the Couer d’Alene half marathon only a day or two away, we worked hard to carbo load on nachos. This is a very delicate training approach and I suggest that newcomers start small.

The race was great fun, especially before and after all the running nonsense. It was a crisp day, perfect for a long run. Debra ran like the wind and I lumbered over the finish line about ten minutes behind her. After the run we hiked some of Couer d’Alene city trails, hiked a bit on Mt Spokane and explored the city of Spokane.

I have several observations about northern Idaho and western Washington, as follows:

- Although the attitude is relaxed, certain rules are never to be broken. Example: if you ask for an extra large running shirt and find out later that a large would suit you better, there will be no swapping until the exact moment when such practices are allowed.

- In this hotbed of elaborate coffee drinks, a simple drip coffee is easy to order and pay for but oh so difficult to actually get.

- The entire area is beautiful.

The blue bull and moose headed back to the Spokane airport and I saw Debra off. Moments later I received a call from my pal Tanya telling me that her flight had arrived.

* * * It is appropriate at this point to mention that while I’m blessed with friends who will fly to travel with me, the appearance of two girl pals may seem suspect. Thank you Anna for understanding that having friends visit is a ton of fun for me compared to going it alone – worry not, as you are the only one to enjoy my heartfelt renditions of select Rod Stewart songs. * * *

Upgraded to a fine white Nissan Sentra, Tanya caravanned with me and the moose east, to Glacier National Park. The hiking in Glacier is wonderful and we were lucky to visit before the summertime crowds had assembled.

We went for a motorcycle ride through the park but as (bad) luck would have it, the five-star Going to the Sun Road was closed at points after particularly difficult winter conditions.

From Glacier we headed to Kelowna, British Columbia where I was registered for a 25k (15.5 mile) trail run. Little did I know that Kelowna is positioned in the Canadian continuation of the US’s northern dessert lands. It was hilly and hot! And fun!