Oyster Run

It was life changing.  

No I am not exaggerating.

In context you also need to understand that eating molten lava cake while snuggled in a cozy blanket with my lover boy is also life changing.

But still....

It made me feel alive!

I had that whole runner's high thing going on for days afterwards.

So so glad Allison called one day and said, "Hey, wanna do it?  No idea what it is but it sounds like fun!"

Truly, we had no clue what we were getting ourselves into, I liked it that way.  No nervousness, no worry, just jump in and get er done.

If you ever get a chance to do one, I wouldn't pass it up.  I think I shall do one every year until the day I die.  Based on the rapid bike rides through the streets of Portland I think that it may actually be what takes my life. . . not a bad way to go out.

It's an Urban Adventure.

It was incredibly Urban right in the heart of Portland (Pioneer Square), it was a fabulous way to reacquaint myself with my most favorite city in the whole wide world.

You show up with backpack, pen, shoes, i-phone, self, and bike.

They call you over to a desk, say go and hand you your first set of clues.

You accomplish each batch of clues and run back to base.  Some adventures you bike to, some you swim across, some you run to (twice if your cool like us), and mostly it is just a rip roarin good time.  To sum it up. . . mostly for my memory as I know it will bore you to tears:

1.  Solve a word problem graph thingie to reveal our first set of challenges.

2.  Do a series of absolutely ridiculous things including: taking our shirts off so we could turn them around for a photo, taking a photo with a flag, drawing a fabulous mustache on mua--with permanent marker we borrowed from starbucks, finding a coin from a certain year, photo with a rose, singing "So call me maybe" to a judge, etc.

PASS--More clue's

3.  Run to Portland State, find classroom based on a math equation we obviously did wrong multiple times because we couldn't find it.

4.  Run to underground golf, make our put.

5.  Realize we botched Portland state and run our tails back up there to find a silent classroom and a test we were to take together, but in silence.  Take our random math, science, literacy test....get 100%.....naturally.  Would you expect less from three fabulous well equipped mother's.  We've still got it....mmmmhmmm.

6.  Ride our bikes over the bridge and through the city to find a high school field.  We remove our shoes, catapult them across the field into a 5 gallon bucket....trickier than I thought it would be.  Guide blindfolded me across field of balls you can't touch.  On bike, back to base.

7.  Solve word riddle.  Run to voo-doo donuts.  Eat the yummiest largest donut I've ever seen with no hands.  Yes....then run with said donut in belly and sticky nasty faces to fountain and jump in to find rubber ducky with our number.  Run back home....follow a group of three men who actually knew the city....shaved off a lot of extra running we would have done.

8.  Back on bikes over river through city to the docks.  Allison has to paddle across Wilamette, we run bridge and path to meet her other side to switch.  She runs back, Amanda and I paddle back.  Correction: try to paddle back.  I lay stomach down on paddle board, Amanda kneels over me.  I swim with my arms, Amanda paddles.  Many many circles later a nice man in a Kayak comes over to us and asks if we want a tow.  I said, yes!!  Amanda said no.  Circle circle circle....la la la.  We come crashing in to the dock.  Shoot me.  I hate water.  A LOT!

Ride back to base....sloppy, wet, and happy.

That's pretty much it.

Hilarious, waaaaay out of my normal comfort zone of control-preparation-cautious.  It's just what I needed. 

AND

Cody (Allison's fabulous husband) came and took photo's.  I literally did not work.  I wish I could hire someone to photograph my life so I could just live it and they could do the work.  Wouldn't that be wonderful.

Post race.  Slimy, wet, donuty, and oh so ridiculously happy!  What a ride it was.