The good kind of tired...

I hiked about 9 miles with a pretty heavy backpack today! So I am exhausted, shouldn't even be up anymore, but there is always more to do. If I can chisel away at my list, I will be better off in the long run. I am a notorious procrastinator and a night owl, so I trying to feed on the last bits of sugar in my bloodstream before I crash. Amy, Suzanne, and I had a mini-Nora house reunion. Unfortunately, Joyce and Liezl could not partake of the fun, but Upa Machuca Maria Jose, Suzanne's dog, came as a stand in. With a name like that, she could even stand in for old landlord Gare-bear, as Liezl liked to call him. Off to the Columbia Gorge, we took off pretty early and hit the trail at 10 am. We didn't get back to the car until about 4:20 pm. We hiked from Wahkeena Falls to Angels Rest to Multnomah Falls. This was great training for me if elevation is negligible; however, I do think the difference of 12,000 feet is pretty significant. I was also breaking in my boots and conducting research, since both Suzanne and Amy have been to Peru. The weather was a bit cloudy, but the rain held off! We had so much fun! Some of our conversations were pretty intense, but so was our laughter when Suzanne started telling stories of backpacking after college. Potty humor can still get a laugh around here! The reminiscing, too, gave us much to smile about. I think we were all feeling pretty drained when we made it back to the car. Gratefully, McMenamin's Edgefield was on the way home, so we stopped for an adult beverage and wandered through their Oktoberfest before returning home. It was fun to see Pat and the girls when I dropped Amy off. They were also in the gorge today, but they were at the pear festival. I am not sad I missed it because I got to enjoy the best part - licking pumpkin butter off of Mia's fingers. She even fed me like a little birdie. Sadly almost everything was in her mouth first, but at least she shared! And now I must really go to bed because my pumpkin has expired. Buenas noches! tori