As per the usual I didn’t have to work on my birthday (it being a holiday and all).  So I took Codi out for a hike to the Rimrock Trail and to Mount Mitchell.  This is one of those trailheads that once you leave the main road, it is still almost 15 miles of narrow and potholed logging roads.  Quite the adventure just to get to the start!

I think it goes without saying that we were the only car parked at the trailhead at the start of our day.  We did run into a father-son combo just getting started as Codi and I were just ending our hike.

We only hiked out to Mount Mitchell and not down to the meadows.  I was feeling pretty sore and thought it was from my workout the day before.  Turns out it was the early stages of me getting sick…more on that in a bit though.  It’s only 2.7 miles to Mount Mitchell and stunning views of  Jefferson, Hood, Adams and Rainier.  Definitely a good bang for the buck in regards to difficulty and views.

Codi and I hung out with the views for a little bit, had some lunch and just relaxed.  Given the length of time it took to get to the hike start, I wanted to enjoy the moment before driving back out on the logging roads.

Pretty quiet and mellow birthday this year.  Stopped in Estacada for a coffee and pumpkin bar at Bloom Cafe, a nice little find.

On Saturday Mia, Dean and I headed to the Fall RV show at the expo center after checking out a new to us breakfast spot called Batter.  Definitely going to hit these guys up again.  I was quite impressed.  Plus the manager is from the Boston area, so he appreciated my Patriots jersey!

The RV show was a bit overwhelming at first.  Mia and I have talked for years about the next step in camping/travel and we knew an RV, trailer, pop-up was something we wanted to investigate.  There are pros and cons to all of them.  After spending almost 4 hours looking at mostly Class B and Class C RVs we think we’ve narrowed down the idea of what we want.  For now the reality of a purchase is a good 2-4 years out, but I’m a planner, so need to start saving our pennies and nickles now.

Okay, so back to being sore during the hike.  I was in denial, what I was calling sore was more like a pervasive ache all over.  I hoped I wasn’t getting sick, and I actually felt pretty decent all day Saturday.  However, once Sunday afternoon hit I was down for the count.  I developed the worst sore throat I have had in decades and called out of work on Monday to go see the doctor fearing it was strep throat.  The good news was the strep test was negative, the bad news was that it was viral, which meant I had to just suffer.  So I went home thinking I’d be okay in a day or so.  NOPE.  I was flat out on my butt through Thursday.  This was the worst cold (or flu?) I have had in years.  Turns out it is running rampant through the building at work too.  4 of us in Finance alone were out for most of the week.  Even today I’m still feeling off, but at least I don’t feel like I was run over by a truck anymore.

That’s about it for now.  Thanksgiving is right around the corner and we’ve got a pretty good day planned with friends and 1 family member.

Thanks for reading,

-Pete