Yesterday I met up with my running buddy, Kim, for a 6 mile run on the Dora and New River Trails. It was nice and cool outside and my legs felt a lot better than they did on Friday’s run. We did an out and back on the trail and on the way back we had a new encounter. We were just about to start crossing the trestle bridge when we realized a pickup truck was crossing it from the other side. We had to stop and wait for him to get across before we could continue our run. When the driver finished crossing the bridge, he rolled down his window and told us “Sorry, I would have let y’all cross before I drove across if I had seen you.” I didn’t have my camera, but it was this bridge:

The man was a Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation employee and was driving a green DCR truck. We have seen DCR driving along the trail in the past, but always assumed they did not drive across the bridges. I always figured they drive to the bridge, then back up to the closest access point and bypass the bridges by using the roads. Apparently that is not the case. I also did not think the bridges were wide enough for a vehicle or strong enough to support it’s weight. Kim and I learned that both are true.

The rest of my day was relatively low key. I fixed breakfast and watched some Track & Field World Championships that we had recorded. Since it was Scout’s birthday, I asked her what she wanted to do. At the moment, all she wanted to do was nap. So I gave her a special treat by letting her nap in Barry’s and my bed, along with Hank, while I read. I got sleepy and all three of us ended up getting a nap in.

Then I took Scout to Tractor Supply to pick out a new bone. Funny enough, they had a rawhide display right after you came through the entrance. Scout walked over to the bin, sniffed around, and selected a bone. I picked up a few other things that I needed and she enjoyed walking around the store sniffing and meeting new people (she loves people).


Happy puppy

Of course we brought a bone home for Hank, too, since it wouldn’t be fair for only Scout to get one. They both spent the afternoon and evening chewing their new bones.

While the dogs enjoyed their rawhides, I worked on putting our family tree picture frame display together. My grandparents gave us this set of frames as an anniversary gift back in June and I finally got around to choosing pictures to go in them this weekend. By the way today also happens to be my grandparent’s 64th wedding anniversary. How about that?

It came with a really helpful template. All I had to do was put the pictures in the frames, tape the template to the wall, and use the guide on where to place the nails. The only difficult part was the tape didn’t want to stay on the wall, so I had to use a lot of extra tape to get it the template to stay up long enough for me to get the nails in.

Crazy masking tape due to my frustration with it repeatedly falling.

Once I got all of the nails in, I took the template down and started hanging pictures. I was worried it would be too big and I wouldn’t like it, but I’m actually pretty content with it. I included a few wedding pictures, some race pictures, a few travel pictures, and of course dog pictures. I’m happy with the way it turned out.

I also got an exciting package yesterday. It was exciting because it finally arrived, but it wasn’t a surprise since I both ordered and paid for it.

Two new pairs of Oiselle Distance Shorts!! I have been running nearly all of my long runs in my original pair of Oiselle shorts that I got at the end of July. I have been loving them (my new favorite!) and haven’t had any issues with them, so I decided to invest in two more pairs. I will be taking one of these for a run later today on my three mile run.

What strange encounters have you had out on the trails while running/biking/hiking/walking?

If you have pets, what do you do to celebrate their birthday?

Are you good about having pictures printed and framed?
Not usually, but every once in awhile I get motivated.