Yet another day of mortar and tile

Day 4 of the project...And the book said 14 hours for a novice....
All of the tile up, Monday night.


Now for the grout. It took a couple of tries to get it the right consistency. Once I had that it was a piece of cake. When it was too dry it was a pain in the ass!







Grout cleaned up...now for 3 days of "wet curing", then the sealer. The new glass door will go up after that.






We hope to be showering in our own shower by Sunday. Thank goodness for great neighbors

Day 3: More tile

The tile is the easiest part of the whole gig. Kevin is running back and forth making the cuts for me while I try not to screw up the lines on the wall.

It's 3pm and I have to run to work for a meeting, and then I will be back to finish the last 1.5 walls.

Day 2 of the Spring Break adventure

By the time we had hit George Morlan, Home Depot & Lowes neither one of us wanted to touch this project again on Saturday. Kevin replaced the valve while I took dinner to Rebecca and then we called it a night. Sunday morning we started puting up the cement backerboard.

Day 2:
The new 3 in 1 valve. We are hoping it won't leak. Plastic vapor barrier. Cement board up and seams being patched.

Demolition Complete

Now it is time to figure out how to replace the valve and begin putting the walls back together.

Ready or Not continued...

Demolition in progress.. Luckily the studs don't look like they need to be replaced.

Ready or Not....

The shower re-model has started.

These are the before pics. Demolition started at 10am.

Planning a bath remodel...

Kevin's spring break is in a week. I am going to take the week off too. We are going to tile the surround of the shower. I stopped at a tile store on my way home from work today to pick up samples. Tomorrow we will order the shower door and figure out what tools we are going to need and don't have. This should be an adventure.

Kevin's brother, Richard, is staying with us for a while...I don't think any of the three of us want to go more than a day or two with out a shower - and we only have one bathroom. The plan is to use the neighbor's shower while ours is out of commission.

It looks like it will be Mark, Jay & I riding on Sunday. If it isn't raining. They are fair weather riders, I hope it is sunny.

I have been trying to rehab my knee so that it won't hurt when I run. It has been pretty frustrating as it has hurt every day for the last 18 months. My physio therapist thinks we are to the point where we can maintain the pain level, mobility and range of motion...but it won't really be much better than it is today. It still hurts all of the time. I am not running and not kicking when I swim. I am going to look in to other options - options that involve a scapel. I don't like the idea of not being able to be active (run/swim etc) in the next 50 years. I would rather go through 2 years of hell (it is a full year of recovery from the surgery) and be able to be active after that, rather than pain for the rest of my life. I really miss running.

A quick trip to Europe

Well, so far I am not very consistent at either posting or training.

I was in Europe last week for work, so that meant no long ride for me on March 1st. Not that the week wasn't lacking for excitement. I I needed to be in both Holland and Belgium, so Thursday night I took my little rental car and drove the 2 -3 hours to Belgium. I stayed in a cute little town that was very close to the office (there isn't actually anything near the office). Thank goodness for GPSes, I was wondering through little towns and backroads for about an hour, before I finally got to the hotel. The adventure got more exciting on the return trip to Holland. I must have chosen the "Long, meadering" route home. I followed every turn of the GPS.....and ended up on ferry (in the middle of no where) crossing a canal. I think the largest town I came across was Gouda. This is a little disturbing as I know there is a major highway between Antwerp & Amsterdam (and I was on my way to it for a little while) and I spent 3.5 hours making my way (in the dark) through back roads.

It is always an adventure with me.

I flew home on Saturday the 8th - I was on the ground by 12 and at home by 12:45... At 4pm we were at Cirque de Soeliel and then dinner and cake for Peter's birthday.

Sunday morning, I went for a 40 mile ride with Bob & Leslie. It was a beautiful day! It started out a little cold but warmed up nicely.

STP

I recently signed up for something called "Seattle to Portland". It is a 200+ bike ride starting in Seattle and ending in Portland.The ride takes place in mid-July and you can do it in either 1 or 2 days, not one to turn down a challenge, I am going for the 1 day version. This means I need to get my butt (literally) toughened up to handle 15 hours in the saddle. It hurts just thinking about it. Today was my second "long" training ride - 25 miles (ok, it isn't that long), but it is a start. I have been trying to be good about making it to spin 2-3 times a week - hoping that it will help me ease in to the miles to come.

2 weeks ago Krista & Bob and I ventured out for the first ride of the season, in North Plains. It was hard to beleive it was the begining of February - the weather and scenery were beautiful. The route ventured through farm land and forested hills, I love the smell of both!

Today, Leslie, Krista & Jay made it out. It was a beautiful day and great company! There was a lingering threat of rain, that never showed. We rode places in the Portland area that I have only been via car (and thought they were out of the way even then). Everytime I ride my bike and don't fall, I am secretly thrilled. When it comes to reading directions, trying to get clipped in or clipped out and not get hit by a car, I am lucky I don't fall more often.

After the ride Krista and I went in search of tile places in SE Portland. Of course they were all closed, with most only open Mon - Fri, I guess that means we are going to need to go back for more tile shopping - followed by happy hour.

Home at last

We made it home at midnight on Thursday, 4 hours after we were supposed to.

We played with the dogs and then went to bed as we had to run Hood 2 Coast on Friday. For those of you who don't know what that it is, it is a 197 mile relay from Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood to Seaside Oregon. It takes 2 days and you run 3 times for ~15 to ~18 miles total.

We are now recovering from that.

The photos have been posted for our Haute Route trip, I will add captions as i get time.

Grachen > Zermatt

Today was supposed to be the second to last day, we were going to walk up to the Europahut and then down to Zermatt tomorrow. We checked the weather and it was going to be cold (6c) and raining all day today and tomorrow, above 2000m (which is where we were going to spend all of our time). We opted for the more dry option of finishing our trek through the valley, to Zermatt.

After breakfast we caught the bus back to St. Niklaus and then headed out for the last 4 hours.

About an 1.5 in to, my hip and knee were really bothering me and Kevin was tired of walking, so we caught the train to Zermatt.

Once in Zermatt, we checked in to the hotel....no bag yet (it was supposed to arrive on Friday, today is Monday). We ate a little, drank a little and waited for the post office to reopen at 2 to check on it.

Turns out we need the package number off of the receipt (which we probably threw away). If it doesn't arrive tomorrow before we leave, we will ask the hotel to ship it to us...I am sure that will be cheap.

Our tentative plan is to head to Lausanne tomorrow, then Geneva-London the next day. We are planning on meeting Paul in London for a pint and then head home on Thursday.

Its been a long, great walk. We both feel like we need a vacation from our vacation....and can't wait to see our photos.

Hopefully that bag will turn up.....

St. Niklaus > Grachen

This was supposed to be a short day, we woke up late, ate breakfast and headed up hill. We would have a 1.5 hour walk, UP a steep path. We actually walked about 30 minutes past our hotel so then we had to head back down to it. We checked in, showered and took a long nap. After the nap we went looking for food. Evidently, no one served food between 2 & 6, in Grachen. So we drank beer, I called Dad and we headed back to the hotel for another nap before dinner.

Today was all about staying off of our feet.

Dinner wasn't very good, but it was food, and then we went to bed early.

Gruben > St. Niklaus

Today was a long up hill. The 2 weeks of walking were really starting to taking a toll on us. When we were about 600 vertical meters from the top, we started taking a break every time we would gain 100 m. Kevin also got an extra 30 minutes of walking in, as when we were 20 minutes from the start, we realized that we had forgot the guidebook at the hotel.. So he went back and got it.

Once we crossed the last pass of the trip, we headed down, and then up in to a boulder field that would never end. Eventuall (2.5 hours later) we walked down in to Jungen. What do you know, there is another cable car, and you can guess what we were going to do.... we were not up for another 1.5 hour steep down hill.

Once in St. Niklaus we found our hotel, showered, did laundry in the sink and then headed for dinner. It was really good.

We also ran into the Kiwis for the last time at dinner. They were headed to the Europahut the next day where we were going to take a "rest" day and only do a 2 hour walk to the next town and then head to the Europahut the next day.

Zinal > Gruben

We switched roles on this stage. I was slow, Kevin was faster. It was cloudy all day, but didn't rain. It was a long climb up to the Forclatta (another col). It was also very windy and cold at the top, all I wanted to do was rush down so I could warm up. This is our first German speaking valley...I don't expect to be able to understand a single word they say....should be intertaining.

Walking down from the col, we walked through a sheep ranch (literally, through their pens), down to a road. We caught up to the Kiwis, with the knees of steel. Our feet have hurt for the last hour (at least) of every day... I kept expecting this to go away, but it never did.

We both ran out of water as we finished the death march into town. The hotel was pretty nice, except that the bathroom was down the hall.

We ate dinner with Nigel, who we didn't expect to see again as he was going to walk past St. Niklaus, to get a head start on the Eurpoweg.

Cabane de Moiry to Zinal

We had a crappy breakfast - stale bread and jam....

We met a Canadian couple that were going to finish today - in Arolla. They were headed backwards after weather had delayed them halfway through.

We lost the trail that we were supposed to take to the Barrage de Moiry, so we cut down to the road and walked along it until we ran in to the trail again. We ran into a restaurant where we had a large pseudo breakfast. We then headed up for the 600 meters to the top. It was a nice trail, grassy, smooth and lots of long switch backs. We had also decided that we would take the cable car down from the ski resort to Zinal. Neither of our knees were up to the 1000m knee pounding descent.

We had an incredible view from the top of the col, except for some of the clouds. And we waved to Wim and Bararab (the Kiwis) as we were headed down in the cable car. They must have knees of steel.

We really wanted to do laundry when we got in to town, real laundry. So Kevin started calling the Tourist Office and found a gentleman who runs an apartment complex who would let us use his machines.....Ahhh fresh clothes.

We had dinner (it was long and good!) at a restaurant that was recommended by Benoist Germann (the laundry guy).

La Sage > Cabane de Moiry

"Another 1600m day in the bag. It went fast enough. We hiked from about 9am to 4pm, including lunch and breaks. I felt slow today... or else Dana was fast. I was dragging behind all daz. We made the col tsate in 3 hours and then it was straight down for an hour. We didn't have any food left so we had to make it down the hill to a snack shop. After lunch we had 400 more mreter to climb. )it took us 1 hour 45 mnutes) It was very crowded, for you Oregoniansé It was like Multnohmah falls. except every one said hello to each other. Dana and I must have said 'bonjour' 200 times. The cabane is nice. It is right on the Moiry Glacier and ice fall. I hope the food is good. The problems with the place are: no shower, bathrooms are outside, and thez have us packed in like a middle ages ship. Sleeping tonight will be a lot like riding Portland metro buses during rush hour." --- Kevin.

Arolla > La Sage

Well, this little 4 hour hike proved to be harder then it looked. It only took us about 4 hours, but it was a long 4 hours.

We walked past a pristine blue lake that had many people sunning themselves near, then we headed down to a little bar where Kevin had the worst hamburger possible. It related it to a burger from 7-11, only worse. We then headed down for the next several hours. At Les Haudiers (sp?) we then headed up, for what would be come a death march. We ended up in a woman's backyard, she directed us to the trail and we continued up.

Once in Le Chable, we checked in to our Dortoir. They laughed when we said we had a reservation...come to find out we were the only ones on the entire floor. I think the only other guest we would meet would be a strange guy from Pennslyvania.

The "hotel" was very creeky, you walked as quietly as you could incase the place came crashing down.

The dinner was horrible, but at least they served dessert, for Kevin's birthday.

We met Roger, from Pennsylvania. He was kind of strange, he planned to hike from Arolla to Zermatt, in sandals. His pack weighed about 30 pounds and was filled with stuff like a tent, sleeping bag and camping stuff....sounded like a lot of stuff he wouldn't need. Not to mention he was in pretty bad shape from the hike from Arolla. Granted I said it was harder then what we expected, but not nearly as hard as what we had done before or were expecting later.

Kevin shipped his extra backpack from Arolla to Zermatt, for a whooping 14 francs...we will see if it actually arrives.

Cabane Prafleuri > Arolla

The day started out with a climb up a col to 2800m (from 2600m). The view was of a deep valley now filled by a dam held glacier lake. It was supposed to rain this morning, but so far, no sign of it.

We walked down to the lake and along it for about 2 hours. We saw lots of climbers and day hikers. The climbers must have been coming down from Mont Blanc Cheilon. We stopped for lunch at the end of the lake, which is where I learned I wouldn't have to cross the bridge--something I was really not looking forward to. Instead we would avoid the traverse across the steep slope covered in scree and head to the Cabane Dix, cross the glacier and then go up the ladders.

We could look over on to the other side of the canyon and see Alex & Paul traversing the scree, I was glad to be on the side I was on.

It was a long slow climb to the Cabane. We kept expecting it to be just over the next little ridge, turns out we first had to climb to 2900m+ and then down to the cabane. We stopped for hot chocolate and then headed down to the glacier. We crossed a boulder field on either side of it and then scrambled up to the ladders.

The ladders are 3 iron ladders bolted to the rock face (near vertical). They are about 50 feet tall. At one point, near the top, you have to get off of one ladder on to a little rock ledge and then get on to the last ladder. We waited for a family to come down them (with a rope). Then it was our turn. I went first, I wore my gloves for fear the ladder would get cold and then I wouldn't be able to feel my fingers. I took them off when I switched ladders near the top -- my hands were sweating and the bars were actually warm. The long middle ladder shook a little and it seemed like a really long way to the top. When I switched ladders, I took the gloves off. I have never been so happy to be at the top of anything! Kevin came up after I did. We took some pictures, caught our breath and then headed down to Arolla. It was about 2 hours down hill. It was pleasant at first, but then turned into a death march. About 30 minutes above the town we heard a band...then we saw them when we got in to town.

Alex, Paul & Nigel met us with beer. That was a welcome sight! Turns out we were the only ones to take the ladders. They made it in 6.5 hours, we made it in about 8 (should have taken us 6.5 - 7.5), so not too bad.

After the beer we checked in, picked up Kevin's bag (a welcome sight - 9 days later), showered, did laundry and then headed out for dinner with Alex & Paul. Today was their last day.

Cabane Mont Fort > Cabane Prafleuri

"HOLY SHIT!!!!

The way around the Col Termin and over to Col de Louvie sucked ass. Most of the way we had to traverse a steep slope and post hole through thigh high snow. What was supposed to take 3 hours and 15 minutes, actually took 5 hours 30 minutes. Where there was only a little snow on the trail we would sometimes slip...Looking back at the trail you could see how steep the slop was...It was as mentally tiring as it was physically.

However, the view was spectacular. The weather was great and we saw a lot of wildlife - Chamois or Ibex or Steinbach? " -- Kevin

Between Col de Louive and Col Prafleuri it was a lot of boulder scrambling as we crossed a moraine below a couple of glaciers. Then we had to climb up to the Col (pass) on boulders and snow.

Anne smashed his toe under a 2 ton boulder, we stopped to check out the damage, when he took his sock off, the toenail went with it. Alex doctored it the best she could (the surgeon in the group).

We met a couple for New Zealand at dinner. This is their 3rd trip on the Haute Route.

I started reading about tomorrow, cable bridges & ladders --- both of which I am not looking forward to. Hopefully the day after that will be easier, my nerves are shot.

It took us 8 hours 45 minutes - not counting breaks. It should have taken us 6.5 hours.

Le Chable > Cabane du Mont Fort

"We slept a little late... until about 7:30am. I took a shower and then we headed to breakfast, which was quite small, a little bread with butter and jam, and coffee. Dana's hot chocolate wasnàt too hot. Alex and Paul decided to take the cable car and then climb above the cabin. We we headed off. The trail was easz to follow, but it was UP UP UP UP. The guide book mentions all the attractions, including the little church (which had a wedding going on). The BBQ joint. The restaurant in Clambin (which was closed). We ate the bread, cheese & sausage we had bought in Le Chable. It was a nice lunch break in the sun with a panoramic view of the Bagnes valley.

Near Clambin we met a nice fellow from Geneva...He was an artist wandering the trails looking for inspiration. He talked a lot about how great the area was, except for Verbeir which he said was shit now that every one was building 5 million dollar homes and looking down their noses at every one. He was very entertaining.

After Clambin it was more UP UP UP UP. Eventually getting to a ski area that was filled with mountain bikers. We finally saw the signs directing us to the cabin - 50 minutes away. It actually took a long 70 minutes. Right before we got to the cabin we met a couple of dutch guys (Anne and Pepain). They had spotted a marmot and pointed it out to us. Very Cool! Finally we made it to the cabin. We had spaghetti ( a lot of it) and beer and wine. It was a fun evening.

We also met a parisian who writes for a golf magazine and had visited Portland to write an article about Nike Golf.

The bad news came in that our next day may have some weather issues. Deep snow and afternoon thunderstorms. We are counting on the snow being less deep and we are going to do it as a group (the three brits - Alex, Paul & Nigel, the two dutch - Anne & Pepain, and us). It may be a tough day so we are going to get an early start. We went to bed at 9:30, breakfast at 6, leave at 7.

It tooks us 6.5 hours to get to Cabane Mont Fort, including most of our breaks." -- Kevin