The Celtic Festival and Highland Games Re-cap

Did you attend the Celtic Festival and Highland Games last weekend? Randy and Shawna did and they had tons of fun. It was extremely well organized and the turn out was great! They liked sitting in the grass enjoying the weather and listening to the outstanding music. They were also super impressed by all the games. They were so fun to watch and took a lot of strength- it was no bean bag toss! Shawna's favorite game to watch featured competitors throwing large, heavy logs as far as they could. The food was also very good, Shawna enjoyed the hummus plate- her favorite food! If you didn't get a chance to make it out, you must plan to attend next year!

 

Fair Fun!

This year for the fair we set up a pinterest-like booth with all kinds of flyers on how to do many projects on your own! Also, each agent in the office did their own project so we could have some projects on display.

Patty's project was How To Make Painter's Drop Cloth Curtains.

This is what the final product looked like after we made a few minor adjustments to the booth!

While Shawna was manning the booth on Wednesday night Randy went over to the main stage and watched the Wasteland Kings perform!

We hope everyone had as much fun at the Union County Fair as we did!

Bragging Rights...

Haley ran her first half marathon this weekend! She ran in the Catherine Creek Classic. The finish line was at Union high school where she caught the shuttle bus to the starting line 13.1 miles away. The race course followed Catherine Creek along Medical Springs Highway back to Union. Haley finished in under 2 hours- which is an awesome time! We are pretty proud of her around the office, she definitely gets bragging rights!

Riding the bus to the starting line.

Pre Race

Post Race

While Haley was running, Bob was fishing! Bob went on a fishing trip toYellowstone for his son's 40th birthday. He has never been fly fishing before, but he caught the most and the biggest fish out of his group! He also has bragging rights here in the office!

Bob's son- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

A huge thank you to all who stopped by our fair booth this weekend- it was a success! Pictures of the Union County Fair will be up soon!

Hurricane Creek

This past weekend, Monica and her husband Barry hiked along Hurricane Creek in the Eagle Cap Wilderness. This is a perfect hike for beginners or someone who can't commit to an overnight trip and the views were phenomenal!  To get to the Hurricane Creek Trailhead from Enterprise you just turn on Hurricane Creek Road off of Main Street and follow it out to the trailhead, about 7.5 miles. If you are in Joseph you can head West on Airport Road for 1.5 miles, turn left on Hurricane Creek Road and follow it out to the trailhead. You have the option to camp near the trailhead or just park and make a day trip out of it. Either way the cost is $5 per day, so don't forget your cash!

Monica and Barry just hiked to Slick Rock which is about 6 miles there and back. After about .5 miles on the trail there is a side trip to the right that leads to a lovely waterfall and it's worth the extra steps! After that you can head back to the trail and move on to Slick Rock. Along the way there are some amazing views of Hurricane Creek, Joseph Mountain, the face of Sacajawea Peak and many waterfalls. At one point you do have to cross Falls Creek- but there is a sturdy log across it right now that even a beginner could use as a bridge. At around 3 miles the trail does three switchbacks and at the top you can see the gorge below and it was so pretty Monica and Barry almost stopped here for lunch but if you go just a little further you arrive at Slick Rock where you can view the gorge below and a waterfall above you and this makes a great lunch spot! You can continue on from there to Echo Lake, climb to the top of Slick Rock Falls, or call it a day and head back.

Afterwards, Barry and Monica went on to Wallowa Lake and rented a boat, road bikes, swam, did some more hiking, and spent 2 nights camping. We are so lucky to have so many activities so close to us here in Union County!

A Weekend Wall

The sun is shining and the temperature is warming up...this could only mean one thing: yard work. Monica and her husband, Barry tackled a little front yard fix up this past weekend. Armed with no experience, basic tools- some of which they had to  borrow from the neighbor, some garage sale blocks, and YouTube on their iPhones they set out to build  a small retaining wall to contain the little hill that was their front yard. It's true what they say, leveling the first layer of blocks is the most important step- the level became their BFF.

Before

During

After

After

They plan to lay sod in front of the wall and do the same thing on the other side of the yard! Here are some resources they found helpful:

http://www.dannylipford.com/how-to-build-a-stackable-block-retaining-wall/

Yee-Haw!

 

Last weekend Haley carried flags at the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show and had a great time! Haley said she learned a lot about a new kind of riding that she had never done before! Hope everyone is out and about enjoying this great weather this weekend! 

On the Run...

Last Saturday Haley participated in her first 12K in Spokane, WA! Here is a little re-cap of her experience:

I participated in Bloomsday May 6^th.  It was my first experience not only with Bloomsday itself, but an organized run as well.  This year there were over 48,000 participants that lined the downtown streets of Spokane for the 12K run.  As I was climbing Doomsday hill, a long hill about 5 miles into the race, I experienced something that made the whole trip worthwhile.  I was running up the hill but may better be described as crawling thinking to myself that the hill would never end.  I was contemplating walking on and off thinking I was so tired.  About half way up the hill cheering got loud and I looked up to see to my left a gentleman in a wheelchair 100% focused on making it to the top of the hill.  His face alone was inspirational as his determination was very apparent, but then I noticed his entire arms and back was covered in blood.  It was apparent that he had wrecked earlier in the race but that wasn’t enough to stop him.  I instantly felt ridiculous for feeling sorry for myself as I climbed Doomsday, and felt more compassion for this amazing individual.  I am sure he wasn’t just an inspiration to me, but the other 48,000 participants as well!

Don’t forget the 3 Rivers Race is coming up in La Grande on June 2^nd! It has something for everybody including a 10K for runners and walkers, a half marathon for runners and family bikers and a 70 mile and century bike ride for teams and individuals. In addition to great food and entertainment waiting for you at the end prizes will be given out for money raised, and first place individuals and teams. Maybe you will get to see Haley in action on June 2^nd!

Register for the 3 Rivers Race Here!