Eric Moody: I Can't Believe it's November Already!!

We had a GREAT fall weekend in the NW. We all LOVE where we live and take every chance we can to get out and enjoy every bit of it! This weekend started off with an easy hike (remember - Amy is now 7 mos pregnant) up to the top of Multnomah Falls. The colors were amazing and the rain this month had the falls flowing strong.

Our little guy hiked the full 1.25 miles straight up to the top all on his own. We let out a proud smile every time some out-of-breath tourist would ask "Did he walk all the way up here?"

I love the big moss-covered trees and the bright fall colors mixed into the dark greens of the NW forests

The secret to getting a three year old to walk that far and up hill the whole way - M & M's for the hike and the promise of treats at the top! "Thanks mom!"

The stream above the falls where we stopped for a snack:

The falls as seen from the hike on our way back down

Cam and I stopped near the bottom for a quick picture in front of the falls:

At the bottom as we were leaving we noticed the spawning salmon that were making their way up from the Columbia River into this small stream to lay their eggs. There were a ton of them and big ones too!

The next day was the last race from the Cross Crusade. It had been raining most of the week so it promised to be extra muddy. Amy and Cam decided to come since it was the last one even though the weather outlook was not great. It rained all night and was pouring on our way there but once there and most of the day, the rain was either very light or not at all.

Camden was excited to do another Kiddie 'Cross race with even more mud!

"Are you ready to race buddy?"

Pushing it around the barn!

And through the puddles!

Giving it everything he's got all the way to the finish line! (and for about 2 more laps just for fun!!)

My 'cross season started off great with the races we had here in Hood River (see some of the past posts on here) but as the courses got muddier and the field of racers got as high as almost 200 in my category I struggled to finish in the front. I managed to get a good enough finish to finally get into the points and make the call-up to the front of every race but never got into the top 10 again. I'm very happy with how I did and look forward to some more races to finish out this year. I need to look at my training closer next year too as the cycling season here is quite different then what it was in UT. I peaked with my training at all the wrong times this year!!

Cyclocross is some of the most fun I've had on two wheels and my lovely wife has done a great job of capturing all of it:

Camden and I also managed to squeeze in a little exploration and went to Bonneville Dam and Fish Hatchery this weekend.

Meat Herman the Sturgeon!! He is 10 ft long, 430 lbs and 70 yrs old! He is also one of the biggest freshwater fish in North America as this type of fish, common in our Columbia River can grow to be 12 ft long and live for 100 years! Camden was totally fascinated with him and thought he was a shark!

We also watched them take the spawning salmon and extract the eggs for the fish hatchery, which was cool for Cam but provided an awkward moment for me as I found myself explaining the birds and bees to a 3 yr old! (the Disney version of course!)