Anniversary Fun

The Nine Mile Falls duathlon will be starting in about five minutes. I have found a nook in the shade where I can entertain myself while Linda runs, bikes, and runs. The race is a bit longer today then the first duathlon we attended here this year. It will be fun for Linda and I am getting to be one of the spectators that everyone knows. Last time we were out here, I met several people and as soon as we arrived they all came over and reestablished a connection.

One of these people is Rick. Rick lives in the Browns Addition in Spokane and he has gotten involved in the local arts scene. He knows one of our Student Events guys, Jared, and this has been my connection to Rick. He is very nice and I am sure we’ll meet up more in the future. By the way I had a mocha from the coffee truck and he created a beautiful froth on the top. I took a picture because I was so impressed.

Today Linda and I celebrate 23 years of marriage together. It’s been a wonderful time and I can say I have never once thought “what the heck did I get into”. I love her more than anything in the world and truly believe we were made for each other. I don’t know if I could survive without her. She makes everyday exciting and new.

Here is a bit of a tid bit for you all. The Bennett’s have been looking for another dog! For the past few months we have been connected with the Golden Retriever Rescue out of Spokane. This is the organization that connected us to Baka. Since we lost Baka our family has had a huge hole in it. He was our baby and we have missed him beyond imagination. As part of our quest for a dog, I got the idea to go out and look at some of the golden puppies that have been in the paper. What a mistake! We have had to be strong and do a lot of heart to heart talk about whether we are in a position to raise a pup. Our first adventure led us way out through north Spokane to Loon Lake. A breeder has 12 pups available and they are just the cutest things. Just imagine walking into a room and having 12 heads pop up, look at you, and then total puppy mayhem break out. We picked out one, a male, and we are thinking about it very hard. Just to let you see how hard it has been, here are a few pictures of possible pups available.

Its 9:32 and the first runners have entered the exchange area; I better get into my support position. Linda did very well on the first run portion of the event. The ride is a bit longer so I will have some time to continue explaining about the puppy situation. The reason we are hesitating about getting a pup at this time it that we need to be available to take care of it and train it. The Loon Lake pups will be about 13 weeks old when we pick it up, if we let the breeder keep it until Linda is out of school, and that has us a bit concerned. A lot of training could be taking place during those six weeks and we are a bit leery about not being there during that training period.
Let me make it perfectly clear that if I had my way, we would have brought home both male pups from the Loon Lake crew. Linda was the voice of reason on that one.

We’re home and I’m resting in my chair. Man being a support crew is exhausting! Linda won her age group and place somewhere in the top 30. I’ll update the race info as soon as they post it on the web. We drove home and stopped in Spokane at one of the best Mexican grocery store and delis around, DeLeon Foods. Man that was good! Linda did a great job of talking Spanish to the lady behind the counter.

Results for Linda in the Spring Thaw:

33 to cross the finish line out of 111.
First in her age group 45-49, sixth female to finish overall.
2:02:43
Combining the two Spring Thaw events she finished second in the masters group which included all females 45 and up.