June is a transitional month, one of warm days and long nights. It is a month where your 5 am run is barely even in the dark. It is a month of planning days and weekends and weeks in the future.

Running: Although this was not my highest mileage week, it was a monumental one, in which I finished a 100 mile race near Bryce Canyon in Utah! In the past several months, I was starting to get a bit worried that I wouldn't be able to do it. However, in the weeks before, and definitely once I started the race, I knew I was going to see that finish line by hook or by crook. I ended up the month with 196 miles, 100 of them due to the race, and I climbed about 30,000 feet.

Reading: Due to a bit of travel as well as an increase of audio book time, I ended up reading 8 books in June. Many of them were just so-so, but there were a few standouts, such as Small Great Things, which is about racial issues, and To the Bright Edge of the World, a story about Alaskan exploration.

The Bones of Paris ***
The Aviators Wife ***
Small Great Things ****
Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me? ***
To The Bright Edge of the World ****
American Sniper ***
Minding Frankie ***
Evicted ***

Travel: I feel like I was barely home in June, as I spent two weekends in Santa Cruz and one in Bryce Canyon. The Santa Cruz trips were full of visiting and walking and seaside views, while the Bryce trip was hot and sweaty and beautiful in an entirely different way. I will let a few photos do the talking for this.

Holy hot, batman! Bryce, UT (photo credit: E.V.)

Willis Creek, UT (photo credit: C.A.)

  

Fall Creek, Felton, CA

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Etc.: What else is happening? Not much! The garden is growing, but the yard is not mowing itself unfortunately, so most of my spare time has been spent just barely keeping things from looking like a hillbilly lives at my house!

Purposeful cucumbers and volunteer tomatoes -- mid June

Plums! Mid June

Tomato Jungle and volunteer squash -- Mid June

Corn, I hope. Beginning of June

Radish! Get out the salt!

Tomato Ladder, beginning of June

What did you do in June? What was your favorite book? Have you done anything new or exciting lately?

Some things fill up fast in the summer and lately I have been in a mood to plan. This means the summer weekends are nearly all booked! Here are some of the things I am looking forward to in the next few months:

Oregon:  In a few weeks, I head north for the Gorges 100k, which will not be my best race, but it will be a lot of fun, and I expect some great beer at the end. Later this year I will go to Sisters for my annual girls' trip with my friend, her two girls and her mom. This year her sister and three kids are going to join us, so it's going to be a gaggle of girls!

Mt. Washington, Oregon

Yosemite: I have been several times, but can never get enough. So much so, in fact, that I have not one but two trips planned to the Sierra Nevada mountains near Yosemite this summer. The first trip will be in May for my parent's anniversary and the next will be in August for some trail running and hiking. I got really lucky and got a campsite (you basically have to camp on line all the time until one opens up) for both weekends. I am really looking forward to some fun times out in the mountains!

Colorado: Lisa and I just booked a weekend in Colorado in late May where we will do lots of hiking. Check out this site, which has a ton of great looking hikes! I only hope that the snow is gone enough for us to do some of the higher routes. However, if not, we are happy to go wherever the wind takes us! I am really excited because I have always heard about how great the hikes are in Colorado, and have even been looking into some Ultraracing there. This will be a great preview for possible trail races as well as a fun time with a friend who I have not seen in a while!

Tahoe:  TRT Training Run: Last year I did this, and it was a ton of fun. This is a weekend in June where you go up to Tahoe and do back to back training runs on the weekend. This is a great way to get used to the elevation while also enjoying great scenery and hanging out with a bunch of great people.  TRT: The actual 100 mile race is in July and I am looking forward to finishing this race and having a great time doing it!

Tahoe Rim Trail

Europe: A friend of mine got into UTMB, which is 100+ mile race around Mont Blanc, and I am planning on heading there with her for some running, hiking, good food and a bit of exploration. Things are really just starting to come together, so I will have more on this later!

Mayerhofen, Austria

Besides these fun travel plans (and I love the planning them!) the weekends are also full of races, family time and other events which have pretty much taken up every weekend. I am not complaining, but I will have to start booking some "free" weekends before I get too crazy!

What do you have planned for this summer? Where has been your favorite place you have ever traveled to? What is your favorite place that you go year after year?