Back off the trail just in time for the first day of school! This (as far as we know) will be our last “first day” as we glide into an empty next by next summer. Maybe. Homecoming is next weekend and the boys have been leaving the house armed with squirt guns and swim googles.

We spent Labor Day weekend on a short backpacking trip up to some local lakes. Putting that pack on again gave me some serious deja vu! I cooked everyone up some of my Knorrs meal specials with Top Ramen. See our new puppy Keely below!

I’m becoming a regular at the physical therapy clinic in BV. Turns out my “post-hole in the Sierra snow” knee issue was a torn MCL and meniscus. My Mt. Jefferson fall that made my hand hurt turned out to be a broken bone and soft tissue damage. And my misstep from one big log to another in N. California was a dislocated shoulder—but that one popped back in and appears good to go! So, for now, my running routine is in full pause and I’m concentrating on healing.