On the road again…

My last blog highlighted my first re-entry into water after 67 days. Still hard to believe.  Being cooped up in our apartment we needed a get-away from Boston for a bit to a place that felt more “open”. Someplace where it didn’t require wearing a mask just to take the recycling out or to get the mail.  That would mean doing something else I hadn’t done in 90 days…hopping on an airplane!  Again one of those of those “normal” activities we took for granted pre-pandemic.

We decided on Bend, Oregon for two weeks. One week of WFH and the other vacation.  Bend is a place we have enjoyed vacation as a family for many years. Oregon was further a long in the reopening process versus Massachusetts due to smaller population and density. Relatively lightly populated Bend and Deschutes County even felt more so.

I was super excited to swim daily at the Juniper Park Pool (pool #95 #95 & #96 Long, long, ago… ) and to take the short drive to Elk Lake on the Cascade Lake Scenic Byway.  Unseasonably cool weather the first week and the Governor putting a “pause” on reopening somewhat foiled my swimming plans. Boooo!

We still had a terrific time in Central Oregon with family visiting from Portland and Shannon flying the kids in for Fathers Day (ex-Sean due to his camping buddies catching Covid).  I ran/walked a lot, hiked, we rode bikes and we floated down the river.

And yes…I did eventually get to swim in Elk Lake. Its an alpine lake so it was a bit brisk at first yet it was very doable for a few thousand yards. It’s fun to sight off of South Sister when breathing to my left and ahead off of Mt. Bachelor.  The pools opened the day after we left…grrrr.

I know I will be back and will become a somewhat regular in the Central, Oregon swimming holes as we bought a second home in Bend.  WFH (work from home) actually means WFA (work from anywhere)! 😉

It was great to get back to the Pond peeps at Lake Cochituate. Love these people.  After a couple swims back we kicked it up for a big 4.5 mile weekend swim-ouch! Longest swim since March. It felt so good and was great to share the pain with friends!