Nice job, Oak! If I am going to travel very far for a race, it better be special for some reason. But then I don't really do many races near me because I think I'd rather take myself for a ramble and not pay $$. I know so many great routes; I just need to find the time and motivation to get out there.

RnR, I have never seen a live lobster outside of a tank at a restaurant (I have seen a crawdad--mini lobster?!). Oak,I love seeing weasels and minks when I do, mostly in the winter here. skhill, I think our groundhog equivalent is the marmot. I saw some baby marmots on the run as well (to me, they fall into the "squirrel" category). They don't do much harm in the mountains but I'm sure the ones down in the lowlands give the farmers headaches.

skhill, are you going to invite us for a beer and whiskey trot??

I ran with hubby this AM, just an easy ramble before it got hot. We had our hottest July on record, and August doesn't seem to be letting up.