March in Moab, Utah ... Rocks!

Blake and I drove my lovely new Mazda CX 5 (love it!) to Moab, Utah for the Canyonlands 5 mile and half marathon... Some other friends from Longmont went too and most ran the half marathon, but Blake and I ran 5.  The event was very organized and the route was so beautiful! 

We had over 3 days to visit Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park, both very near Moab.  Both are breathtaking and beautiful and we could have spent more time in both.

The only bad thing was getting caught in a blizzard driving home!  We made it past Avon, but an accident had the interstate clogged for many miles.  We were rerouted through Leadville over crazy snowy passes with no visibility, and back to I-70 at Copper Mountain.  Unfortunately when we got that far, the Eisenhower tunnels were closed due to the blizzard.  Rooms were all full because everyone was stuck.  Blake's sister found us the only room left in the entire area!  ...A very beautiful but expensive condo at the foot of Keystone ski mountain.  We only wish we had time to enjoy that place but we were happy to be safe and warm.

So weird to go from warm and dry to hours of blizzard and freezing.  Pretty!  And luckily I had two scrapers in the car for the many times we stopped to scrape the windshield that wouldn't stay clear.  Brrrrr....

At Arches

Near The Windows at Arches

Panaroma at Canyonlands.  The Colorado River is below the lower ground you see.

Yay!  We did it and we got medals!  (So did everyone else who did it)

A scene of the run in the canyon.  I'm in the purple skirt with white hat.

Delicate Arch is on the Utah license plates.  It's huge and amazing!

View of the White Rim trail that goes for 107 miles around the canyon below.  You can take jeeps and mountain bikes on it.

Some people looking at the view on the other side of Double Arch. 

People at the top of the cliff are on the trail that winds around the top.  You can see the canyon below and a little piece of the White Rim trails.

Fresh snow in the morning at Keystone. Harrowing drive over Tennessee Pass at night in a blizzard.  Crazy stressful and expensive return home.

Riviera Maya. Mexico

I was so lucky to squeeze in a short trip to the Yucatan with Eli who I spent a few days with in Split. Croatia, and with Terri,  a friend from Longmont. 

The weather did not cooperate - we had limited sun but lots of rain and wind!  But we still managed to have a great vacation with lots of laughs and beautiful places to visit.  We did zumba at the pool daily and walked along or layed in a chair looking at the ocean.  We snorkeled on our first day right at our own beach but the weather didn't permit it again (so sad about it).  We spent a day in Playa del Carmen but got rained out in the afternoon.  Found some dancing at the restaurant on our last night there so we got to practice our moves.

The grounds of the Mayan Palace Vidanta resort are spectacular with acres of beautiful pools, walkways, palm trees, and green lush tropical plants everywhere!  We were so lucky to be in the building closest to the big pool and the coastline. Awesome experience with my girlfriends!  Thanks to Eli for buying a time share there last year!

at our beach

the biggest pool, it went on forever!

a spectacular sunset

Terri, Eli, and me

Salsa lesson with Daniele

Eli posing with mannequins (in the middle in pink) outside a store in Playa del Carmen

Terri and me on the beach!

Happy hour mudslides on our one sunny morning!

A weekend in Colorado Springs!

We signed up for a Saturday run with the pikes peak road runners and my friends Barb and Blake!  The weather was perfect with warm temps and not too much wind.  The sky was so blue!  The people were fit and friendly! 

But the route was very challenging!  12 miles of rolling hills at 7700 feet made this the toughest run I've done in a long time.  I cried a bit when I crossed the finish line because I was so happy to be done. 

Barb finished after me and she cried too!  We had the base miles but this was much more difficult than we expected... but we finished.

Blake and I stayed at the Cheyenne Mountain resort for a few days to explore the Springs,  including Garden of the Gods, gorgeous views of Pikes Peak and a visit to the Broadmoor hotel.  There is much to see and do in Colorado Springs.   Beautiful place and we loved the lodging. 
And I don't want to forget about the Old Man Winter Run in January in Lyons, the Quaker Oats Run in February in Lafayette, Thursday evening runs from Shoes & Brews, our June 2015 Ragnar at Snowmass, and the Colder Boulder in December 2015. 

We are so happy to be done and to have survived.  Ouch!  Everything hurt!

Before the run.... good thing we were thinking positive!

 

Pikes Peak from Garden of the Gods walkway

Garden of the Gods is amazing with many miles of paved walkway and dirt trails.

 

Garden of the Gods view from a trail above

Looking over Colorado Springs from Garden of the Gods

Oysters on the campfire!

A cold day in the woods warmed up by a walk on the sunny beach and a warm raging campfire!  Kit and Kathy took me to their property on the west side of this Kitsap Peninsula.  Gig Harbor is on the east side.  They have a cute little trailer on the land so it's like camping with a little comfort.  What a beautiful spot they have!

Below are some Seattle photos too.

Kit and Kathy scouting out oysters on the beach.  There were thousands of them!  To me they looked like rocks.

Cooking oysters on the campfire.  When they are done, the shell opens up and they are ready to eat. 

Kathy grew up here so she is full of information and knows how to cook, shuck, and serve oysters. 

 Serve with spicy mustard and Tobasco. They were good!  Not slimy at all! 

sitting at the campfire, looking at the sunny beach and the Cascade Range way out there and covered in snow. 

Totem Pole in Seattle.  Six tribes of the Pacific Northwest carved them for ceremonies.  The poles and figures on them  were respected and represented the identity of the tribe or clan that carved it.  They also showed relationships between animals and people.   

This whale is the base of the very tall pole in the picture above.  

Sitting room of a restored houseboat from the early 1900's.  Lots of people live on houseboats moored on docks - like "Sleepless in Seattle".  It's news to me - but has a long history in this area.

The Space Needle from Kathleen and Terry's balcony on Queen Anne hill.  The city has 6 major hill neighborhoods and they are steep volcanic hills - like San Francisco.  The traffic is horrendous with so many elevated highways crossing each other and no good public transportation.  I wouldn't want to live there but it's a great place to visit!

Tacoma and Narrows Bridge

After 20 hours of pouring rain,  the sun came out today!  That's worth mentioning here in the rainy Pacific Northwest ! 

Today was a hodgepodge of exploring.
 
I walked on but not across the Tacoma Narrows bridges.  8 lanes of highway traffic is loud!  Impressive bridges. The original Galloping Gertie collapsed in 1940 after less than one year of use, then a new and improved one was built.  You can see the amazing collapse on YouTube.  

Another green and lush trail to walk on with lots of puddles and water pouring down it found me.  Did I say it's wet here?  But so pretty in those woodsm hiking, strolling, or running. 

The Tacoma Glass Museum was an interesting place to visit -  they blow glass, have beautiful displays,  and a Chihuly exhibit. Chihuly's glass is amazing and there's a lot of it here since he's from Tacoma. 

And I've had plenty of time at the house with Riley the dog.  Life is good in the Pacific Northwest. 

Tacoma Narrows bridges connect this peninsula with Tacoma and the "mainland". The right side bridge is the newest, recently opened.  One bridge meant constant traffic jams so another was needed and built.  

Beautiful forest trail

Sunshine and blue sky outside the kitchen window!

Glass exhibit in water, a beautiful Tacoma bridge, and the Tacoma Dome where concerts and events happen.

The ceiling is glass with pieces of Dale Chihuly's blown glass resting above.  Amazing and oh so beautiful!

One of over 300 pieces of Chihuly glass in the exhibit on the bridge from the Glass Museum.

Looking straight above my head at some glass pieces (in that underpass). It's very cool in person. 

Mt. Rainier - I've only seen it a few times.  The mountain hasn't "been out" much due to all the rain and clouds.  It is volcanic and looks HUGE when you spot it.  It's 14,400' high, but you mostly see it from sea level. 

Running stories: It's good to be Queen!

For my running and hiking friends: 

Rave run - most memorable and beautiful run ever!  McCormick Forest Park... Green,  lush,  wet,  thick,  trees,  ferns,  moss,  mist and hills.  It's an outside loop trail with many smaller trails that cut from one side to the other into and out of a ravine with a stream. 

After 3 loops,  many side excursions,  too many uphills and 1 hour and 45 minutes,  I was done!  And wet,  muddy,  hungry,  and exhausted too.. Loved it.  

It's good to be Queen (and King) - While Blake was here we ran too,  including a run that started on a killer hill with 12-16% grades for .8 miles total, and included a bit of forest trail then more uphill,  run into town,  coffee shop stop,  more running back from town,  etc. 
The short version of the story... After two runs in two days,  I got fastest time for a woman on the killer hill segment according to Strava.  I'm queen of the hill!  Did I mention I'm the only woman on Strava who has done that segment?  No matter - that's just details.

He's a runner now.... Blake ran it 3 times (he may be competitive?) to become king of the hill. Every killer hill run he was ahead of me and pushing hard.  First time included the wrong piece of trail so didn't count for either of us.  Second time he smoked it!  but his Strava didn't record it all so it didn't count. (Grrrr!) I can't believe he did it again (I definitely did not) and it recorded this time!  He has fastest time ever and is King. Crazy fun! 

from my McCormick Forest long run

McCormick Forest is so beautiful and on the edge of Gig Harbor

My first coffee as Queen of the hill!

More from McCormick Forest.  This is the place my friend Kit took me for a "quick" hike when I first arrived.  It was pouring rain and after 4:00 pm but it was going to be quick.  We finally got home around 6:00 pm.  We got lost, it got dark, and the adventure was on!  I had confidence in him and he got us found eventually. We were soaked rats though. 

In Gig Harbor town…ready to go for King of the hill for the 3rd tine.

McCormick Forest run.  You can find many hikes/runs like this nearby.  Another huge forest is on a peninsula of Tacoma (20 minutes away) called Point Defiance Park.  I've been there and hope to run there before I leave next week.