Reunion in Santa Fe

Now let me backtrack and tell you about my reunion with my two best friends from college (plus one of their husbands).

Katie and Andrew arrived in Santa Fe Thursday night, so Ryan and I went downtown to meet up with them for dinner and drinks. The next morning Katie and I picked up Amy at the airport in Albuquerque, then came straight back to Santa Fe in time for lunch at the Coyote Cantina. Then we walked around downtown and looked at lots of crazy animation art at Site Santa Fe. After that we drove to Ryan's fancy hotel for a tour and a snack. We also visited the Palace of the Governors and the New Mexico History Museum later that evening.



Saturday my mom made breakfast for everyone at our house, then we went to the farmer's market downtown. Next we grabbed some lunch to eat on the road and headed north of town. That's where we saw Camel Rock. Here is a better picture:



We drove on to Bandelier National Monument, where we were soaked with rain as soon as we started walking toward the ruins. So we took a rain break at the visitor center and tried again when the rain stopped. Banelier is fun because you have to climb ladders and go in ancient cave dwellings.





Saturday evening we ate dinner at Tomasita's, then walked up to the Cross of the Martyrs for a view of the city at night. We tried to drink a beer on the plaza but it rained on us and the waitress was mean, so we went to the St. Francis Hotel for drinks in a cozy atmosphere.

Sunday morning we had brunch at Cafe Pasqual's, and then visited the Loretto Chapel to see its famous staircase. After that Katie and Andrew left town, but Ryan and I took Amy up Canyon Road, and then I took her to Jackalope before dropping her off at the airport.





We hadn't seen each other since Amy's wedding two years ago, so it was great to hang out with old and good friends.

across the border and back

Yesterday Ryan and I loaded up a bunch of second-hand furniture he's collected into a Uhaul trailer and drove to Flagstaff, Arizona. That's where he will be going to school at the end of this month. Yes, Ryan is finally going to college for reals!

Part of the drive looked like this:



But other parts looked like this:



Arizona has a bad rep these days, but he's still moving there.



This morning we got everything up into his second-story apartment. Including the ginormous entertainment center, the TV that weighs a ton, and a really big dresser. He has more (and bigger) furniture than I do.



Last night we walked around downtown Flagstaff and had dinner at a nice brewery. Flagstaff is very mountainy and in the middle of a big pine forest, so I think Ryan will like it there. However, he did not like me forcing him to get out of the car and take this picture:



He wasn't a big fan of this one either. I was a Logger in college, and now he's a Lumberjack!



To get back at me for making him get out of the car for embarrassing pictures, he made us walk to the football field to see the Arizona Cardinals practice. We didn't stay though, we still had to drive back to Santa Fe.



It was a quick and labor-intensive trip, but I'm glad I got to see Flagstaff and his first apartment, and I think we had a good time.

New Mexico is littered this time of year.

I'm in Santa Fe and I just had a great weekend with my college friends Amy, Katie, and Andrew. I'll talk more about our fun times later, but for now let me say that we have had quite a few pistachio shell sightings.

Thursday night we saw this one while walking to dinner and drinks at Del Charro. Those are Katie's feet behind the shell.



Saturday we took a trip out of town, and we found a grouping of shells at Camel Rock. Camel Rock is a little hill with some rocks that look like a camel, and of course we stopped to take pictures. (See camel rock in the background?)



We passed Camel Rock on our way to Bandelier National Monument, where we took a short hike and climbed around ancient cliff dwellings. Here is a shell with Andrew's foot.



It poured while we were at Bandelier and we all got soaking wet. Here is a shell in a puddle, with Amy's feet.



Now the gang has all headed back home, and tomorrow I'm headed with Ryan to Arizona to move his stuff into his new apartment. I'll let you know if I see any Arizonan pistachios.

classy bison

Want to see my buffaloes? Okay, here goes.

These are photos my parents got me at an arts and crafts show in Santa Fe. I framed them and now they're hanging near the kitchen in my apartment.



My mom sneakily bought this magnet for me when we were in Fort Worth for a Nascar race.



My friend Amy gave me this tiny buffalo when I visited her in Missoula.



And now for my newest acquisition, I bought this classy piece of home decor a couple weekends ago in Richmond.



Here's a closeup of its awesomeness.

Saturday's tats

Today involved sleeping in, going to some second-hand stores with Josh, eating lunch and playing pool, taking a nap, running some errands, and watching a movie. Perfect day for temporary tattoos.

playin' tourist

My parents were in Richmond this weekend to visit my grandparents. That meant Dad and I had time to do some touristy stuff, too.

Sunday afternoon we went for a canal ride in downtown Richmond.




Then we drove to Charlottesville and went up to Carter's Mountain so Dad could see the view, and we had peach cider.



After that we headed downtown and walked around the old Albemarle Courthouse (I guess it's still a courthouse?, but part of the building is old).



Next to the courthouse is a statue of a guy on a horse, and Dad was pretty pleased to discover it was Stonewall Jackson.



We wandered all over the downtown mall, and then went to dinner by UVA. That's where I spotted a pistachio shell!



We finished the night by swimming in the pool at my apartment. Monday he did more touristy stuff (Montpelier, winery, etc.) while I worked. Now my parents are back home, but I will see them again next week when I head to Santa Fe...

Camping!

When I was a kid my grandparents in New Mexico used to take my brother and me camping a lot. I didn't always appreciate it, what with all the bugs and no shower for days at a time, but I still have fond memories overall. Other than my college orientation when I spent one night in a tent and another night under the stars (I went to a "granola-y" school), I haven't been camping in several years. Until this past weekend.

Sunday Josh and I loaded up my car (and boy was it loaded) and headed to the mountains. After our first choice of campgrounds was full (I'd checked out a book at the library with Virginia camping spots) we drove to Todd Lake, in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests (why doesn't TJ get a first name?). I think it was a great spot for our first camping experience. We had a picnic table, fire pit, tent pad (which was not padded, just a flattened area of dirt), and water pump just across the road. And one of the best parts, the camp ground had flushing toilets and hot showers!


After getting the tent set up we walked over to the lake, which was pretty small, and then hiked the four-mile Trimble Mountain trail. Pretty much the whole loop was uphill (he he). We sang to keep potential bears away, starting with patriotic songs for the 4th of July and ending with Disney tunes and Josh scatting when we couldn't come up with anything else to sing. Josh was quite the task master and forced us to sing everything to an uptempo marching beat (which worked well for the patriotic songs but required some artistic license for the Disney tunes) in order to keep moving up the mountain.


Once the hike was over we were more than ready for a swim, so we put on our suits and went back to the lake for a dip. Then we read on the sandy beach (in the shade) for a while. By then we were getting hungry so we went back to camp, took showers, and made dinner. My Aunt Judy lent us her camping stove, and with it we cooked hot dogs, beans, and green beans. Then we had to eat the beans out of the pot and cut Sobe bottles to make cups for the green beans because we forgot to bring the paper plates and plastic ware we'd set aside (doh!). It worked though.


After dinner we played Yahtzee, then we made a fire and roasted marshmallows. I love roasted marshmallows.

We slept okay, considering the raised alertness to scary forest predators and the hard ground (blankets don't cut it for padding, I'm getting a sleeping pad next time). I ended up sleeping in quite a bit in the morning, which wasn't my original intent because I looked forward to sitting outside reading. Oh well. When we finally got up we packed up the tent and then made breakfast: fancy scrambled eggs (fancy because they included onion, green pepper, cheese, and a little steak), bananas, and juice. Once again we ate right out of the skillet. After dishes and packing up the rest of camp, we were gone by 11:30.

So yes, we only camped one night, but it's a start, and hopefully we can go again this season.

Since we still had lots of our holiday from work left, we drove over to the Luray Caverns. There was a long line in the hot sun, but we endured and toured the place, including the history and car museums that came with our admission tickets to the caverns. Then we took Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Forest most of the way back home.




There were no fireworks, but it was a great 4th of July weekend.

whirlwind fun

Last Friday after work Josh and I drove to Richmond to celebrate Grandma's birthday with my family.

Saturday we met up with Josh's step dad and step brother at the beach in Delaware. We ate fried chicken, lay in the sun (shade actually, thanks to an umbrella and clouds), swam, and even did a little boogie boarding. Then Josh and I went to his grandparents house near Bethany Beach for a big surprise party for his grandma's birthday (big weekend for grandmas...). All four of her children showed up from distant states, and she had no clue! After hanging with his family and eating Chinese takeout, Josh and I went over to the boardwalk Saturday evening to visit a couple touristy shops and to make our annual trip to the arcade, where we earned lots of tickets and spent them all on temporary tattoos.

Sunday morning was a big family breakfast and then lots and lots of swimming at the pool with Josh's half sisters. There was also lots of jumping into the pool, which I haven't really done in a long time. It was lots of fun. Sunday afternoon was the official birthday party, so we endured the 97 degree weather to enjoy food and cake and Josh's grandpa's homemade summer tea. After a little more hanging out inside with air conditioning, Josh and I finally had to hit the road and drive back to Charlottesville, with a stop in northern Virginia for dinner.

Fun times.

crazy weather

Summertime around here often involves short thunderstorms in the afternoon. It clouds up, rain beats down for about ten or twenty minutes, and then the rain goes away and sometimes the sky goes on and clears up. So when a storm hit yesterday at 5pm it didn't seem out of the ordinary (except that usually the storms happen a little earlier and it's dry by the time I head to my car after work). It clouded up, rain beat down, and the power even flickered. Then the rain stopped.

But as I started to drive away from work the storm's effects quickly became clear. Debris covered the road. Trees were broken all over the place. Traffic backed up.

I was trying to get across town to pick Josh up from work and take him to get his car at the auto shop. The ride should have taken about 25 minutes in rush hour traffic. It took an hour and twenty minutes.

I have never seen anything like what this storm did to Charlottesville. I've never experienced a tornado or hurricane or anything like that, but this storm gave me a little idea of what those must be like. Most of the city lost power. Traffic lights went out right at rush hour. Emergency vehicles kept trying to weave through traffic. I saw a giant tree that had fallen over, its muddy roots vertical in the air and its leafy top resting on a house. At one point they directed my line of traffic through a parking lot because a tree was still on the power lines over the street and broken lines lay in the road.

Up where Josh was things weren't as bad. I was unwilling to hop back in the car and head into town after nearly an hour and a half, so we stopped in a shopping center to eat and get him a new phone at the Verizon store. I didn't get home until 10pm, and power was still out when I went to bed.

The whole thing was crazy.

Monster, I say

This morning I opened my door to head off to work and a monster bug greated me. It was the biggest dragon fly I've ever seen in my whole life. Right there at my doorstep. Obviously I immediately shut the door. I had to shoo it with a broom because I wasn't willing to open the door wide enough for me to step out, but slipping the broom through the crack in the door was okay. I mean, I couldn't have that thing getting inside. Look how giant it was (and keep in mind that this photo was taken with a phone, through a crack in the door, and from high above because I wasn't going to get down close to it).

summertiiiiiimmmmmeeee

It's summer y'all. And warm. And I'm lovin' it. Slowly but surely I think I am acclimating to the humid south (er, east/southish?). The key is not to move too much. If I move a lot I'm still a giant sweat ball. Anyway...

Friday night Josh and I went for another bike ride. We rode the trail by the river a little bit, then headed toward the downtown mall. We parked our bikes and walked around a lot, and on our walk we came upon a man giving a concert from a garage on the street. It was awesome. Then we ate Chinese food and had the nice little outdoor patio to ourselves. I was a little creeped out by the ride home in the dark, but Josh was prepared and got us both headlamps and flashing red lights to wear on the back of our shorts. We looked like total nerds, but "safety first!"

Yesterday everyone met at my grandparents' house in Richmond for Father's Day lunch. After that we played in the sprinkler with little Bobby, and later that afternoon at my aunt's house we played with him again in a wading pool. I also played lots of Pictionary.

This evening after work I came back to my grandparents' house and sat out on the front porch to work a crossword puzzle, eat dinner, and read a book.

Ahh, summertime.

Mason & Josh

Last night I picked Josh up after work and we hurried over to Richmond to hear Mason Jennings and Josh Ritter play a concert at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden. As you probably know, Josh Ritter is my favorite, and this was the fourth time I've seen him. I also enjoy Mason Jennings, and I saw him play once in college.



Josh Ritter. Oh how I love him.

Josh (not Ritter) came with me to the same show last year, and while he's an excellent sport he's decided Josh Ritter isn't really his thing. He agreed to come again this year, for my sake, and while he still wasn't thrilled with the music, I will go ahead and declare that we both had a good time. The weather was beautiful, the crowd was friendly, and the music made me smile.


Josh may not like the music, but he sure looked the part...

bicylcle riding redemption

Yesterday evening Josh and I went for another bike ride, but this time I planned it to avoid all traffic. Turns out there is this really great trail that goes along the Rivanna River here in town, so we rode to a park and picked that up. The trail is only about 3 miles long, so we also rode around some residential areas with cute old houses. It was a really fun bike ride. There was lots of debris from a major rain storm the day before, and at one point we even had to stop and pass our bikes to each other under a downed tree, but that just made the ride seem more adventurous.

We ended the ride with a dip in the pool at my apartment. I look forward to more rides and swimming this summer.

Memorial Day Weekend

This past weekend was excellent.

Friday after work Josh and I headed east to his grandparents' house. They live there all the time but it felt like a vacation home to me. I stayed in a cute little room that reminded me of a B&B, and they have a big screened in porch with an assortment of rocking chairs, swings, and couches to sit on. The porch also overlooks a pond. So Saturday I woke up early (without an alarm) and sat on the porch to read. Then I helped run a couple of errands before we had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. After than Josh and I loaded up the kayak and headed down the road to the Piankatank River. I ended up with blisters on my thumbs, but it was still a good time. When we got back to the house we ate lunch and took naps. After my nap I read on the porch while Josh went fishing at the pond. For dinner we sat on the porch and had barbecued chicken and corn, and that night we all played Quiddler.

Sunday Josh's grandpa gave the sermon at church for their special Memorial Day service. He wore his Navy uniform (he was a rear admiral and chaplain) and other men in the church wore their uniforms, and the service ended with a bugler and bagpipes. After church there was a cookout back at the house, and once all the food was consumed and everyone left I took a requisite nap. Then I went with Josh to the pond to sit in the boat while he fished. We rounded out the night eating leftovers and watching TV.

Monday we had a big homemade breakfast, then Josh's aunt and her boyfriend came over to go kayaking with us again. The sun was shining, the water was refreshing, and my blisters didn't bother me too much. (Also, I'll be honest, Josh and I were in the same kayak so if my hands hurt he took up the slack and paddled me around.) We found a teeny-tiny piece of beach and got out of the boats to swim and dig our toes in the sand. Overall I'm told we kayaked 5.25 miles that day. When we got back to the house we ate a late lunch, and then Josh and I took naps before packing up and heading back to Charlottesville.

The weekend was a really great mini-vacation.

I (don't really) want to ride my bicycle.

I don't own a bike. Unless you count my old bike that's still in my parents' garage in Santa Fe. I do, however, still have my helmet with me. Because, you know, a bike might come along and I need to be prepared. And in fact, a bike has come along! Josh's grandma is lending me hers. It's not a "grandma bike" though, don't worry. (Well, except maybe for the side mirror attached to the handle bar, but if that makes it a grandma bike I'm really okay with it.) Tuesday Josh and I went for a bike ride, but I didn't like it too much. Sure, it was fun to ride (he kept saying gleefully "isn't this better than running!"), but it was also very scary. We were riding in town, and therefore on streets and in traffic. I never did that growing up. The only time I've ridden in traffic like that was once on a bike tour in Germany, and when a bus pulled over and I should have stopped but freaked out about losing my tour group and went anyway, a busload of people yelled at me in German. Okay, maybe not a busload, but one guy definitely yelled. Anyway, the point is that riding with cars scares me. And it's bad enough huffing and puffing up a hill on a bike, why add the extra threat that if you don't hurry that car trying to turn might run you over? It's all too much.

tidbits

My mouth is coming along quite nicely! I still have some unsightly sutures in there, but unless I smile quite creepily, no one can see them. Thursday I have my check-up and they'll remove whatever is left.

I'm trying to figure out what I should run next. I need a running goal to help me actually work out regularly. Apparently I was mistaken by a lady at work who thought I was addicted to exercise. I'm not, but I can commit to following a schedule. I'm thinking about another half marathon at the end of August. That would give me the summer to train (at an intermediate level instead of beginners like the last half marathon), and I'd be done with the big time commitment in time for school to start in September.

I don't watch LOST. So I don't care about the series finale! But I'm really loving the new NBC show Parenthood.

I had an African violet back when I lived in Raleigh, but that didn't really work out. I'm trying to have plants again, and so far things are going much better. I was given some little baby spider plants several months ago and after planting them and giving them plenty of sun and water I have lots of baby spider plants of my own! I haven't decided if I want to pot or, uh, "prune" them, so in the meantime I've got some crazy long sprouts going on. I would take a picture to show you but I accidentally vacuumed up a couple of the plant's leaves once and I'm embarrassed to show you their tips. Anyway...I also have a beautiful orchid that Josh gave me for my birthday. I love orchids and have wanted one for a very long time, and I finally have one! He got one with a tag that says all I have to do is give it three ice cubes once a week to water it, and so far so good. Next up, I want a cute little jade plant.

Last week I went on a work field trip to Poplar Forest. That was Jefferson's other house, his Bedford County estate. It's still sort of in the reconstruction faze and isn't completely finished inside and furnished, but it's still pretty cool. The yard was filled with really annoying gnats, but the house was neat and worth the trip to Lynchburg.

gross fest

Friday I took off of work so I could go to Richmond and have some good ole' oral surgery. No biggy really, just a little gum graft. But, you know, surgery. I was awake for the whole thing but the doctor's office was great because they gave me a blanket and an ipod to listen to, plus some dark glasses. So I snuggled up, put the ipod on shuffle, closed my eyes, and tuned out with my mouth wide open. A little over an hour later I was on my way back to my grandparents' house, where I proceeded to take a five and a half hour nap. It hasn't been too bad, and luckily I haven't had any pain at all. But the worst part? Looking in my mouth completely grosses me out. It's disgusting. Grandpa says it looks just fine, but he's a doctor so he can't appreciate how disgusting the whole thing is. And even if I'm not looking at my mouth in the mirror, just the thought of what's in my mouth grosses me out. So it's best if I don't think about it.

Montalto Challenge, WITH PICTURES!

Turns out Josh is a miracle worker and he rescued my deleted photos! I know how disappointed you all were to not see pictures of sweaty runners, so you can thank him when you get a chance. And here we go!

At the bottom of the mountain waiting to start. Notice all the trees. The lower trail part was very woodsy.


By the time we got up to Montalto it wasn't woodsy anymore. If you think this looks like a pleasant hill, just realize those lines are all switchbacks. I think if you zoom in you can see a couple walking.


Josh took this one while still running.


I came in 65th, see?


Bagpipes greeted us at the top.


Swwweeeeeaaaatttttyyyy


TJ was lookin' pretty sweaty, too.


See that white building? That's Monticello.


There I am in my brown race shirt with all the winners. Because I came in second in my age group, remember?


Hooray for a successful Montalto Challenge!

Montalto Challenge

Well I went through with the crazy challenge, and this morning I ran a 5k up a mountain. Josh ran up, too. The race is put on by Monticello here in Charlottesville and starts at the bottom of the Saunders-Monticello trail and continues all the way up Montalto. They say we rose in elevation by almost 900 feet, and when we reached the top we looked out over Charlottesville and the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was beautiful, and definitely challenging. I've run up the Saunders-Monticello trail a few times before and this time I did it in a minute less than I'd ever done it before. But after the trail came the really steep and winding road up Montalto, and unfortunately I had to take several breaks and walk up the extra steep parts. But just about everybody around me was also taking walking breaks. It was intense. I didn't quite make my time goal, but I think my goal was unrealistic. I came in 65th out of 122, but get this...

I came in second in my age group!!! They called my name in the awards ceremony and I got a prize and everything! So that is very exciting.

You know what is decidedly not exciting? The fact that I came home and proceeded to delete all the wonderful photos we'd taken. I thought there were duplicates so I deleted the second ones, but turns out there weren't really duplicates and I deleted all but two. Here they are:





Photos you do not get to see, because they no longer exist, include before and after photos with two co-workers who also ran, a shot up at Montalto to show you how high it is, a shot looking over and down at Monticello, Josh and me extra sweaty at the top, the bagpipe players who provided entertainment atop the mountain, and my Thomas Jefferson temporary tattoo that was bleeding ink down my sweaty arm by the end. Hopefully I can get some of the photos my co-workers took, but in the meantime I suggest you check out the photos from last year's race so you can get an idea about what it was like. And if I run next year you can be sure I'll be extra careful with the pictures I take.

Update: The pictures were recovered and you can see them in this post. You can also read my post about the 2011 challenge here, 2012 here, 2013 (my PR!) here, and 2014 here.

Crabtree Falls

This morning Josh and I went for a hike to Crabtree Falls in Nelson County. We live near mountains now, so we figured we should go check them out. Apparently Crabtree Falls is the tallest waterfall east of the Mississippi. Basically the entire 1.7 mile hike is up the mountain by the falls, so every time I thought we must be at the top of the falls we'd hike some more and find out I was wrong, the falls were still there. It was pretty cool. Then we kept walking another mile or so along the stream at the top. Some hikers passing us said they'd just seen a snake, but luckily it left before I had to see it. We also made sure to talk and sing so as to scare away any potential bear visitors. That might be what caused my nap-time dream about bears this afternoon.

still running

Before I ran the half marathon I started to get worried about what I would do after the half marathon. Would I stop running? Would I sit around all the time and get fat? Would I get depressed because I didn't have a regular running schedule anymore? Or, conversely, would I start training for a full marathon?

Well, running the half marathon let me know that I don't want to start training for a full one. But obviously I will still run. I was silly to worry.

Right now I'm training for a crazy challenge that I don't want to say too much about just yet in case I wimp out and don't do it, but hopefully I will do it and you'll get to hear more later. That also means hopefully whatever feels wrong with my left leg will go away soon. I'm taking a few days off, so hopefully that will fix it.

Also, totally unrelated to running, I meant to blog earlier in the week about what I did last weekend because it was lots of fun, but I'll just say that Josh and I went to the Kiwanis pancake breakfast and then watched the Dogwood Festival Parade, and while the parade was nothing spectacular, it was still lots of fun to watch. So there you go.