Life in Motion
This blog is to keep my friends and family up-to-date with my vacation adventures.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Rafting - Colorado River
So today, Wednesday, is our last day in town. We met up with some of David's friends Jacques and Jeff. Jacques has his own raft. We loaded it up and headed to the Colorado River to go rafting. This raft was not like any that I've ever done before. It has one seat for the one person who does all the rowing.
And the rowing is backwards than anything I've ever rowed before. You put the oars in the water and push to go forward and pull to put the oars back in the water. It was hard to get used to. I only actually rowed on about a mile area that was rapid free. There were about 3 areas that had decent rapids. Jacques said they were probably class 2's. It was mostly a leisurely trip. A few scary moments when even Jacques said "oh crap". I figure that's not a good sign. A week prior, David, Jacques and Jeff had taken the raft out and tipped it on the last set of rapids. They said they had to float about 1 mile down river before they could get the raft tipped back over. The trip was about 11 miles and took us about 2 hrs. The water was moving pretty fast. They said it normally takes about 3 hrs.
After our rafting trip, we went back to the house and cleaned up. Then we met David's friends from the Sierra Club for dinner at the Moab Brewery. Mostly it consists of a bunch of old retired guys. After dinner we took a short walk down town so Barb could get some souvenirs for her family. I decided no one gets shit this trip. I want to spend all the money on myself. We ran into the nice older couple from North Carolina that did the repelling with us on Monday. I think we talked them into eating at Jeffery's which is the best steakhouse in town. We didn't go this trip because we were trying to spend a little less money, but it is definitely the best place in town.
So, our trip has come to an end. I love this place and all it has to offer. If I weren't 2 years from being vested at work, I would move here in a heartbeat. Who knows, if the opportunity presents itself, I may say screw my retirement plan. We are all packed up and ready to head back to Wichita tomorrow. We are going to try to make it in one trip. Its about 13 hrs. If you want to see all the pics from the trip you can go to Moab 2016 Photos
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
Thelma and Louise Vacation
Well, we have been busy. Everyday has been jam packed with stuff to do. I think I last left off after my late night hike Sunday morning. So we slept in a little Sunday morning. Then we both got our massages from the best masseuse in the whole entire world, David Casper. It was pretty painful, but my hip hasn't been too painful to walk on since. It still bothers me, but is manageable.
Then in the afternoon, we went to Mill Creek. They have a water hole that is about a 1 mile hike off the parking lot. There were 3 water crossings. The first one was kind of "aggressive" as a local put it. The next ones were pretty easy. I'd like to add my advertising spot for Keen sandals. They are the best things in the world. You can hike in them, raft in them, get them wet and they are always comfortable. The water hole was pretty cool. There were a bunch of young guys jumping from the rocks. The water was very cold, but it was upper 90s outside so it evened out. No, I didn't jump, I'm not stupid. As we were coming in, one kid was getting splinted up for the hike out after he more than likely broke his ankle.
On our way back from Mill Creek, we ate at Milts. This place has been recommended to both of us by people who travel here regularly. I would have to say it was pretty yummy. I had a cheeseburger and it was very good. The tator tots were my favorite, though. I would recommend this place to. It’s a little off the main part of town, but it’s easy to find.
After dinner we went back to the house and laid around for a while. Then we decided to go shopping. We went to a place called Gear Head. It had everything you would need for your weekend Moab adventure. Then we hit a few more shops in town before heading back home.
Then we drove to our next stop, Warner Lake. It was a very small lake, almost more like a pond. It had a gorgeous mountain in the background. The water was mostly still and it made for a great picture.
After driving the La Sal mountain loop, we went home and rested for just a little while before we were off on our next adventure.
That afternoon, we met up with our guides for our canyoneering trip, Dustin and Chris. There were 10 of us in the group (originally 12, but we had a couple fall out due to the heat and have to be extracted). We had to hike in 1 mile on the 1000 deg slick rock with no shade to get to our first repel. We had one short crevasse jump that was pretty fun. I think I did it pretty gracefully. When we got to our first repel, we got to share a small tree for shade. It was awful. We got all harnessed and helmeted up. We got a short instruction on repelling. It wasn’t really that difficult. I decided to go 2nd because I didn’t want to stand in the heat any longer and the 90ft down in the bottom of a canyon sounded a lot better than where I was. So I got hooked up to the safety line. Then hooked to the repelling rope and laid back till I was sitting in my harness. It was actualy kind of hard to look down so I didn’t. It probably would have been a little scarier if I had. It was pretty easy to get down. About half way there was a ledge where you had to walk a few feet to get to back to repelling. He told us to keep our heels on the wall. Guess who doesn’t listen. I’ve watched movies where people repel. It was much more fun my way. I got down pretty quick. Then I waited for Barb to come down. She was pretty scared, but she did a great job. After a few more came down, and our other instructor returned from the couple we lost, we walked to the next repel. This was behind Morning Glory Arch. We hiked to this arch last time we were there. This one had about 30-40 ft of straight wall, then just a free repel. The 1st 5ft of this one was kind of uncomfortable. Once I got to the flat wall it was better. I felt like I saw back in my harness better. I zipped down the wall then I was free of the wall and just hanging there. It was a pretty neat view and I was able to turn around and look down and around. Once I was on the ground, we hiked about 2.5 miles out of the canyon.
We stayed in for dinner that night. That’s the benefit of staying at a house. I had been having trouble with my phone today. I couldn’t upload any of my Snapchat photos. I couldn’t upload anything to Instagram or Facebook. I couldn’t even send pics in a text. I stayed up late working on it. I decided not to do the early morning hike that Barb and David were going to do with the members of the Sierra Club. I just get like I had been going nonstop since we got here and I needed a break and a little alone time.
So today, Tuesday, I got up around 9am and went to breakfast at the Moab Grill. They had Wi-Fi so I was able to get some photos off my phone and backed up so I could access them if my phone continued to act up. After breakfast, I went to give Fiona a bath. Its her second one on this trip, but I can’t seem to get the bugs off the front bumper. I used the heck out of the brush and got some, but I worry they will bake on in this heat. After the wash, she needed to dry, so I decided to drive south of town. I drove by the entrance to the La Sal mountain loop that we had taken yesterday. I remembered a spot where I wanted to take a pic of Fiona. There were way more cows on the road today than yesterday so that was interesting. I got to the pull off where I wanted to get the pic of Fiona. I chatted with some guys from Maine who said all their friends ask them why they would come to the desert for vacation. We all kind of looked out at the view and WE knew why. Then I decided to drive the rest of the loop. It was nice and curvy and the side of the road was a drop off into the mountain in spots. It was so much fun. It would have been more fun if the road wasn’t in such bad condition in spots that I couldn’t really get Fiona going too fast. After the drive I headed back home. Barb and David are still gone, so I’m so glad I didn’t do that hike. I’ve enjoyed just sitting on the couch in the quiet and working on my blog. Not sure when they will be back so I may be on my own for dinner tonight too. Hmmm…where shall I go tonight?
Sunday, June 5, 2016
Thelma and Louise Half Marathon
After the race, Barb and I went back to the house and took a 2 hr nap. Then we got up and went to Susie’s Branding Iron. I had steak and shrimp. I was so hungry. Then we decided to hit the Canyonlands Rodeo.
After that, I took a midnight hike to a creek. It was a warm night and when I got within 5 ft of the creek, the temp dropped at least 10 deg. The best thing was there were so many stars in the sky. I can’t even tell you the last time I saw the Milky Way. It was so beautiful I was able to lay there and see several shooting starts. It was so quiet and the air was so breathable. If it weren’t so damn hot and housing wasn’t an issue, I’d move here in a heartbeat.
So, today we both got massages. Now we are talking about going to the same place I went last night but in the daylight.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Moab UT, Post Race
Well, Sunday came and went and I completed my first half marathon. I didn’t set any land speed records, but at least I did it. I spent a lot of time taking photos and video. It was a great course and very beautiful. I just wish there had been more shade. The heat really sucked. I told the people at Mile 10 aide station that they needed half naked firemen with a hose at this station hosing everyone down. They thought it was funny, I was being serious. I spent the rest of my vacation putting a video together. It took forever to figure out how to get it out of Movie Maker and onto the web. My best effort had me putting it on YouTube. Hopefully I can share it from there. Hopefully it will also inspire more people to do this race. The course is amazing and I can’t even imagine running a race in the middle of a city. This race is put on my Moab Half Marathon which hosts 4 races in a year. The Other Half is actually their last half marathon they do. That’s probably where they came up with the creative name. The last race they do in December is called the Winter 10K. It is Dec. 5th and I think Barb and I are going to come up for it also. That is also the same time they do their city Christmas parade. Then in March is the Canyonlands Half Marathon. It is on a course the runs along the river in a Canyon area. We won’t have to worry so much about the sun, but it will be March so that shouldn’t be a problem. Then in June is the Thelma and Louise. It runs along the area where we went on the Corona Arch hike. It is a half marathon relay. I will probably start the race. The first runner has to finish their 6.55 miles within 1:15, which is about an 11:30 min mile. Then the other runner, Barb, would retrace the course I just ran. Barb will be shuttled to her staging area in a boat on the Colorado River. When I am done, I will be shuttled back that same way to the finish line. We drove the course today and it is very flat with no major hills. It is also a gorgeous course also. That should finish out all 4 races in 1 year. So, since I have to save all my money and train, I will probably have no social life. Looks like another year of being single. Here is the link to my race video. The Other Half Video
Monday, Barb and I spend the morning getting massages. It was one of the best massages I have ever had. The voodoo hippie wackados here can really work some magic on the ol body. I was starting to notice a sharp pain in my foot that morning. I am worried I got a stress fracture or pulled a tendon. It didn’t help that during a hike Tuesday, I rolled it on a trail and probably jacked it up even more. I guess we’ll see. I have an appointment with my doctor when I get back Friday. Monday afternoon we went up into Arches National Park to do a few short hikes. We didn’t want to get to crazy, we did just run a half marathon after all. The first hike we did was the Park Avenue Hike. It was a short 1 mile on mostly slick rock. The next stop was Double Arch. This was one thing I hated about being injured and sore, we had to take the short touristy hikes to see stuff. Therefore, lots of people. I have so many pics from this trip, I think I’m going to put a slide show together with all my pics. Here are just a few of my favorites. I spent so much time on the race video that I didn’t get to put a slideshow together yet. I’ll try to blog when I get it all completed.
We were originally suppose to leave on Wednesday, but we decided to stay an extra day. So, Tuesday we decided to do 2 longer hikes. In the morning we did the Corona Arch and Bowtie Arch hike. It was about a 3 mile round trip hike. Most of it was on slick rock. There was one point on the trail where you had to use a cable and some holes cut out in the rock to go up the rock. Then we had to take a ladder up another short cliff. Bowtie arch was what they call a pothole arch. Corona Arch was more of what you think of when you think of arches in this area. The pic on the left is my favorite pic and it is Corona Arch. The right one is Bowtie arch. On the way back down the trail, I stepped on the rock wrong and rolled my ankle. I have always been pretty lucky that I have flexible ankles. All those years as a middle blocker and I never had a major ankle injury. I was able to get up and walk around. It was kind of painful, but I could walk on it so it couldn’t be too bad. After lunch, we hit the Negro Bill trail. This led to Morning Glory Bridge. I didn’t get many photos with my big camera because we went on a trail that took us to an area where we were climbing around. Even with the sling, the camera was a pain. So I stuffed it in my backpack. Then it started raining on us. It rained most of the hike up to the bridge. I was able to get my cell phone out and take a few pics. It was a 5 mile round trip hike. It was done mostly in the rain and thru some poison ivy. Luckily for Barb and I, neither of us seem to be allergic.
So, this morning, I woke up and my ankle was a mess. I could barely walk on it. We went into town and had breakfast then I hobbled around picking up all kinds of touristy crap. At least when we come out here the next 3 times, I won’t have to spend so much money on souvenirs. It rained a lot while we were. The rain would come in, then it would be sunny again. Then clouds and rain real quick then more sun. The weather is weird. I decided to get Fiona out on the streets. We went up into Arches National Park and I think I got a perfect pic with her and the scenery up there. Then we drove the course for Canyonlands Half Marathon and Thelma and Louise.
We are headed back to Wichita tomorrow morning.
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Getting Ready for Race Day
So, we made it into Moab Thursday night after a 14 hour car ride. It is hard to travel when you are hydrating for a half marathon. We made at least 6 potty stops.
Friday, Barb and I got up early and did a short walk. We walked to the main street and got some coffee and went back home. After a yummy breakfast at Sweet Cravings Bakery and Bistro, we headed to Canyonlands National Park to check out some touristy sights. I’m not a fan of the touristy stuff cuz I’d rather stay away from people when I travel, but we didn’t want any long hikes so we don’t get injured or tired. We saw some really pretty places in the park. It made me wish I had never sold my truck cuz there were some really great jeep roads that were mostly just off road roads, that the Tacoma could have handled. It also gets you away from the crowds and down into the canyon to see things. We mostly stayed up high and looked over the canyons which was really beautiful also. You can see more photos at my public Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/lifeinfocus515. We came back into town and got ready for dinner. We went to this really fancy smancy place called Jeffery’s. It is a steakhouse. It kinda reminded me of the old Scotch and Sirloin before it moved into that big place on Kellogg. It was a very small place. I got a tenderloin steak which was perfect. Of course, I got a dessert. It was a chocolate cake that tasted like a mix between a chocolate brownie, home made hot chocolate, and chocolate mousse. After dinner, we spent a little time walking around town before calling it a night.
Today, we went and had breakfast at the Jailhouse CafĂ©. It is in the old courthouse and jail for the county. Its been mostly cloudy today and it sprinkled a little bit at breakfast. We decided to go check out the race course. It is a little ways out of town. They are shutting down the whole road for our race for 5 hours tomorrow. The road is a curvy road that runs along the Colorado River. It is going to be a beautiful run. I may forget all about the fact that I’m injured and haven’t put in a lot of miles up to race day, cuz I’ll be distracted by the beautiful scenery. I don’t have any cell service on the run, but I will be taking plenty of cell pics and video. There is a 3 1/2 hour time limit on the course, so I’m gonna just give it my best shot. My hip is been bothering me all week so it doesn’t seem to be getting better with the fact that I’ve been resting it for a few days. After we checked out the course, we went downtown to pick up our race day packets and check out the expo. They had a lot of Other Half shirts on sale so I got a lot of stuff for cheap. So, I have my bib and race swag so I guess its official. I am gonna put my phone on airplane mode tomorrow when I run so I can get as much battery out of it as I can for pics. So, I won’t be able to get any text messages or anything while I run. The rest of the day we are just being lazy. We have the pasta dinner tonight with all the runners.
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Day 3 - Hike and Raft
The day started off pretty early. With the whole, missing money thing from yesterday, I couldn’t sleep. (for my non Facebook friends, couldn’t find my envelop with all my cash in it, made a report with the hotel, later that night remembered that I hid the cash from housekeeping and found said cash where I put it). I’m an asshole. Anyway, I didn’t get much sleep so I just decided to get up. Found a little local breakfast joint on the way to my rafting adventure. It was so good. Breakfast is a big thing around here. Lots of pancake houses everywhere.
Then I headed off to my hiking/rafting adventure for the day. The directions to the rafting town took me on this very scenic road. Luckily I was running ahead of schedule so I stopped and took some great panoramic shots. The one above, of course, has Fiona in it. She’s beautiful and so was the view.
My hike was up first. I followed my guide, Amelia, just across the North Carolina border. It was a good 5 mile out and back trail that lead to a nice little water fall. I found out my guide just graduated from KSU and is was Lawrence, KS. What a small world. She said one of the rafting guides was also from Wichita and she would get me on her raft. The hike was just perfect since I was still sore from Monday, and I had this new pain in my foot that made me think I may have broken it during one of my hikes. It still hurts A LOT. All my pics today were taken with my cell phone. I didn’t know what the arrangement would be for the hike so I didn’t want to bring my good camera.
After the hike, I went back to base camp and got situated for my rafting trip. Grimes party of 1. They put me on a raft with a set a grandparents vacationing with their 2 young kids…yeah, kids. They actually weren’t that bad. Grandpa annoyed me more than the kids did. Anyway, weight and strength to the front of the boat. Yeah me. So, the front of the raft also takes the brunt of the water coming over. So, it was a very wet and cold start. There were about 4 class 4 rapids. However, the class 4s in the eastern US are not like they are in Colorado. I went thru class 3s in Colorado and Wyoming that were scarier than these class 4s. It was a lot of fun and a great workout. I got sunburned though cuz I’m too dumb for sunscreen.
Went back to the hotel and tried to take a nap. That didn’t happen. So, I got up, got cleaned up, and headed out for dinner. Found a Mexican joint just around the corner. I sat on the patio which was right on the little creek that runs thru here. There were little baby ducks in the water. The pigeons and little birds would fly right up to your table. Then I went to the Davey Crocket moonshine store. I was stuffed after dinner so I just looked around. They have lots of free samples, but I didn’t feel like drinking so I just bought a shirt and left. I’ll probably go back for some moonshine later. Not that I’d really drink the stuff, but I’m here and this is what they are famous for, so I should get some. Then I went and got some chocolate covered strawberries and went back to my room. I spend a few hours on my balcony till my neighbors came out and started smoking. So much for my fresh air.
I’m trying to decide if I should stay one more night. My room is available Friday night. There is so much stuff I didn’t get to do. Tomorrow I will probably spend just shopping around town. I don’t know if my hip or foot can handle any more hiking, but the shopping will be hard enough with all the walking.
Monday, May 25, 2015
Day 1–Cades Cove
After a long 2 day drive in my beautiful new car, Fiona, I decided to take today to walk the Cades Cove Auto Tour route.
The auto tour route is an 11 mile loop road thru Cades Cove. There are several historic sights just off the trail. I had read somewhere that walking the tour was a great way to see all the sights. I thought, 11 miles doesn’t sound to bad. And cove is what they call an open prairie area. How bad can it be. Its like Kansas with mountains around it, right. Wrong.
My first Cheryl Strand moment came about .5 mile into the tour, all up hill in the sun. What the hell was I thinking. I can just turn around and get my car. But it would suck to have to drive and look around. I got this. The first sight on the tour was the John Oliver house. He was the first white settler in the cove. The house was .25 miles off the road. OK, no biggie, hiking, I can do this. When I got on the trail, I noticed a young couple in front of me appear to be stalking something. As I got closer I noticed they were watching a deer. The thing actually got pretty close to us before it wondered off.
I made it up to the house. It was a small cabin made by very short people. I had to duck thru the doorways and the ceiling was just barely off the top of my head. But I’m a giant compared to 1800’s standards.
The next stop was the Primitive Baptist Church. This was about a mile off the main road down a narrow dirt road that also seemed to be mostly uphill. Its your basic old church with an old cemetery behind it that had several of the first families buried there. The next church was a Methodist church. While I was walking up to it, there was a major traffic jam. I was walking faster than all the cars. As I get closer, I ran into the couple from the Oliver house. They said I missed a black bear and 2 cubs playing in one of the open fields. This was the cause of the traffic jam. I stopped and had lunch at the next church, the Missionary Baptist Church.
As I continued to walk along the road I had another Cheryl Strayed moment. I felt like my big toe nail was falling off. Then I remembered I didn’t buy my shoes from REI so I was just screwed.
Next as the Elijah Oliver house. This is John Oliver’s son who came back to the Cove after the Civil War. Another half of a mile off the trail. As I’m walking up this trail, a lady stopped me and said “you're the lady walking thru whole thing, that’s great, good luck”. Again I ran into the same couple. I was like, you guys are getting as far as I am in your car. I took a few pics of this little cabin, but I was starting to get pretty exhausted and photography was no longer interesting me. I just wanted to get to the end at this point and I was pretty sure I was only about half way thru this adventure. From there I was able to catch a back trail headed toward Abrams Falls. It was about .6 miles to the area that catches up with the cars. From there it was 2.5 miles back to the falls. I started walking it, but then decided, nope. I found a place on the trail that was close to the creek that runs to the falls. I walked down there to get my shoes off and put my feet in the water. This brought my next Cheryl Strayed moment. I remember watching the movie when she was sitting next to a cliff and took her shoes off and of course, one rolls down the cliff. I was thinking why would she sit there and do that. So, as I was sitting right next to this cold, fast rushing river trying to get my shoes on, that’s what I thought about. What if I dropped my shoe in this water…I’d be screwed.
So, I walked back toward the parking lot and ran into a ranger who told me I looked tired. I told him what I was up to and told him I needed to find the visitor's center, which was the next stop on the tour. He pointed me to a secret ranger path (he said it’s a path not a trail, what’s the difference?) that leads to the visitor’s center and the rangers use it as a shortcut. He said I’d be there in 15 min. It was a small quite path with no screaming children. Just me and some banjoes.
I got some water at the visitor’s center and used the facilities, then began the final 5 miles of the trail. I eventually gave up taking photos. I pretty much hurt from the waist down. Every time a truck went by I wanted to jump in the bed and ride the last few miles out. I finally got back to my car and talked to the ranger at the starting point of the loop. I said the brochure makes it sound like everyone walks this thing. He said “not really, that’s quite a feat”. Then I went and had ice cream.
On the way back to the hotel I called the rafting company and told them I was going to reschedule my rafting/hike trip that was planned for tomorrow. Now I’m not sure what I’ll do tomorrow, but I think I will definitely sleep in.
Even though it hurt to walk, I decided to venture out into the town and find food. The closes steakhouse was .6 miles down the road. That is a really long way, but I made it. I had a great steak dinner. Now I am gonna get to bed.