Rafting - Colorado River

So Barb and David finally got home last night around 5pm.  They had hike 6.6 miles up and over a canyon (2000 vertical feet). So, I am very happy that I did not go with them.  We decided to do steak for dinner so we had the Broken Oar.  It was OK.  After that we went to Crystals Cakes and Cones for ice cream and cup cakes. I got a red velvet cup cake. I took it back to the house and enjoyed my cup cake with a glass of wine on David's back patio.  The sun had gone down and it was a cool 90 degrees.  It is actually cool in the shade here.

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 

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.

On Monday, we drove up to the La Sal mountains.  They are just south of town.  You go from red sandstone desert environment, to a cooler mountainous environment just 20 minutes from town.  We took David’s 4X4 4Runner up there so we were able to take some single lane mountain roads.  The first place we stopped was called Oowah Lake.  Mountain lakes are the best.  It had a creek that ran into it. 

We hiked back to it and I was able to find a tree that was down over the quickly moving water.  Being the adventurous one, I climbed out on it and laid down.  It was so loud, yet the most peaceful thing ever.  The sky was clear and the water was cool causing the temp around me to be cool and not the sweltering heat we’ve had the past few days.  I could have laid there forever.

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 2^nd 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 1^st 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?

Thelma and Louise Half Marathon

Barb and I are back in Moab for another half marathon. This time we did it as a relay.  I started the relay at 0630 hrs.  It started near the trailhead for Corona Arch.  This is the arch we hiked last year.  The race ran alone the Colorado river.  It was nice and shady for me since it was in a canyon and the sun was still behind the canyon walls.  It was still hot though.  Once the sun hit me and was pretty exhausted.  Barb and I had watched Thelma and Louise the night before the race.  During the race they had a Brad Pitt stop, with a bunch of “hot” locals.  They had a tanker truck sitting along the route along with an unoccupied Sheriff car (in the movie it was a trooper, but who beside other LEO’s knows that).  They did have some firemen hosing the runners off.  If only they could have thrown in some hot firemen (they were way too young) that would have been nice. My cut off to get to my finish and catch the boat back down the Colorado River was 1:15.  I passed Barb around my 6 mile mark.  She said they recorded her start time and just sent her at without me being there.  When I got finished (official time 1:33:42) the boat had already left.  So they told me to wait for the van that was sweeping runners that weren’t making the time limit for the half marathon.  I saw the van head my way, then turn around.  The people at the turn around station were cleaning up so I decided to help.  They gave me a ride back on their truck with a trailer, but they had to pick up cones and mile signs on the way.  So, I pitched in an helped.  There was no phone service and the volunteers didn’t carry radios so Bard had no idea where I was.  She was freaked cuz I didn’t get off the boat or the sweep van.  I eventually showed up and was able to take our baton across the finish line for a official time of 3:38:42.  We both finished and got metals.  That’s all that matters really to us.

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.

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.

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 Café.  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.

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.

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.

Hot Springs Spa Weekend–Day 2

I slept great.  I am pretty sure I slept for 10 hrs.  I got up at 9am for breakfast that was served in my dining room.  It was an apple turnover and bacon.  It was very tasty.  I got to talk to Vista a little more this morning. She was telling me about how this is a big horse racing community.  She says it is interesting to get to know the jockeys and trainers.  Best conversation of the day:  Vista: I see the jockeys at the grocery store. I used to think short men were creepy. ME: Hey, I’m 5’10”, I think short men are creepy.

Then at 10am, I had my first massage of the day.  She set up in my living room.  It wasn’t completely relaxing, but it was therapeutic, which can be painful.

After the massage I decided to head into town.  Vista gave me a secret back way and told me about a little known parking area.  I am sure it saved me tons of time figuring out where I can park. That’s another plus on the B&B side.  I only had about 2 hrs till my spa treatment at the Quapaw.  I walked down bathhouse row and read all the little historical signs.  It was also interesting to see some green trees lining the street.  I am not sure what they are, but it was nice for this time of year.  Most of the bathhouses, like in the picture, had a hedge of what looked like holly.

I walked about 2 blocks to get to the one place I really wanted to come to while I was here…Fat Bottomed Girls. It’s a cupcake place that I have heard was on the Food Network show, Cup Cake Wars. I got a pink Champagne cupcake. To be honest, I’ve eaten so much this weekend, I still haven’t tried it yet.  So, stay tuned.  I left there and walked back to bathhouse row and found a place called Bathhouse Soapery.  They have soaps, scrubs, and those bath bomb things.  They saw my bag from Fat Bottomed Girls and said I get a discount because I shopped there.  Awesome!  The stuff wasn’t cheap, but I bought some foaming body scrub.  It will come in handy if I keep getting these awesome spray tans.  And I bought a small bottle of bath salts called Melt. It is suppose to be relaxing.  Now all I need is time to take a bath.

I was getting closer to my spa time so I decided to head somewhere for lunch.  I had read about a place called the Ohio Club.  It is in a very historic building.  It still has its original name from the early 1900s.  It used to be an illegal gaming house that sold liquor during the prohibition.  I sat down at the bar and read about how it was still the original mahogany carved bar that was brought in from Chicago by horse drawn carriage. It honestly looked like something out of the old saloon days.  They had 2 TV’s in the bar area and they were on an Arkansas/Florida game.  Come 1pm, I thought I was going to have to wrestle some Razor backs, but they let me have a TV for the KU/KSU game.  The food was excellent.  I started with chips and salsa which came out in a humongous plate.  I could have easily just had that for lunch, but I had to get one of their famous burgers.  The burger was also very good and so were the fries.

Now it was time to head to my spa treatment.  I didn’t feel bad leaving the KSU/KU game cuz Kstate was sucking it up. I got to the Quapaw Bathhouse and got all checked in and into my robe and flip flops.  My first treatment was a therapeutic mineral water bath.  They don’t use the jets, they just shoot a bunch of little bubbles into the bath tub.  I’d have to say it was the first bath tub I’ve ever got into that I fit in.  It was relaxing.  It kind of felt like when you are in the lake and you get nibbled on by a school of minnows.  Once that was done, I head to my next treatment.  It is a mud wrap.  The lady smears super hot mud all over my body then wraps me in a sheet, plastic, then a mylar blanket, then more blankets.  I felt like a burrito.  Then I got a facial. This also included a neck, shoulder, and scalp massage.  After I was unwrapped, I got to take a shower.  The water was kind of cold but I’m sure that is because my body temp was so high due to my burrito experience.  Then my final stage was my 50 min massage.  I tired to have her make this more of a relaxing one, but I always have knots they want to work out.

So, after that I had every intention of going back to my B&B, cleaning up, and going to a nice steakhouse for dinner, but I think I relaxed myself into a coma.  I decided to find a pizza place where I can pick it up and bring it back here.  I chose Rod’s Pizza Cellar.  What was even better about this place is they had a pick up window.

All in all, a good day.  I still haven’t eaten my cup cake or opened my wine. I stayed up a little late texting with a friend back home. He doesn’t seem to understand how I can have fun vacationing by myself.  He asked if I was enjoying my vacation so far.  I am enjoying being away from home.  I like having someone cook breakfast for me and clean my room and make my bed.  I also get fresh cookies every day.  I like making my own decisions on what I want to do and I don’t have to play the whole “well what do you want to do” “I don’t care, what do you want to do” game.  I can drive fast down curvy road and no one bitches about my driving.   I think its hard for a lot of people to understand why anyone would want to travel by themselves.  Its easy for me.  I don’t have to wait around to find someone else who can afford it or who wants to do the same thing or go to the same place.  I go where I want to go and do what I want to do.  Would it be nice to share this time with someone, sure, but until I find that right person, I’ll just do it on my own.

So, today (I’m actually writing this on the AM of day 3) its raining.  It is suppose to clear up around 1pm, but who knows. I was going to spend today at the botanical garden.  If it stops raining that’s where I’ll be.  Not sure what it is going to be like in February, but I guess we’ll see.  Not sure what I’ll do about the Super Bowl tonight.  My DirectTV receiver in my room is acting up and all I seem to get are Christian channels and some old movie channels.  Vista said she will try to get it fixed while I’m out today so I can watch the game on the 19” TV in my room.

Technorati Tags: Bartee Meadow,Arkansas,Bathhouse Row,Bathhouse,Quapaw Bathhouse,Fat Bottomed Girls,Cup Cakes,Ohio Club,Hot Springs,Rod's Pizza Cellar,Vacation,Spa

Hot Springs Spa Vacation–Day 1

So, I decided since my life has been so crazy lately, that I would get out of town and take a spa vacation.  I did some research and found a spa package at a bed and breakfast in Hot Springs Arkansas called Bartee Meadow Bed and Breakfast.  It was called the Serenity Package for One.  It included 2 nights at a bed and breakfast and an in-room massage.  I went ahead and added an extra night to make the trip worth while.

Mom and dad loaned me their Chrysler 200 cuz they thought my old truck wouldn’t make the trip.  The 200 includes Sirius radio which came in handy in the “mountains” of Arkansas.  It also has a K-tag, which also works on the OK turnpikes.  So, I’m racking up a nice toll bill for them, but it saved tons of time and cash. Once I got into the more curvy roads of the Ozarks, I really appreciated the peppy little car.  The thing takes curves real nice at a good speed. Just don’t tell my dad.  I kept my self entertained by singing along to the old school country music.  Its all fun and games until Garth Brooks’ “If Tomorrow Never Comes” song comes on.  It got me really thinking about why I really needed to get out of town and reset myself.

So, I made it to my B&B.  I have never stayed at one before so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  I met the lady who owns the place, Vista.  She showed me around.  I pretty much have a living room, 2 bedrooms, and a bathroom in their house. My room also has a patio and private hot tub.She informed me that she would be delivering me dinner around 6:30. 

I had realized I had forgot to bring a small camera bag for when I am in town.  So I ran to Best Buy (they don’t have a Target here).  I found a bag that will work (now I own like 4 camera bags).  Then I hit the liquor store for some Cupcake Moscato.  Came back and had my dinner delivered to my room.  I decided that picky people like myself probably shouldn’t go to bed and breakfasts.  It was some sort of salad.  I picked out the spinach and ate that.  The rest was stuff I wouldn’t eat.  Then the main dish was some kind of chicken noodle casserole.  It had celery and mushrooms in it so I had to pick thru it.  There was a cheese bread, that was yummy.  The dessert was an Italian Cream cake.  It had promise, then I crunched into some coconut.  I hate coconut.

I didn’t realize when I booked this trip that the Super Bowl is this weekend.  I have a 15” TV in my room here so if I have time to watch it, it will have to be at a bar somewhere.  If the weather is nice I’m going to the Botanical Gardens here.  Tomorrow is going to be a relaxing day that includes 2 massages, a mud wrap and a facial.

Technorati Tags: Arkansas,B&B,Hot Springs,Spa,travel,Bartee Meadow,Serenity,Vacation

Cruise Photos

I've finally got all the photos updated and uploaded to my Picasa account.  You should be able to go to the "My Pictures" link on this page.

Days at Port

Montego Bay, Jamaica

In Jamaica, we decided to go kayaking and zip lining.  We loaded up on the bus and headed up into the mountains. The roads are very narrow and they drive on the wrong side of the road.  It sounded like New York City because every one was honking and I don’t know why. After the perilous drive to our destination, they got us all rigged up for the zip line.  The zip line consisted of 3 lines that went over the river that we kayaked later. After the zip line, we got geared up for our kayak ride. The were individual kayaks so Justin and I didn’t have to argue about who got to steer.  After kayaking, they bussed us back to the terminal.   Then we headed back to the boat.  I did get some video of the zip line rides.  I’ll try to figure out how to upload those to Facebook.

 

Georgetown, Grand Cayman

We had to get up very early for this excursion.  We left the terminal at 8am and boarded the booze cruise.  This was a catamaran boat with a full bar on the deck. We rode for a short while before we got to the reefs.  We got geared up to go snorkeling.  I had never been snorkeling before so it was quite an adventure.  I had my handy waterproof camera with me and I was able to get a few decent pictures.  Pretty sure I saw a barracuda and what I thought were 3 sharks, turns out they are called Tarpon and they are harmless. After snorkeling, we were taken to 7 Mile Beach for a short beach break.  It was only 30 min and Justin and I took that time to grab something to eat.  Then the boat picked us back up and we headed out for the party.  They had free Rum Punch, shots and local beer.  All of which were pretty horrible, but we drank it anyway. We spent the last 45 min of the cruise drinking and dancing.  We got back into Grand Cayman and decided to go shopping.  That was pretty short-lived when the huge tropical storm came in and it was pouring.  We decided to head back to the boat.  We were tendered in at this port so we made our way to the little boat that took us back to the boat.

Grand Cayman night was also Halloween.  So, after dinner, we all got all dressed up in our costumes.  Justin went as Magnum PI and I went as a beer wench.  Some of the people from our group were finalist for the Halloween costume contest.

 

Cozumel Mexico

We didn’t have a real plan for this day.  We slept in and got off the boat around noonish.  It was a really hot Mexico day.  The pier for Carnival has an area with lots of shopping.  We decided to skip all that and head to down town to shop.  We grabbed a cab and headed downtown.  We shopped until we were tired.  Cozumel was pretty uneventful.  The most exciting thing was I got my picture taken with 3 macaw birds.  The money went toward a foundation to save the endangered animals.

Today is the last day at sea before we arrive at Galveston.  The weather is kinda crappy, which is why I got to update my blog.  I’m sitting in the Ocean Plaza listening to Name that Musical.  Now I’m off to the pool to watch the afternoon activities.  I’m hoping to go down the slide today, but don’t know if the weather will cooperate.

Cruise 2013 Sept 27-29 Boarding and Days at Sea

On Sunday, Sept. 27th Justin and I boarded the Carnival Cruise ship Magic for a 7 day cruise to the Caribbean.  We will spend the 1st 2 days at sea then our first port is Montego Bay, Jamaica.  We spend the 1st day just exploring.  I didn’t get my luggage till it was almost time for dinner and I ended up not getting one set of luggage because the paper tag they sent us fell off.  I had gotten Justin a massage for his birthday so he did that most of the afternoon. Our first night at dinner was casual.  After dinner we went to the Red Frog Pub for the Pub Trivia.  Our team ended up winning the pub trivia.  I attribute it mostly to me knowing the national animal for Canada (the beaver) and Danielle knowing what’s in a gross.  We ended up tying with another group so we had a tie breaker.  We chose Justin as our team rep.  In order to win he had to name the song that was playing.  It ended up being Dead or Alive and Justin got it right.  So, our prize was a fishbowl drink.  Its a large glass that holds 62oz of alcohol.  It was yummy.

 

We spent the next day hanging out at the pool.  The seas got rougher as we got further out to sea and the wind was blowing about 40 MPH on the top deck.  Then that night was our first formal night.  I was lucky enough to get Justin in a suit for dinner.  After dinner we checked out the first show of the cruise.  It was a 70’s themed singing and dancing show.  After that we headed back to the Red Frog to finish off the night.

 

Today is another day at sea.  We’ll probably just chill by the pool again today.  Hopefully Ill have more to report when we get into some ports.

Kanopolis Lake – Day 3 5-15-12

Well, Its my birthday and the last full day at the lake. After laying around and playing on Facebook, I finally got dressed and headed out to the trail.  My plan was to hit the main trail that headed over to the other trails.  Once I got on the trail, I realized that I had forgot my cell phone.  I somehow knew that this was going to be the day that I would need it.  I came across the first “water crossing”.  This wasn’t just an easy wade thru a little water, it was probably waist deep at the deepest and it was not moving water, so it was kinda yucky.  There were fish sitting in it big enough that they were probably waiting for me to get in so they could eat me.  I checked the map and found another route.  I had to go down to the water crossing from yesterday that consisted of a log, then back track the other side of the little stream.  Then, the map said there was another water crossing to get to where I wanted to go.  I got to it and again I needed my waders to get thru it.  So, I found an alternate trail which also had a water crossing, but I figured if it was too much, I’d just turn around and do something else. I walked a ways and came to that water crossing.  It was manageable. Most of the terrain was thick powdery dirt.  There were very few trees.  Lots of interestingly colored rocks to climb over, up and down.  If you are interested in birds and lizards this is the place to hike.  I saw a lot of beautiful birds that I have never seen before.  I saw at least 2 different lizard looking creatures.  One was really pretty with a turquoise color to it.  The other was brown and blended in with the terrain.  Kinda horny or spiky head.  He stayed still long enough for me to get real close and take a picture.  The others dashed off to fast for my camera.  There were others that were so fast I didn’t get a good look.  I also encountered a large green snake on the trail.  I scared him with my screaming and dancing around and he scared me by moving and seeming to go where ever I was putting my foot down.  It was a tense few seconds before he figured out how to slither off around me.  Another thing that I have noticed about the area, it seems to be the playground for the Stealth bomber.  I swear today it was stalking me.  It would sneak up over the hills going real slow.  I got 3 fly overs at a low altitude.  It looked real creepy, like a UFO.  I don’t think I had ever seen it other than on TV.  I turned around where my GPS said I had gone 2.7 miles (I am pretty sure it was full of shit).  I passed another school group on my trek back.

I got to my truck and stopped by the park office to check on the water situation. They said I should be fine and it won’t affect me.  So I went back to the cabin.  I saw a tick climbing around on my bag so I decided to take a shower, clean up, and take myself into Lindsborg for a birthday lunch.  I was getting ready to jump in the shower, when I noticed I had a tick on my back.  I freaked, cuz I hate ticks and I wasn’t sure how to get it off me.  So, I grabbed a cotton ball and soaked it with nail polish remover and put it over him.  After a minute, I was able to lift him right off.  He got flushed. 

I had located a Mexican restaurant on my phone.  It is on Main St.  It was actually very good.  The place is called Jalisco.  I think now I’ll wonder the main street and see if I can buy myself something pretty or chocolate for my birthday present.  I didn’t have any luck in Lindsborg so I decided to head out of town and see what the small town of Marquette had to offer.  They were about 8 miles down the road toward the lake.  I found their 2 block main street.  I located a little ice cream shop along Main st.  I walked in and it was very interesting.  It had an ice cream and deli on one side and the rest of the store was a hodge podge of other stuff.  I ordered a hot fudge and caramel sundae.  While I was waiting some of the construction guys painting new lines came in to cool off.  They recognized that I wasn’t a local and started up a conversation with me.  One of the guys was a reserve deputy, so we chatted about local crime.  Guess they have 2 taverns that keep them pretty busy.  I finished my ice cream and headed back to the cabin.  I’m kind of exhausted so I am having trouble getting motivated to do anything.

So, after being lazy for a while, I decided to load up the kayak and hit the lake.  I had found a better put in spot down by the trailhead on the north side of the lake.  It was a good boat ramp cuz I was able to back the truck right down to the water and unload the kayak on the sandy beach next to the ramp.  I was gonna head toward the northwest, but that looked pretty plain.  So I looked to the south and saw some cliff walls.  I decided to cruise by them.  It was very quiet and I was able to get right up to shore.  I cruised quite a ways.  Mostly trying to figure out how to get the thing at a good pace and stop zig zagging.  I finally turned around and headed back to the ramp with a tail wind.  I was much farther out in the lake at this point.  I looked to my left and could see what looked like 3 little whirlpools.  I thought, I wonder what that is.  As I watched it, something came to the surface in all 3 locations.  It looked like a ginormous snake.  I thought, I’m not going to stick around to figure out what that is and I started paddling like my life depended on it.  It probably did, because I pictured this thing leaping out of the water and wrapping itself around my little green boat and dragging us down.  I am pretty sure my boat make a wake.  I decided to head back to shore and maybe it will be too big to come in that far.  There were fishes jumping all around me.  I was freakin.  On a positive note, if I continue to do this kayaking thing, my shoulders are gonna look like a weight lifter.  It is good muscle building for an awesome overhand right.  Got back to shore and loaded the kayak back into the back of my truck.  I have really put my truck thru its paces this weekend…getting up boat ramps along with some pretty crazy off-roading in the primitive camping area when I was looking for a put in for the kayak the other day.  She’s a good little truck.  Now its back to the cabin to hose off the boat.  Gotta get all the muck and zebra muscles off of it.  Now its about 7pm and I’m trying to figure out what to do for dinner.  I’m thinking hot dogs, but not sure if I want to deal with messing up the charcoal grill situation.  It hates me.

So, I leave tomorrow.  I’ll probably clean in the morning since I can’t seem to sleep past 6:30am.  Can’t wait to get home to Alowishus and civilization.