jackson hole vacation :::: part 2

i typed up this whole post before blogger decided to freeze and make it magically disappear. that's not frustrating at all. 

anyways, we arrived in jackson on monday afternoon and alex, one of the ranch hands, was waiting for us a the airport. we got our bag, filled up our water bottles at the cool hydration station, then loaded up to go to the grand teton fly fishing shop. the ranch manager, trey, was there to help us pick flies for the week and we also got our fishing licenses. 

then we loaded back up with alex and three other ranch guests and headed up to the property. the ranch is only about 10 miles outside of jackson but the road is pretty rough so it takes about an hour and fifteen minutes to get up there. it went by pretty quickly because we were all looking for wildlife [we saw some chizzlers, antelope, mountain goats, and a moose!] and chatting. it also gave alex a lot of time to tell us all about the ranch. 

once we arrived he dropped us off at our cabin. we stayed in cal cabin and it was perfect for us! it was the furthest from the main lodge, but closest to the good fishing and had a great back porch that overlooked flat creek. 

cal cabin

living room 

bathroom

bedroom looking into the living room

back porch looking down on the creek

after we got settled in we went to yoga. we decided to practice outside, but that might not have been the greatest decision. we picked prime mosquito time so it was a little hard to find your OM when you're being eaten alive. it honestly scared me a little because i was nervous we were going to be bug food the whole time we were on the ranch. luckily that was the only time the insects really bothered us [well brad had welts all over him and itched for the rest of the week, but that was the only time they bit us]. 

we went up for our first dinner [every night at 7 we had appetizers on the porch then moved inside for dinner at 730] after yoga. the food was amazing the whole week. it was local, fresh, unique, and delicious! we never ate the same thing twice and you definitely didn't have to worry about going hungry [FYI-- they ask dietary preferences ahead of time and they can accommodate anything, they just need advance warning]. 

the lodge

the right side of the lake

more lake (to left looking out from lodge), horse stables, and there's a bald eagle nest in there too! 

lake

the sleeping indian... and yes, that is snow!

the sauna sits right on the creek

after dinner we walked around and checked out the property. we also had some local brews [the fridge in the lodge was stuffed with soft drinks and beer].

a great first day in jackson hole!

oskar blues 4 miler:::: brevard, nc

oskar blues 4 miler

brevard, north carolina
sunday march 17, 2013

time:::: 37:38

i was so excited when i saw this race because brad LOVES oskar blues and we haven't been able to make it down to their brewery since it opened in december. i figured the promise of post race beer might just convince him to join me for the race [so far i had only been able to talk him into 5Ks]. i was right, he was in!

i didn't realize we'd have to miss church to go though. i ASSUMED that since the race was at the brewery that the start time would be later [you can't serve alcohol in NC until after noon on sundays], but i was wrong. whoops.

here was my original outfit [and our unmade bed]:

at the very last minute i changed into my usual capris... it was a little chilly outside... and while i've ran 4 miles in this skirt before, unfortunately my legs have changed shape a little since i haven't been lifting legs, so i was worried about chaffing]. we made it down to brevard and got checked it and picked up our packets. i loved the race shirts [and they're north face technical shirts!]

john tuttle, an olympic marathoner, started the race for us. the race was really fairly flat for a race here. there was one big hill, but it wasn't bad and there was a nice downhill following it.

during the first mile i felt horrible. when my watch beeped my first mile i figured out why... i was running way too fast for me!

don't get me wrong, i'm pumped that i'm even able to run that fast [i had no idea that was even possible for me!] but i wasn't running this race seriously, it was just something fun for us to do together [and by "together" i mean we both had a bib. i saw brad at the start line and then again at the finish. he's way to competitive to stick with me]. i had run 3 miles since the marathon, obviously i was not training!

i slowed down so my heart didn't explode and started to feel a lot better. there was a water stop around mile 2 then we finished the loop back to the brewery. i finished strong [even though i really wanted to walk at about 3.8 miles]. the race was run entirely on the roads, and while it wasn't terribly scenic, it was a really great, relatively flat course.

after the race we got some water and we decided to wait around for awards [we should definitely do this more often, especially for smaller races!]. they also had 'medals' for us which i though was super cute. they were unique!

fyi - brad did have on some green... one measly stripe on his shorts. he's a party pooper. and there were like 5 people with the same RNR savannah shirt on, random!

during the awards,  i won a door prize (25 bucks to a local outdoor store, black dome!) and brad found out that he missed 3rd place in his age group by 3 seconds! it sucked a little, but i think it actually encouraged him a lot. he's really competitive and i think he knows if had trained for more than 1 week for this race that he'd have easily placed. i hope it'll give him the bug to start running with me more!

after awards we went to get breakfast [i'll post on this later this week, i want to start posting more info on local eats] then came back to the brewery tasting room [the tasty weasel]. we enjoyed some fresh oskar blues brews.

such a great day and i cannot wait to do this race again next year. pisgah running organized the race and i thought they did a wonderful job! great course, well organized, and wonderful volunteers.

vacation part 2::: NYC day 2

thursday morning i got up and did 5 solid miles in central park [love].

we got ready and then went to lunch at the shake shack.

the burger and shake were amazing. my favorite burger ever. the fries were just ehhh. brad even said he liked it better than in and out [but he made me add that the 'animal style' on a shake shack burger would be the best ever].

we spent the rest of the afternoon in macy's, bloomingdale's, and some other stores. i loved seeing all the Christmas decor!

we went back and got ready to go see wicked! i was so excited that i finally talked brad into seeing this! last time we were in NYC we went to see the lion king because it was one of the shows brad thought he'd actually be interested in. i'd seen wicked on tour with my mom and LOVED it but brad has always had this aversion to it for many reasons, one of which being, WAIT FOR IT... he's never seen the wizard of oz!! but since this trip was kind of for my big birthday, he let me pick.

it was every bit as wonderful as i remembered and brad even said he liked it better than the lion king! i'm so happy he liked it! after the show we were walking to dinner and i got to meet the actress who played Glinda. she was really nice and signed my playbill! we had dinner at joe allen's then we headed to a bar we found near our hotel that we loved. i could not even tell you the name of it, but we ended up there almost every night we were there. they had tons of beers on tap and brad enjoys trying different ones.

so that was the end of day two! one more day of vacation round up to go!

have you seen the wizard of oz?

Denver, CO

So long story short...Brad's aunt and her family live in Colorado and every Christmas they get the crap shoot of having to drive/fly all the way to the OH to be with all the rest of the fam. We haven't gotten to see them in forever because we usually don't get there at the same time.

flight essentials:  starbucks (which I spilled all over myself shortly after taking this picture), trashy mags, and the kindle

We all decided that this year we'd fly to Colorado and it worked out great! We took over a huge house near Winter Park and it was a blast! There were 12 of us all together (Brad's parents, brother, aunt, and cousins). It was great because we could get up and ski all day then come home to a warm shower and home cooked meal. Then we either played games or watched movies until bedtime.

Brad and I flew out a few days early and spent some time in downtown Denver. We stayed at a really modern hotel, The Curtis. Each floor was themed (we were on the Laugh out Loud floor) and the lobby and other general areas were really nicely decorated.

PROS: We got a great deal, so that was nice, and the hotel was a lot of fun. Bed was comfortable and gym was great.

 CONS: The walls were PAPER THIN and the parking was a nightmare. It was $20 per night to park but then it was almost impossible to find a spot! The hotel was right across from an arts theater and they sold parking for that making it hard for hotel guests to find parking. Annoying.

It was nice to get a couple days to ourselves. We had some great food and tried a lot of different beer!

you know exactly why i tried this one!! i missed my riley bear!

We also got to do some Christmas shopping.

Just in case you were wondering... it was even more awesome than I'd imagined. LOVE. The clothes are amazing and the salespeople were great too... And they loved my accent and kept asking me to say different things. (This happens to me all the time. What can I say, I'm COUNTRY!)

I also got some great workouts in at the gym (and watched a LOT of Teen Mom!).

Brad's brother met up with us on Saturday and stayed with us so we could all hang out. Then we packed up to head to Winter Park on Sunday. More to come!!

This is us sitting in the back of our rental car in the mall parking garage. We were waiting for Andrew to find us (mall parking lot the Saturday before Christmas... you can imagine). Tailgaiting seemed like a great way to pass the time!