jackson hole vacation :::: part 3

tuesday morning i got up early for yoga, what a great way to start the day! afterwards i came back to get brad and enjoy the tea that was delivered to our cabin. tuesday was the only morning that yoga was offered so on the other days we got into a great routine of waking up when the tea was delivered, stoking up the fire and having quiet time and reading our Bibles before breakfast. loved it.

the three main things we did were hiking, horseback riding, and fly fishing. i guess it's probably easiest to just post the pics and go from there!

while we were riding shelby taught me a lot about the wildflowers that were all over the place. aaaand i don't remember the name of this one :)

where we stopped to eat lunch on our first ride

my horse for the rides, devish

ready to go fishing!

brook trout!

we fished near those willows on the left and you can see our cabin a little further up

getting ready for our second ride to disappearing lake

grizzly scratches

disappearing lake (it is filled by snow melt, then evaporates by about july)

riding back to the ranch (our new friend faye up front)

we rode into the gross ventre wilderness --- no wheels or machines allowed!

the creek (i saw the moose here when i was running, by myself, with no camera... so everyone acts like they don't believe me)

south ridge

i guess that's pretty much it as far as the ranch went. i completely recommend the ranch if you're into that kind of thing. i hope we'll be able to go back, we both really enjoyed it! 

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!

jackson hole vacation ::: part 1

on sunday brad and i packed our bags and our friend lauren dropped us off at the airport to head to jackson hole, wyoming. asheville's airport is pretty small so we made it through security pretty quickly and had a fair amount of time to kill before our flight. the beauty of living in beer city is that they have all the good local beers on draft at the airport bar [however, it's easy to forget you're at the airport and they will charge you an arm and a a leg].

 

anyways, we had a beer to cheers to a great vacation then boarded our plane. then the captain came in and told us we had to deplane, that they'd found a problem with the plane during their walk around inspection. they had to contact maintenance to see if it was fixable [and if it was fixable it would take at least 2 hours]. 

we quickly got into line at the counter because we knew either way we'd miss our connecting flight from chicago to jackson. long story short they said the earliest we could get to jackson would be the next day (monday) at 230p. a little disappointing but still okay. thankfully we got in contact with our hotel for sunday night (wyoming inn) and they were nice enough to refund our money for the night. that's pretty much unheard of in my experience, so a big THANK YOU to them. we'll definitely stay there if we're ever back in jackson. 

they actually ended up fixing our plane so we were able to get into chicago around 9ish. we had to go to customer service to get a voucher for a hotel and all that jazz. the line was CRAZY long. a really nice guy helped us, gave us a hotel voucher, meal vouchers, and told us where to catch the shuttle. unfortunately they couldn't get us our checked bag [i definitely know better than to put important stuff in there, but i failed miserably]. i hunted down some contact lens solution then we caught the shuttle to the intercontinental hotel. 

we were both pleasantly surprised with the hotel. it was very nice, clean, and modern and the staff was great. when we gave the clerk our voucher he asked if we needed any toiletries or anything, and even gave us free wifi for the night. 

we had a late dinner [and multiple margaritas] and the hotel restaurant, fresco 21. once again, we were pleasantly surprised and i'm pretty sure those were some of the best french fries we ever had [they were only serving their late night menu so everything came with fries].

monday morning we had breakfast at fresco 21 then caught he shuttle back to o'hare.

i really wish i'd had my running stuff because i would have loved to jump on the el and ran down by the shore. oh well, lesson learned. 

our flight to jackson was uneventful but check out the view as we were coming in:

and that's where i'll end for now!

vacation part 1::: vegas

last saturday b-rad and i were up early to fly out to vegas. i got some gorgeous pics of the fog/mountains/sun coming up as we were leaving.

we landed in vegas as scheduled around 1 (via atlanta) and took a shuttle to our hotel, new york new york [no we did not plan this, it just worked out that way!].

our room wasn't ready yet so we dropped off our luggage and made another important journey [the most important thing on brad's vegas list].

he'd been talking nonstop of animal style burgers and fries since we booked the flight.

after in and out we went back and checked in. we were pleased with our room, it was smaller than the last room we had in vegas [at the venetian] but the price was great and the rooms were clean and had everything we needed. well, scratch that, i would have loved a fridge, but no dice.

we took the monorail down to the venetian for the expo and packet pick up. [i bought two monorail passes via the RnR website at a discounted rate and they came in handy. i don't mind walking but the strip drives me crazy because you can't just walk. you have to go up and down stairs almost every block].

dinner the first night was okay. we ate at chin chin which was a sushi/chinese type place in our hotel. then we played some blackjack.

on sunday [race day] we got up and ate breakfast at il fornaio [in ny,ny]. it was convenient and really cheap because they were doing a 2 for 1 deal for runners. i had a waffle with strawberries and it was delicious! kind of nice to carb load at breakfast since i never get to. after breakfast we played some craps then went to a sports bar to watch some of the football games. brad stayed there while i went to get ready for the race [full post on that coming later].

after the race i met up with brad and we took the monorail back to the hotel so i could shower and get ready for dinner. we had reservations for julian serrano [in aria].

most of the tapas were great but those meatballs were not. they were apparently made ahead of time and were served after they were reheated, however mine didn't get reheated. yuck. we have an amazing tapas place in asheville though, so i'm pretty partial to it. [if you're ever in asheville you have to try it, it's called curate].

after dinner... yes brad has on a suit and i have on jeans. my only dressy outfits required heels and that was not happening an hour after 13.1 miles.

on day 3 we mostly walked around and looked at the shops.we had a great lunch at max brenner [in the forum shops] and i fell in love. we split a chicken caesar salad and a bacon, avocado, lettuce and tomato sandwich [and those fries with the sandwich were the best!]. then for dessert we had this chocolate lava cake with ice cream, berries, and a mini shake. the little tin had warm chocolate sauce in it. sooooo good.

 after lunch brad went to play craps and i went to the atrium in the bellagio. it was decorated beautifully for Christmas.

i can't remember what we did or ate on monday night, so obviously nothing too exciting! we went ahead and packed up because tuesday morning we were flying out to NYC. more to come!

Rear View Mirror::: June 2012

running:::
i finished June strong with 52 miles. when i looked at my daily mile total on the 22nd i realized i'd only ran 28 miles so far. it was the smack in the face i needed to get going. honestly i don't know if this is just what happens in life or what but i feel like i turn around and then i realize i haven't ran in 4-5 days. it's crazy and i don't realize it. 


i haven't strictly followed a training plan since my first half and i have really enjoyed running when i want, how much i want. i've managed to keep a comfortable base that has allowed me to concentrate on weight training three times a week but also keep working towards my goal of 12 half marathons for the year.


i ran one half this month, downhill at dawn and it was a new PR for me!






weight training:::
i am still weight training three times weekly. this month i started following stage 1 of the New Rules of Lifting For Women. i am really enjoying the workouts, although i sometimes feel like i'm not doing enough. the authors mention this and encourage you to trust the program and not add to it. i'm trying to do that. i am continuing to run, which the author does not recommend in the first stage. 


reading::::
this month i finished two books:

the latest sookie stackhouse book came out in may and i've been saving it for an easy beach read. quick tangent:  i just got into these books last summer and i read them straight through. of course i was addicted and had to watch all the true blood episodes. now i'm so confused as to what's happened in the show vs. the books (the show just started back a few weeks ago too). this drives me crazy. end tangent. the book was kinda boring. 

i cannot even describe to you how amazing this book is. seriously, it's the first (non-running/workout) book i've recommended in a LONG time. the author has a wonderful way with words and the book is truly inspiring. basically, he does humanitarian work during his undergraduate and post grad work (he was a Rhodes scholar!) but realizes that you have to be willing to fight for what you believe in and he believed in helping and protecting others. so after he finished his PhD program at Oxford he enlists in the Navy and becomes a SEAL. i can't say enough about this book. read it and you'll understand. you'll highlight it and recommend it to everyone. 


weight:::
i'm just going to be honest... I literally just got back from a week of vacation and i have no idea how much i weigh. when i left i was sitting at -11 since January. we're going to go with that. i ate what i wanted and i'll get back to it this week (i also exercised more than i ever have on vacation so to me that's progress). i have joined up with Run With Jess to lose a marathon so hopefully that will provide me with the motivation i seem to have lost since the challenge at my gym has ended. 

life:::
i just got back from a family vacation in tybee island, georgia. it was an amazing week! brad and i and my family (mom, dad, brother, and brother's gf) all drove down on sunday and brad's fam (his mom and dad and brother and brother's gf) joined us on wednesday. i'll definitely do a post or two about the week, but i couldn't have asked for a better week. so great to see the fam, i miss them.