It’s official, I signed up for the Disneyland Half Marathon! I also registered for Brother who is brave enough to train and run it with me. Woot! The course should be fun. It goes through Disney’s CA Adventure Park, then Disneyland Park, then around Anaheim to pass by The Pond and Angels Stadium, and ends near Downtown Disney. Anyone want to come out to watch us in September?! It’ll be over Labor Day Weekend (on the 3rd).
My last day in Vail was simply powderlicious. It snowed lightly yesterday and all day today to make the conditions on the mountain so much fun. We explored more of the backside, shooshed through trees, and some of the guys jumped some small cliffs. I even had enough courage to do some of my own little jumps and hops. I also experienced being buried in powder. I was following Johnny through some trees and got stuck. The snow was thigh-high and the only thing keeping me from sinking in further and drowning was a fallen branch sticking out of the snow. It was an awesome day in the Colorado snow and truly made up for the disappointing day we had on Friday.
Once we got back to the condo, we went to the backyard where there was a huge pillow of snow that was about thigh-high. After doing backflips and faceplants into the snow, we decided to build snow forts and had a good old-fashioned snowball fight. We ended up soaked to the bone and exhausted but had so much fun. What a great end to our Vail weekend.
If you were looking for the Question of the Day today, I apologize. I haven’t had internet access for the past 24 hours. We flew into Vail yesterday afternoon and had our first day on the slopes today. I must say that with all the hype of “Colorado powder”, I was sorely disappointed. There were some nice spots but overall the base was not great. However, we still had a good time. The runs are super long and the mountain is gigantic. The temps were very managable and we even got about two seconds of flurries in the afternoon.
We went to Mammoth today and it was so nice to be back on the mountain! I was a little worried about the conditions given the dry spell they’ve had these past couple weeks but we were not disappointed. The snow was still soft but fast and the coverage on the main runs was great. We spent most of the day on the snow and at the end of the day, we packed up our gear and took a scenic ride on the Panoramic Gondola up to the top with my camera bag. It was great being able to just stand there and take a bunch of photos. I took the fisheye and Holga with me and had some fun.
Afterwards, we had dinner at Base Camp Cafe, which looked like a hole-in-the-wall restaurant but had some really yummy food at non-Mammoth prices. I enjoyed my first taste of Italian Wedding Soup that’s made with chicken soup, mini meatballs, tiny round pasta, and herbs. Yum.
Back in Bishop, where we’re staying, we visited the Mountain Light Gallery. It features the works of Galen Rowell, a long-time award-winning photographer that has many famous photos published in National Geographic. Many of his photos included a short blurb about how he captured the photo or what he was doing when the photo was taken. He travelled the world and took photos in Antarctica and the Himalayas. However, he also took many photos in places that are so accessible. Some of the photos were captured right here in Bishop! It was simply inspirational.
By the way, the Holiday Inn Express in Bishop totally rocks. It’s cheap, clean, the room entrances are indoors, has modern amenities, has free breakfast in the morning, and is walking distance to restaurants. They even have pillowcases that have “firm” and “soft” embroidered on them so you have a choice of pillow firmness. And of course, it has free WiFi in your room for after-skiing surfing. What more do you need?
Here are photos from the weekend.
Over the weekend, I went out for a run and ended up cutting it short because I was feeling lightheaded. I didn’t think it would be a good idea for me to pass out on the corner of Alton and Sand Canyon. I also went to the gym on Monday and had to stop after 20 mins on the treadmill due to the same icky thumpity-thump feeling I had in my chest. I could have sworn I was on the same treadmill last week going 6.7 mph without dying. What a disappointment. This afternoon, I decided to give it another try. Before I left, I jokingly said to Jes, “OK! I’m going out to make myself pass out now! Come looking for me if I don’t return in 45 mins.”
The sun was still up and the weather was warm enough to go out in shorts and a tee. With the doggie by my side, I headed out my usual way but later decided to take a detour towards “Shady”…Shady Canyon, that is. I used to run this trail all the time but for some reason it seemed especially daunting today. But I went and so did the dog.
We started out rather slow and chugged up the hill. It was just as steep as I remembered but felt like it was never going to come to an end. At the top of the hill I felt pretty good so we kept going. We watched the golfers play, admired the way the sun hit the tall grass, stopped for a couple sniffing/peeing breaks for the dog, and ended up going all the way through Shady Canyon to the other entrance. When I glanced at my watch, it said “1.5 mi”. Sweet. So I headed back to complete the 3-mile run. It was great. After two horrible workouts in a row, I felt like my legs and heart were finally back in sync. The dog didn’t look too bad either. He happily trotted beside me the whole time with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth. I let him drink from the doggie drinking fountain on our way home and now he’s down for a long nap. Turtle and Dog conquered Shady today and here is the Garmin data to prove it.
This is my favorite time of year. My two most favorite holidays are coming up, it’s nippy in the morning, and it’s going to start snowing soon!! It’s SkiDazzle weekend and I’m hoping to check it out. Anyone want to go?! With paid admission you get a free pass to Summit or Bear. If only it would just cool down and start dumping. I know you’ve all seen this video but I had to bring it back to get you all pumped up. The video has music so if you’re at work, put your headphones on! Get your boards/skis waxed, goggles and beanie out of the closet, and put those racks back on the car!! It’s almost that time!!
Recent Comments