Weekend fun in the sun

We managed to cram a fair amount of fun into this past weekend, despite spending most of Sunday working around the house. On Friday afternoon, Jeremy suggested that we plan an evening hike up to Desolation Lake to watch the Wasatch 100 runners come through.  It was completely last minute, but we did a pretty good job of throwing together a plan via text messages at work.  After a quick pit stop at home to change clothes, feed Ruby, etc., we ran through Chipotle, grabbed a couple burritos for our packs, and headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon.  The hike up MillD to Desolation lake isn't particularly technical, but we were racing daylight hoping to get to the top before dark.

The trail

Self-portrait on the way up

It's about a 4 mile hike with 2000 ft. of elevation gain (not too bad for the Wasatch), and despite the fact that we're both pretty out of shape right now, we managed to make it to the lake with just enough light left to actually see it. We plopped down near the aid station and plowed into our burritos (note: Chipotle burritos taste even better when eaten in the middle of nowhere after a hike).

Jeremy "running" up part of the trail

(Look, I learned to make a gif animation!)

Just before reaching the lake

Our timing was perfect, as we were eating, Jeremy's friend Craig came through the aid station (~mile 67) looking strong.  He was pretty surprised to see us up there!  We hung out at the aid station for a few hours, lending a hand, saying hi to friends as they ran through, warming folks up and basically hanging out.  It started getting pretty chilly around 10:30pm, and we had only packed limited gear, so we decided it was time for us to hike down for the night.  Armed with our headlamps, we made pretty quick work of the descent.  I passed out in the car on the drive home (I think my week caught up with me) and we allowed ourselves to sleep in a bit on Saturday.

Saturday morning, we joined our friend Melissa and her dog Leia for Doggie Swim Day at our local public pool.  It's a pretty cool event!  As with many public pools, this one closes after Labor Day.  Each year, they open it up for a few hours the Saturday after Labor Day for doggie swim time.  It was a RIOT!  Picture 60 or so dogs of all sizes/breeds, about 100 tennis balls, and water... awesome!

Just getting started!

Loving Life : )

Ruby could not even comprehend what was happening.  She ran around like a maniac, in the shallow end, out of the shallow end, running laps around the pool, chasing literally every ball that was thrown.  At one point she was swimming along with a ball in her mouth trying to stuff two or three more in there.  She was in heaven!  We never really got her to do the running jump into the deep end like some of the other dogs, but she would "jump" in after a ball and she swam like a champ.  We had to pull her out of the deep end by her armpits because she couldn't figure out how to climb over the lip, but she kept diving right back in.

It's a race!

Bobbing for tennis balls

Ruby's buddy Leia saying hello

I'm fairly certain Ruby's drowning that brown dog for trying to take her ball... no manners!

All in all, it was a great morning.  We had to drag her out of there against her will.  She would have kept going past the point of exhaustion if we had let her.  Even though we only stayed for about an hour and a half, she pretty much slept the entire rest of the weekend!  I wish they held an event like that more than once a year, it was the perfect way to wear her out and she couldn't have had more fun!

Saturday afternoon, we wandered over to the Avenue's Street Fair with our neighbors and spent a few hours checking out the booths and sampling the food.  It was a nice, sunny afternoon and we both ended up with some pretty spectacular tan lines on our feet from our flip flops.  It's always a good weekend when you get odd tan lines :)  While at the fair, we picked up a Utes-themed bandana for Ruby so she can show her Utah pride this week for homecoming.  Beat BYU!!

Ruby-girl, the Ute fan!

(black dog on a black comforter = poor contrast, I know)

Mazel Tov!

This post is a little late, but better late than never! 

Last weekend Jeremy and I drove up to Spokane, WA for my best friend's wedding... no, not the cheesy movie, the real deal!  My college roommate (and roomie for life) Rachel Kutteruf married a super great guy, Jon Cogen. Rachel and Jon have friends strewn all over the country and everyone gathered in downtown Spokane to celebrate with them.  Thursday night, those of us who were in town already, met up for dinner and drinks.  It was great to meet the groomsmen and get to know everyone before the festivities kicked off.  Jeremy hit it off with the guys and they adopted him for the weekend, which was really sweet! 

Jon (right) and his best man... and two ginormous beers!

On Friday, we rounded up the crew for rehearsal at Beacon Hill a beautiful venue just outside downtown Spokane.  We're all pros and rehearsal went smoothly. Jack, the ring bearer, stole the show and proved he was up to the task.  Jeremy dutifully served as photographer for the day (the whole weekend, really) and captured some great shots.

Beacon Hill

Yeah, that'll do

The motley crew

Jack, racing down the "aisle"

That night, Rachel's long-time friend Abbey hosted a pre-wedding BBQ at her parent's house.  It was the perfect house party, parents hiding in their bedroom while the boys and girls got to know each other  better :)  None of us realized that Rachel and Jon had planned a flip-cup tournament for that evening and tensions were high as the bridesmaids (and extra ladies) took on the groomsmen (and extra guys).  Long story short, the boys came out pretty cocky and we proceeded to crush them! Rachel has assembled quite the group of friends over the years - we're competitive, we're coordinated, and we can put away a beer when required.  The guys would argue that it was close, but in reality we whooped them.  It was a great night and really set the tone for the rest of the weekend :)

Matching up...

Intense battle...

VICTORY!!!

On Saturday,  the girls headed out to Coeur d'Alene to get our nails done and have lunch on the lake.  It was great girl time.  The guys (with Jeremy in tow) set off on what I heard was an epic mini-golf/arcade adventure to keep themselves busy while we were off getting pampered.  I feel I should add here that it was strange being back in Coeur d'Alene, as I hadn't been back since the ironman last year.  It was surreal to have lunch overlooking the swim start and drive my car right down the finisher's chute.  Lunch was lovely and was highlighted by huckleberry cocktails... yum!  

Huckleberry cheers!

(Photo Credit: Alyssa Henley)

That night, we all met up in downtown Spokane for the rehearsal dinner.  We had a blast wining, dining, toasting, etc.  It was clear how much everyone there loves Rachel and Jon! 

Me and Jeremy

(Photo Credit: Abbey Blume)

The girls!

(Photo Credit: Whoever was holding Abbey's camera)

Sunday was all about the wedding! We spent the morning at the salon getting our hair and makeup done before taking over Rachel's hotel room to get dressed.  The wedding was beautiful! It was my first Jewish wedding and I loved all of the traditions.  Everything went off without a hitch.  Rachel made a stunning bride, and Jon was a dashing groom. Together, they were adorable!  

The wedding

(Photo Credit: Shamelessly stolen from Rachel's Facebook Page)

I love the look he's giving her

Looking sharp!

Roomies for life - with our signature cocktail :)

All in all, it was a fabulous weekend and a nice get-away.  As we left, we vowed to not go as long without getting together.  There's talk of a winter reunion... here's hoping we pull it off!

Celebrating 5 years of wedded bliss

I can hardly believe it, but Saturday was our 5 year wedding anniversary!  Jeremy's brought home flowers on Friday night and started the weekend off on a nice note.

Daisies - the official 5th anniversary flower

Since we had the whole day to celebrate, we started off by heading to the farmer's market.  Aside from our usual veggie shopping, we indulged in far too many anniversary treats.  Possibly the tastiest farmer's market trip ever!

Vanilla Raspberry Cookie... delish!

Plus, Ruby got a new bone. A good day for everyone : )

Jeremy had planned a whole day of surprises which were centered around the theme "things we always say we should do in Salt Lake, but never get around to actually doing".  We started by going to lunch at Stella Grill a cute little place we've driven past multiple times, but had yet to try.  It was a super yummy lunch and a nice start to the surprises.  After lunch, he drove us over to an industrial park near downtown, which I will admit stumped me at first.  Turns out, this is the location of the new urban winery we've heard so much about.  Kiler Grove winery grows their grapes in Paso Robles, CA, but blends and bottles their wine right here in good 'ol SLC.  They had a number of wines to taste and we had a blast pretending we were back in Napa/Sonoma on our honeymoon.  We bought a couple "everyday drinkers" and a nice zin blend to save for a future anniversary. 

Our lunch spot

Cheesy couple shot at the winery : )

We then hopped on FrontRunner (our local commuter train) and rode up to Ogden where we wandered around the old train museum and the antique/trinket shops on their historic main street.  Although much shorter, the train ride reminded me of one of our adventures back when we were just dating and we took the train from LA to Seattle.  Fun times!

Self-portrait on the train

Welcome to Ogden!

Me and an old steam engine... Grandpa would be proud!

Always the artist, Jeremy found a piano to play on 25th street.

After riding back down to SLC, we headed home for a quick wardrobe change before dinner (yet another surprise).  On our honeymoon, we bought four nice bottles of wine to save for our 5, 10, 15 and 20 year anniversaries.  We've had to modify the schedule a little bit to make sure we didn't let any of them get too far past their drinking time (i.e. we drank the bottle designated for year 5 last year).  Fortunately, the bottle we were planning on drinking on our 10th was maturing faster than anticipated, so we got to enjoy it this year!  This particular wine was the most sentimental of all since it was from a winery that had to shut its doors due to financial problems.  Thus, we will never have another bottle from this same place.  It was a random little winery way up in the hills called Graser.  We were the only customers there and the winemaker himself (along with a couple fabulous wine dogs) led us through the tasting.  He was an eccentric old guy who we both just loved.  When we purchased a bottle at the end of our tasting and told him we planned to save it for our 10th wedding anniversary, he whipped out a gold sharpie and insisted on signing the bottle! An all-around great guy.  Anyhow, I digress.  We packed up our Graser wine and walked up the street to Em's, a super cute restaurant in our neighborhood that we have been meaning to try (but were waiting for a special occasion).  Dinner was amazing and the wine was oh-so-good.  It aged better than either of us thought it would. Perfection!  Somewhere I hope Mr. Graser was smiling, watching us enjoy his wine as the perfect cap to a great 5th anniversary. 

Stuffed and happy post-dessert : )

Mr. Graser, pictured on the label of his most-delicious wine!

It's been a wild ride these last 5 years and I can't imagine anyone better to have shared it with. Here's to many more. Happy anniversary, mister!

El Vaquero Loco Race Report

It's official, I'm loco!  To have attempted this race on minimal training was truly a crazy decision; however, despite the pain I'm in today, I'm so glad I did it. Here's the story:

Somehow I let Jeremy talk me into registering for this year's El Vaquero Loco 25K.  For those of you not versed in metric, this was a ~15.5 mile trail run through the mountains above Afton, WY. It also boasts something like 4,000+ feet of elevation gain... simply ridiculous.  Even more ridiculous, there are some fools who run the 50K version (out and back).  Once across was plenty for me, thanks!

We decided to make a weekend out of it and camp at the Cottonwood Lake campground (conveniently located at the finish line). Our neighbors, and good friends, Rain and Kim joined us for the adventure.  Somehow Jeremy talked Rain into running also... he's a convincing little bugger.  As it turns out, after dragging us all into this madness, poor Jeremy sprained his ankle and wasn't able to race.  My skeptical side says it was all a plot to torture me, but in reality I know it is killing him to have missed this race two years in a row (DNS 2011 due to food poisoning).  We made a last minute decision to drive up after work on Thursday, rather than Friday morning as originally planned.  Although we didn't end up rolling into the campground until after midnight, this turned out to be a great decision as we scored the best campsite in the whole place.  Side note: it's always fun to choose a campsite by headlamp and wake up in the morning to see what you really got yourself into. 

Home sweet home

Pretty dang good isn't it?

I spent most of the day on Friday lounging around in our hammock (thanks, Gleason's!!), while Jeremy took Ruby out on a hike to explore the trails around the campground. I think I made it about 5 minutes before I fell asleep while attempting to read.  The mosquitos made quick work of me once I feel asleep and I awoke with some pretty serious welts, including one doozy on my forehead the size of a golf ball... awesome.

Jeremy in our hammock's maiden voyage

This is my cozy face!

After heading down to Afton for packet pickup and dinner, we enjoyed some campfire fun with our race friends from South Dakota, Ryan and Chris.  I love how you get to know people over the years because you see them at the same races!  Kim and Rain drove up that evening and managed to get in just before a pretty serious rainstorm started dumping on us.  There's something about falling asleep in a tent listening to the rain that makes me sleep like a baby.

The next morning, we awoke to perfect racing weather! Clear skies with just a hint of cool in the air.  I was pretty nervous going into the race knowing that, as has become my norm, my training just wasn't up to par.  Rain on the other hand was cool as a cucumber.  I suppose it was just his fighter pilot nature showing through, but his calmness was impressive given that this was his first ever trail race! 

Me and Mr. Cool

The race started at Intermittent Springs (up Swift Creek Canyon) and it was a pretty idyllic spot. Literally 2 minutes after we started we came around a corner to this view...

A quarter of a mile into the race, the pain started.  We made a quick switchback to head up a stupid steep climb of loose dirt. It was on this hill that Rain took off, never to be seen again.  That guy is an animal!  With the exception of a few spots, we pretty much kept up this ridiculous climb for 8 miles.  I power-hiked most of it and distracted myself by taking pictures of the breathtaking scenery.

 Part way up the first climb, a nice woman took my photo while we caught our breath.

Our friend Ryan lapping me (he was already over 1/2 way through the 50K)

Creek crossing #3, I think

The wildflowers were spectacular!

Yet another amazing creek crossing

Pack horses at the first aid station

I put this last photo in to remind me to talk about the aid stations.  There were three of them, and the fabulous folks working them either backpacked or rode in on horseback and camped overnight in a rainstorm to give us food and water during the race.  Three cheers for them!  There was something pretty awesome about running up to an aid station to find horses and cowboys.  Literally, I got my water refills from vaqueros at El Vaquero Loco... cool!  After this first aid station (around mile 5) we kept climbing for another 3ish miles.  Just when I thought the climbing would never end, we popped out onto a saddle overlooking a glacial lake.

Not the best self-portrait, but I like that my shirt matches the wildflowers

Still climbing

Almost to the saddle

Lake #1

Super fun, technical descent

Looking back up at the saddle

After climbing up the other side of lake #1 (and when I thought the scenery couldn't get any better) we popped over a second saddle to view lake #2.  The descent down to this lake through knee high wildflowers was my favorite trail running experience to date.  Even better, aid station #2 greeted us along the bank of lake #2.

Unbelievable!

Looking back up the trail about halfway down

Running along the shoreline, looking back at Aid Station #2

I paused on a rock to fix my shoe and couldn't resist this shot

From here, there were some runnable sections (yay!) as we made our way towards the third aid station and the last climb of the race.  Somewhere along here I decided that I have to get my parents out here for this race next year.  They would LOVE it (hint, hint).

Our other South Dakota friend, Chris, lapping me... notice the trend : )

This dog had the right idea! Aid station #3 had a whole herd of dogs there to greet us.

Aid station #3 was a bit of a double-edged sword.  I knew it was only 4.5 from there to the finish, so it was a welcome sight.  What I didn't know was that the first half mile after the aid station was basically straight up the side of a mountain. Ugh!  As I trudged up it, a 50K runner came up behind me and prodded me the whole way to the top.  I wanted to kill him at the time, but in hindsight I'm glad he forced me to run the whole damn thing. 

Happy to be at the top! Photo credit: hilarious search and rescue guy

The view from the top. That tiny speck above the snow field is Aid Station #3!

From this point it was screaming downhill on double-track all the way to the finish.  I didn't take any pictures of this section of the course.  Partly because I was having fun running, and partly because I thought I might go hurling head first down the trail if I actually tried to stop.  I ended up crossing the finish line in 5:35, a somewhat ridiculous time for a 25k, but hey, I got my money's worth! Rain finished in a very respectable 4 hours and seemed to really enjoy his first trail race experience. The finish area featured burgers and local huckleberry soda, which was just as amazing as I hoped it would be.  After a quick dip in the ICE COLD lake, it was back to the campsite for chili cheese dogs and s'mores, the post-race meal of champions!  All in all, a great trip and a great race.  We'll be back, I'm sure.

Ruby looking for chili dog handouts!

It was a good weekend for the dog... dirt, swimming, and chipmunks to chase.  She was whooped!

Marshmallow toaster extraordinaire... 4 at once!

The perfect end to a brutal race!