Memorial Day Adventures

Friday night for Memorial Day weekend, I joined David's mondo-sized camping trip. I'm talking 60 people were there. Not all of them stayed the night though. I thought the weather was going to be terrible, but it ended up being beautiful! And the Jambalaya that David made for everyone turned out really well despite my doubts.

Yep. I'm Paul Bunyan's Lady.

Janie, Carrie, and Wendy chillin'.

David, the Jambalaya King

Our beautiful campground up AF canyon.

Me, Janie, and Chris - fireside goofballs.

On Saturday, Josh took Janie, David, and me 4-byin' in his Toyota FJ-40 rig, that he's named Clifford. We had such a blast! He took us up a very rocky road that ended at a forest lake - or more like a spring runoff collection point. When we got to the "lake" it started to snow and rain - it was that cold of a weekend! The bad weather just delayed itself. But it also made the roads muddier. One mud hole that we skirted earlier in the drive ended up eating us on our way back down the mountain. Clifford was tipped at a precarious angle in the mud hole - if you can tell by the angle of the trees through the windshield. But Josh has a winch so David climbed out the back of the rig and hooked up the winch. Once we were straightened out, Josh drove through the mud hole like it was no big deal. It was crazy awesome! Once we got out of the mountains, the four of us went to lunch at Cafe Rio as the cherry on top. It was super fun!

Clifford!

Josh, me, and David at the forest lake

Me, Janie, Josh, & David

Stuck in the mud hole! We were tipped 45 degrees.

Then Monday morning, I had my next mountain bike race in the Corner Canyon area of Draper. Janie joined me to support Jen, Tim, and I at the race. It was fun to have her and to hear her cheer me on at the beginning! There were seven ladies in my category, so it was kind of a big race! I passed two of the ladies on the two-mile shake-out loop: one was kind of slow, the other struggled at the first rocks and thankfully I was able to get past her. Then I passed another lady who was having trouble with her tire going flat. And then believe this!: I passed another beginner lady on the shake-out loop when we had to do it again at the end of the race. I saw her and noticed that I was closing the distance. I couldn't believe it! So I ended up taking 3rd place out of 7!! This was a long course too: 12.5 miles. Normally my races are only 7 miles. But with doing 34 miles at Mesa Verde and 12.5 at this one . . . I'm nervous all of the other ICUP mountain bike races will feel short now!

Looking strong on my 5-mile climb!

51 MTB Miles in 36 Hours

51 mountain biking miles in 36 hours. Yeah, I'd say that is my best accomplishment for the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde race and weekend. Jason and Patty joined me on my 3-person co-ed team for the 12-hour relay race. We had a load of fun. We drove down Thursday night and stayed in our stinky smoking room since it was the last one available with two queen beds. Then Friday morning we dinked around on the 17-mile race course with Wendy, pre-riding it, practicing some of the technical spots, taking pictures, etc. Afterward, we ran over to Mesa Verde National Park with Wendy and Dorothy and checked out Cliff Palace and Balcony House. We had a great time! Patty scrambled up the 32-foot latter of Balcony House like a bat out of he** since she's a little scared of heights, I got in trouble for sitting on one of the walls, Wendy sat in the car for one of the sites, and I had to pull teeth to get Jason to smile in pictures. Yeah, it was a memorable day before the race. 

Wendy and Jason on the course

Pre-riding the course

The race began at 7:00 am with a foot-race around a barn to the bikes. Patty liked the idea of not having to deal with all the faster riders passing her so she did the first lap. Jason went second and I went third. All three of us were going to get two laps in so I figured I would be riding at the hottest times of the day, but I lucked out! My first lap ended with a little storm sprinkling on me and my second lap had a nice, cool breeze. Patty got the rain and mud on her second lap. Jason probably got the perfect packed trail conditions after Patty's muddy lap, while Patty and I got the dusty ones. During my first lap, Wendy rode out with Dorothy and then ended up waiting for me and was my little "carrot" and cheerleader for the course. In between laps, we'd hang out with some others from the team: Jen and Tim, Gayle and Paul, Tiffany and Shauna, We'd change out of our sweaty, first-lap biking clothes into dry clothes, eat, hang out for a minute, then change into our new biking clothes and go hang out at the transition point for the rider to come in. All of us felt like the second lap took it out of us, but we had fun. We ended up in 19th place out of 27! Then we topped the night off with some spaghetti and meatballs from Lotsa Pasta and a soak in the hotel hot tub. 

Pre-riding the course - on Tuffy Rim

And instead of bringing home sore muscles, I brought home a cold that has laid me up for these past two days. Boo. But I'm going back to work tomorrow, and I'm getting massage tomorrow. Sweet. 

Wendy, Dorothy, me, & Jason at Cliff Palace

Patty, Dorothy, me & Jason at Balcony House

Me and Patty climbing through the tunnel of Balcony House

Jason in the transition area after his first lap

Lambert Park Race

I raced in my first Utah State Championship Series Race yesterday - at Lambert Park in Alpine, Utah. I love to ride Lambert Park so that was a no brainer to do - especially since the race is $15 cheaper than the normal Intermountain Cup races that I do. It was a lot of fun! The loop was only 3.4 miles so I had to do two laps. There were six ladies in my category (still beginner category) and everyone of them took off from the start line and left me in the dust. But then I quickly caught up to two of them and passed them . . . on the climb! Then we had a long downhill, during which I passed the other three ladies! So I was in first place, but I didn't get too excited because I knew I had another long climb coming up and a second lap to do. Sure enough, two of the ladies I passed on the down passed me on the climb and I never saw them again. I tried to catch up to them on the down, but didn't have the luck. I held my third place position until the very end so I took it and got a little gift certificate to a local bike shop. I think I'm getting faster at riding! And I have to say, I think it might be because of boot camp and strength training. I'm going to have to remember to keep up the strength training when boot camp is over.

Where's April?

April seemed to really fly by - more so than other months. Maybe it's because I had a big group project, finals, a new boot camp session start up, a trip to Boise, and the Easter holiday. Holy frijole. So here's my little April recap (through Friday, April 27).

The big group project didn't go so well since we got a 75% on it. Boo. But that didn't prevent me from getting an A in the class (Non-Profit Management). I rocked every other assignment and exam and his grade philosophy was awesome: the top quarter of the class would get As, second quarter A-s, third quarter B+s, and bottom quarter Bs. Not too bad, eh? I did well on my finals and rocked the semester with another 4.0. Now that my Spring Term class, Legal Issues, has started, I'm now wishing that I would have had it during Winter Semester - it's going to be a beast. In our first week, we've had 12 legal cases to read and debrief so that we're ready to be called on to have a one-on-one 20-minute discussion with the professor. Great.

I also took a little trip to Boise last weekend to see the family and go on a blind date that my mom brewed up. Mom and I visited Robyn at her house where she took us on a tour of her backyard plans for the upcoming nuptials of Justin. I also went for a mountain bike ride with Jill, Mike, and Chandler (Parker ran on the trails) - we had to get Chandler's new mountain bike out on the dirt! He had a grin from ear to ear. It was a blast! The date was pretty good too. Ha!

Biker in the Spring

I've been going crazy with biking this spring. I love it. But I have to train! I have a big 12-hour mountain bike race coming up on May 12 and then I also have the Little Red century on June 2.










I went for a long ride the morning of General Conference Saturday with Kendra. We went up to what is known as the altar . . . and I decided to be a little irreverent and pose kneeling at the altar and praying - but I wasn't really praying. I did think it was pretty funny that I was up at the altar on the morning of General Conference. Ha ha! Love me some biking! I'm so excited it is biking season again. :)

Beaver Bash with Teri

I've been a weak-sauce skier this year. I went twice. TWICE! That's it. Terrible. But both times were with my sister, Teri. So that makes it all worth it. One of the days of skiing was what I call snow-bunny skiing at the Beaver Bash up in Logan. We skied on some ice in the morning and serious slush in the afternoon so it was a good thing we had some distractions from the less-than-stellar skiing - distractions like the go-cart racing, the pond-skimming contest, and an injured snowboarder that I got to help back-board (read that as a verb). Yeah, it was a pretty entertaining day of skiing. I don't think I'll ever get over how funny it is to ski along on snow that goes from fine to slushy and have the slushy snow slow you so suddenly that you lurch. I laugh every time.

Seattle Beloved

Yesterday, my friend, Mike - that lives in Seattle, got married so I figured that was my great excuse to go to Seattle once again. I also persuaded Mom to accompany me since she is usually always up for a little travel with me and is spontaneous enough to do it on short notice.  We flew in on the most beautiful day, Thursday, got our rental car, and drove to our hotel in Bellevue. This is when the seafood and chocolate yumminess began! You just can't get fresh seafood in land-locked Idaho or Utah. I also visited my friend, Teresa, that night.

On Friday, we took the ferry to Bainbridge Island. We walked around the beautiful Bloedel Reserve, historic downtown Winslow, and then just drove around and looked at all the houses. Can I just say how much I love the tree lined streets?! That night we met up with Ruth Ann and Stacie for dinner at Ivars and then chocolate afterwards. That night, I ventured to the single adult dance that Teresa invited me too. It was fine. It was fun to spend more time with Teresa and meet some of her friends.

Moss on the parking lot!

At Bloedel Reserve

Love the tree-lined roads.

Saturday, we drove to Snoqualmie Falls only to discover that we couldn't see the falls due to the fog! We visited the Snoqualmie Train Depot and then went into Issaquah for lunch and a little trip down memory lane. Unfortunately, we didn't have any luck locating the homes that mom and dad lived in when they lived in Issaquah. After a lovely drive through the back roads and woods and over the hills to Elke's house in Maple Valley to visit her. And then off to Factoria to have dinner with mom's friend, Emily.

At Boehm's Chocolates in Issaquah.

With Elke

Saturday night was also Mike's wedding reception where I, apparently, ate a "wedding cake" cupcake before I should have, but I wasn't the only one who did! If they didn't want anyone to eat the cupcakes until they cut the mini cake, then they shouldn't have put them with the rest of the desserts by the buffet. They should have put all the cupcakes with the mini cake in the opposite corner. I also successfully avoided the bouquet throw. I've already caught two bouquets in my lifetime. Other single ladies should have the opportunity. :) And it's mortifying to stand there to try to catch it, even if the groom does say my name over the microphone to get me up there. Ha! Yeah, right. Not gonna happen ever again.

Sunday morning was a little more productive for the trip down memory lane because we found the house that mom and dad lived in when they lived on NE 1st Place in Bellevue! It was really neat to see the house.

Overall, we had a great time. And I love the Seattle area even more. I love how it feels like you are in the forest even if you are in the city. I love the tree-lined streets, the greenness, all the lakes, the seafood, the ocean. Sigh. Maybe someday.