12K's of Christmas

On Saturday morning I raced a 12k in Gilbert, AZ. I thought it would be a good distance (~7.5 miles) to race before the half marathon in January. My goal was to (at least) go the pace I ran my last 10 mile race in (8:17 miles). It was a cool, cloudy day and I felt great. At the halfway point I was just under 30 minutes so I made it my goal to finish in under an hour. I finished in 59:06 which averaged out to 7:56 minute miles. I even beat my 10k PR with a 49:28 at the 10k mark in the race. I felt great pretty much the entire race and am expecting good things for this half marathon!

The race was nice; a new event this year. The start time wasn't until 10am so it was nice to be able to sleep in. Keeper drove us down to Gilbert (about 35 minutes from where we live) and we met my co-coach from North Canyon there as well as one of our high school runners who decided to do the race. Everyone had a good run; my co-coach ended up getting 2nd... in the entire race!

Afterwards we decided to go out to lunch with everyone at Joe's BBQ. It was awesome!!! Then Keeper and I made a trip to LeLe's Asian Market in Chandler to stock up on stir-fry materials for the week. Perhaps the biggest perk of the race was the fact that Santa Claus handed out the awards. I did not win an award (finished 4th in my age group; missed a medal by 5 seconds; d'oh!!!) but my co-coach won 2 awards. The prizes were $50 gift cards to Sushi Roku at the W hotel in Scottsdale. My co-coach gave Keeper and I one of his gift cards. Since the gift card expires on New Year's, we pretty much had to go this weekend. We decided that $50 at this expensive place could get us....appetizers or lunch. We were too tired to go out last night, so we opted for lunch after church today. Yummy!!!! Pics are (top) me (in the middle) finishing the race, my co-coach accepting his award, and (bottom) our student runner posing with his medal with Santa Claus.

More T-day Pics

...Courtesy of Marisa and her awesome camera. Ours sucks.


Keeper with his awesome bird...

Joy and I finding something hilarious...or maybe it was the wine...


Group shot!

Gobble, Gobble

Our 3rd Thanksgiving in Arizona has come and gone. I must say although it stinks not to be able to see the whole family, it is nice to not have to drive more than 20 minutes for Thanksgiving dinner and the weather is perfect. Joy came out to visit us again this year and I did not sign us up for any 10 mile (or 5k) races this year. We slept in, ran on the treadmills at the little gym in our condo complex and relaxed while Keeper slaved over the turkey. I did manage to mash and finish up the sweet potatoes but Keeper did most of the work.

We went to our friend Marisa's house and had a little Thanksgiving party with another one of Keeper's classmates, Michelle, and Marisa's friend who drove out from LA. We had a great "alternative" feast that consisted of veggies, salad, beans & rice, potato & kale enchiladas, and Keeper's turkey & mashed sweet potatoes. We also had pumpkin pie and vegan chocolate pie. Everything was delicious. We had a blast drinking wine and then ventured out to a local bar to top the night off.

Friday was low-key. We all vegged out (picture above is of Keeper and Joy playing Lego Star Wars....deja vu from last Christmas!) and Joy and I went to see New Moon. Yes, I know it is a teen movie but we absolutely loved it. I would definitely go see it again. Saturday morning I took Joy for a run up Central Ave... one of my favorite Phoenix runs because it reminds me of... somewhere other than Phoenix; completely shaded by trees, large mansions on both sides of the road...another world than the rest of Phoenix. Then Keeper and I went to get our Christmas tree. It is our first tree out here! See if you can find Keeper in the Christmas tree forest in the picture above :) The past 2 years we convinced ourselves we didn't need one since we travel for 2 weeks over the holidays but this year I decided we wanted one. We got a nice little tree and Joy helped us decorate while Onyx supervised. Then Joy and I made some Christmas cookies and listened to cheesy Christmas music.

Sunday was a long run and then more vegging out. We did manage to make it down to Tempe Marketplace for a quick shopping trip for some new running shoes but I had to spend a few hours grading tests and Keeper had to study for an exam. Monday was back to work for me, back to school for Keeper, and back to PA for Joy. We had a nice little visit and our looking forward to our east coast Christmas trip!!!

Quick Hike

Yesterday we decided to take Onyx on a local hike. We drove up to the Dreamy Draw Recreation Area (where Mom, Jill, and I viewed a pretty awesome sunset one day last fall) and picked a trail. We left after lunch, it took 10 minutes to drive to the parking lot and we decided to turn around when we felt like it. There weren't any other hikers on the trail, just a few mountain bikers. We left Onyx off the leash a few times and she was fine. She's a little out of shape for going up and down mountains but she had a blast. We stayed out for an hour and it was perfect. We're looking forward to more local hiking on the weekends this winter. You can't ask for nicer weather and there are so many trails right near us! I'm thinking of going back this weekend with Joy for some trail running :)

Girl Power!

This morning I ran the 10 mile race of the Tempe Iron Girl series. I ran the 10 mile race in 2007, had to miss it last year because of an AP Chemistry Professional Development workshop, and was pleased to be able to run it again this year.

After last week's sucky 5k attempt, I changed a few things up this week. No speed workout on Wednesday (I figured Sunday's 5k was enough speedwork for the week), I cut back my red wine intake to only one glass on two (ok, three) occasions this week, and most importantly ( I think), I did NOT go out on Friday night :) I really concentrated on getting enough sleep and hydrating. This, coupled with Keeper's acupuncture and adjustment regimen equaled a great effort today.

My goal was (to try) to run the race a the pace I hope to run the 1/2 marathon in (roughly 8:30 miles). The race organizers did not have pace groups or a corral start at the event. They casually reminded people that faster runners should be up front and walkers should be in the back. Since both events (5K and 10 mile) started at the same time and used the same course, everyone was crammed in together. Since the announcer's definition of "fast" runners was a 5 or 6 minute mile, I figured I was middle of the pack. I quickly realized not everyone knows race etiquette and just lined up wherever. The first 3/4 of a mile were a giant clusterf*ck as people were walking, jogging slowly, or STOPPING in the middle of hoards of people to find their friends. I spent the first mile weaving and dodging people, trying to avoid the massive mud pits, and trying to not trip over anyone. I heard one lady saying to her friend "sheesh! What is everyone's problem; we're all going to the same finish line eventually!!" and I felt like saying, "Line up in the back and get out of my way!"

Regardless, it thinned out after the first mile and the rest of the race was quite pleasant. The temperatures were cool (in the 50s and 60s), the water stops were plentiful ( I did not wear my fuel belt for the first longer race in almost 4 years), and overall, it was a great course. I felt good the entire time and finished in 1:22:59. I was more than happy with that effort and was glad Keeper and Onyx were there to support me and cheer me on.

As hokey as the "girls only" events seem, I can't say enough good things about this one. The expo was good (tons of free food products), good technical shirt I will actually be able to work out in, a reusable shopping bag, finisher's medal, post-race breakfast (chocolate milk included!!), and of course the plush Aflac Iron Girl duck that squawks "Aflac!" when pushed (who's going to get this for Festivus, I wonder???).

The real reason I run this race is the atmosphere. I love the support and encouragement along the course and during the race. It was a truly fun and feel-good effort and I was relatively stress-free the entire race. This is a polar opposite to last week's 5k/10k event. It is so easy to get sucked into the obsessive (and self-centered) running culture of the coaches and cross country world I've spent so much of the last 4 months in. I would much rather go out and have fun with a bunch of girls any time :)

Interesting Finds

We take our dog for at least a 2 mile walk every day. We prefer an evening walk with both of us, but some days we have to take turns. I've been finding some interesting things on our walks...

Yesterday evening: a tan toilet (this was not while walking through the dump or a ghetto; this was a seemingly normal residential Phoenix street)

This morning: an animal cracker (Onyx didn't even attempt to eat it)

Last week (in 2 different spots): empty mini-bottles of 99 Bananas (WTF?? who is drinking 99 Bananas and out of mini-bottles, no less??)

I just read an article in this month's issue of Runnersworld about a guy who collects things (mostly change) he finds while running. The things he deems worthy but can't fit in his pockets, he hides and then comes back later in his car to pick them up. He lives in Phoenix. No surprises there :)

Done!

State meet went ok last Saturday. I ran a 5k on Sunday... did not go as well as I planned but still beating my pre-Arizona (pre-track/cross country coaching) times. I am running the Tempe Iron Girl 10 mile race this Sunday. Not because I particularly need to or like/want to run a 10 mile race...but because it is a girls' only event and I like the positive atmosphere and message....and the shirt; good shirt :) Now onto some much needed solo running...until track pre-season starts...

...Almost Done

... with cross country season. It has been a rocky road, filled with ups and downs, but we are down to my last week. I have spent so much time and energy coaching these girls and I can only hope they run well at the Arizona 5A-1 state meet next Saturday. I have put up with a lot, learned a lot, and gotten in great shape. I am ready to have a few weeks to myself, though; to run on my own schedule and to finally get caught up on grading and planning at school. I am also ready to do some races of my own. I have a 5k, a 10 miler, and a half marathon on the books. This year also marks the first school year in 4 years that I will not be coaching soccer. I am looking forward to putting in some great training runs during the awesome winter weather in Phoenix. I will miss my soccer girls (although I have converted quite a few into distance runners :)) but I will not miss the late nights on game days, the days where my schedule wouldn't allow for even a quick run, or fighting for a treadmill at the gym after practice. I am excited to go watch a few games from the stands. Here's to a relaxing winter :)

Fall PA Visit

Last week I took a mini-vacation home (to York) to see my family. I like going home for a few days in the fall because, well, we don't get to experience much of a fall out here. This trip coincided with me being off school for Columbus Day on Monday and my friend from high school getting married on Sunday afternoon in Spring Grove.

I left school at lunchtime on Thursday and was so glad to get out of there. Last week was Homecoming Spirit Week and Thursday morning was the dreaded (for teachers) pep rally. I was more than glad to be getting the heck out of there pretty soon after that ended. I took a personal day on Friday so I flew out of Phoenix on Thursday afternoon and arrived in Baltimore late Thursday night.

Friday morning I got a short run in....amazing how it was supposed to be my "easy" day and considering there are no flat runs by my parents' house....it wasn't that easy for me. Jen and Blake arrived and then Jill came over. Jen, Jill, and I headed out to lunch and then a bridal shop for Jen and I to try on bridesmaid dresses. We found one we all liked (it is gorgeous) and then stopped by my grandparents house for a visit. We sampled some homemade apple cider, some homemade green tomato pie, and played a few hands of canasta with my Grandma, Pap, and Grandma's sister. Then Mom brought Blake up and we played with him for awhile, then went home to have dinner with Dad, Joy, and Andrew.

Saturday, I got a 12 mile run in on the rail trail while mom biked with me. After a shower and lunch, Mom, Jen, and I headed down to the outlets in Gettysburg to do some tax-free clothes shopping and grab dinner. On Sunday morning, we took Blake to the nursery at church because one of my oldest childhood friends was on nursery-duty and we wanted to see her and have Blake play with her son. We made it out to "real" church in time for communion. After lunch and a nap, Jen (who was my date for the wedding) and I got ready and then left for the wedding.

The wedding was at a church in the town where our old high school was. This is a town that is home to a large papermill. Which smells. Really badly. It was a gorgeous fall day and a nice wedding, but....the paper mill smelled especially bad on Sunday. Or maybe I'm not used to anymore (I can't believe it, but I actually once was). Anyway, it smelled. My friend looked beautiful and the ceremony was nice. After the ceremony we had 2 hours to kill before the reception so we headed back home and let Blake play with the bubbles (see picture above). Then we drove into York (Heritage Hills Resort) and went to the reception. Jen and I were at a table with 2 other girls I graduated with and their husbands. We also saw one of my old soccer coaches (from senior year in high school) and few other people I went to high school with. The reception was nice but I was definitely missing my usual wedding partner (no offense, Jen). There was no one forcing me on the dance floor with his usual "Oooh, The Twist! We HAVE to dance! I'm really good at doing The Twist"...


Monday morning came too soon, as the Tillinghammers packed up and left for their home, aka, The Meeting Place of the Bear, and Joy and Dad headed back to work. Mom and I decided to shop in Hunt Valley before lunch with my other Grandmother. I didn't buy anything, as my suitcase was already jammed with stuff I had bought on Saturday at the outlets. We had a nice visit with Grandmom and then Mom took me to the airport.

I was happy to get back to Keeper and Onyx but sad about leaving my family (as usual). Good fall trip and I can't wait to go back again at Christmas time :)

NYC Weekend

Last weekend, Keeper and I traveled to the Big Apple for his step-sister's wedding on Saturday night. We flew in to Newark late Friday night, took a car into the city, checked into our hotel, and met up with the last few stragglers who were still out drinking after the rehearsal dinner at a bar in the Village. We had a few drinks then stopped at a diner for a late-night tuna melt (we didn't get dinner on the plane). I love the city that never sleeps!

Saturday morning I got to meet up with my college girlfriends (sorority sisters). Four of them live in the city, one lives right outside the city, one came down from Boston for the weekend, and another one drove in from PA with Jen. We went out for brunch at a place not too far from Keeper and I's hotel. It was so great seeing the girls and catching up. We have some new Pi Phi legacies on the way in 2010!! Congratulations to Sarah and Emily on their pregnancies!!!

The wedding was held Saturday evening at Battery Gardens in Battery Park. The ceremony was outside (very chilly but being right on the water, across from the Statue of Liberty was priceless). The cocktail hour and reception were held inside the restaurant. It was a super-fun wedding. We had a great time dancing and seeing Keeper's family. We went to the after party and met up with some old friends of ours after the wedding. We decided to hang out in our hotel room and ended up staying up way too late. The lack of sleep + wedding shenanigans definitely caught up with me on Sunday and I was not feeling so hot. Luckily by the time our flight left, I was ok and we both slept the entire flight back to Phoenix.

It was a busy, whirlwind weekend but we were both so happy to reconnect with family and friends in New York. It was back to reality when we landed in Phoenix at 7:30pm and the temperature was 102. Yikes.

New Friend

After 2 months of being dog-less I couldn't stand it anymore. I had decided that our next dog would be a Labrador Retriever and it would come from a reputable breeder. I wanted a dog that had been properly socialized as a puppy and under no circumstance will I ever own a breed that has a history of being aggressive again. Keeper and I have no time to train a puppy so I began to look for breeders that might have an older dog they are looking to retire.

I used Breeder.net and found about 9 breeders around the Valley that I sent emails to inquiring about older dogs. The response was overwhelming. We found one place that was looking to sell a 6 year old for $1,000 (her father WAS the Westminster Dog Show Champion)! Out of our league, to say the least. We ended up visiting 2 breeders in Apache Junction, AZ (foothills of the Superstition Mountains, about 45 minutes east of central Phoenix). Every dog we met, we loved. We met and played with a 2 year old, a 5 year old, a 6 year old and a 7 year old; all female. The 2 oldest dogs were retired from breeding and the 2 younger ones had either a hip or elbow that did not pass OFA excellent or good so they were not used for breeding, but kept as pets. I continue to get emails from different breeders so we definitely have a good selection, should we choose to get another one down the road.

2 and half weeks ago, we came home with Onyx, a 2 year old black lab. We knew an older dog would be more mellow but we also knew that labs only live to be between 10-12/13 years old so we were hesitant about getting a 6 or 7 year old. Onyx is a "people" dog. She has to be wherever Keeper and I are (this includes barging in bathrooms---she doesn't quite understand privacy). She loves her daily walks and loves to play fetch (in the apartment and outside in the grass) but she is content to put her head in your lap and cuddle the rest of the time. She listens so well and is SO well-trained. She makes friends with everyone she meets (both dogs and people). She is an angel to walk on the leash (and honestly, we probably don't even need a leash because she walks right with us anyway) and she is fine with just lying under the table when we take her out with us for a weekend morning breakfast/coffee.

She has already made some fast doggy friends, Nixon & Maggie, owned by a friend of mine from school, and Spencer & Kona, owned by Keeper's study buddy, Karen, and her husband, Mike. She also loves to play with Cooper, a 4 pound Chihuahua that lives in our complex.

We just love her and can't wait for everyone to come out and visit to meet her :)

Guinea Pig

Many of you know that Keeper has an adjustment table. My crooked spine has been in heaven since he got it and I get my back adjusted whenever I ask. I think this has really helped prevent my IT band/hip and other running injuries from returning. He has also, through the past 2 years of medical school, made me my own herbal tincture, personalized flower essence, as well as put me on various vitamins and supplements. He's done hot and cold hydrotherapy on my legs for my lovely varicose veins. We've used homemade elderberry cough syrup when we've gotten sick.

My naturopathic physician is one of Keith's instructors at school. I was going to Dr. Nick at the clinic pretty much once a month for adjustments and other herbal supplements. I haven't had to make an appointment with Dr. Nick in 9 months. This is because I now have my own personal doctor.

The latest treatment? Acupuncture. I'd never had it done before but was more than willing to try now that Keeper is taking his first "needling" class this quarter. I've had it done twice now and I think I'm going to keep it up. I am very excited to see what the next 2 years hold as Dr. Keith adds to his bag of tricks:)

White Coat Ceremony

After Keeper's board exam was over, his class had one more thing to do before starting the 2nd 1/2 of their graduate degree... get their white coats!


The class of 2011's White Coat Ceremony was held last Sunday (August 10th) at the Scottsdale Civic Center. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but the ceremony was very formal. The Dean of Students spoke (and was the MC), the President of the College spoke, as well as an elected student speaker, and an elected faculty member (who happens to be my doctor at the clinic, Dr. Nick). The best speaker by far, was Keeper's classmate. Each student was called individually to the front of the stage to receive their white coat (embroidered with their name on the pocket) and shake the president's hand. After everyone had their coat the class said an oath and then we had a reception. It was very exciting to realize that the "real education" is finally beginning and all of Keeper's hard work the past 2 years is paying off. I will admit, these pictures are crappy, but I'm not good at getting "action" shots. Keeper starts his clinical training this quarter with 2 shifts; one at the school's clinic on Monday mornings (working under the president of the college!) and the other Wednesday nights at an in-patient drug & alcohol rehabilitation center. I am so proud of him!!

A City We Could Live in...

...San Diego! We made our 2nd trip out to sunny SD last week after Keeper had taken his clinical entry board exam. The trip was a dual celebration of Keeper's brutal test/studying being over and a belated birthday present for me. Keeper found a sweet mid-week deal on 2 nights at the downtown Sofia Hotel. Located right in the center of tons of fun things (Broadway & Front Street), the Sofia was a great place to get away for a few nights.

We left Phoenix around lunchtime last Wednesday and made it out to San Diego by 5pm. We parked, checked in, and changed our clothes for a night out on the town. We started with happy hour at the hotel bar, then moved on to dinner (sushi happy hour at Ra), then hit a few different bars in the Gas Lamp Quarter. We ended our night back at the hotel bar for a late-night happy hour and then went to bed. After sleeping in, we found a great brunch spot, then headed up to La Jolla for an afternoon at the beach.

We decided on La Jolla Shores, where we were surrounded by surfers and surfing lessons. The weather was absolutely perfect. So perfect, in fact, that I neglected to put sunscreen on anything but my face and neck and now (a week later) have awesome peeling arms and stomach. So attractive. We spent a quiet afternoon lounging and reading on the beach, then headed back into town.

We went out for dinner and then walked over to Petco Park to meet up with Keeper's high school friend, Doug, and his girlfriend Kelly for the Mets-Padres game. Kelly's dad had pretty sweet box seats so we were treated to an awesome time in Petco Park. Too bad the Mets suck so much right now that they couldn't pull out a win that night. Oh well....definitely still a fun ballpark. It was great for Keeper to catch up with his old friend and I was glad to actually put a name with a face (we had last seen him at our wedding) and get to know his girlfriend a little bit.

Friday morning, we checked out of our hotel and headed up to the zoo. I hadn't been to the zoo in YEARS and I'm not sure Keeper had actually been to a zoo before so we had a blast. We walked to every single exhibit we wanted to see (which was most of the park) in just over 4 hours. We saw all kinds of cool animals and the weather was ... perfect.

San Diego is the perect Phoenix getaway. We made it home Friday eveing with no stops in less than 5 hours! We had a great time and can't wait to go back!

Durango

Our last stop on the trip was Durango. Before going there, we actually made a detour to find a repair place for the car that would see us on a Saturday. All the driving through the mountains was taking its tole on our little car and Keeper thought we should have the breaks looked at after what happened in Black Canyon. Luckily, a nice place in Cortez was open and they only charged $10.00 to look at the car. No problems were found so we headed east to Durango.

After our night of luxury we were leary of staying in a KOA but the reservation had already been booked and paid for. We saved money on this trip by camping & staying in free and/or cheap places for more than half of the nights. I was glad we booked a cabin at this KOA because I just didn't think I could do another night in the tent. The KOA was really cute. We had a little one-room log cabin that had a double bed and a set of bunk beds. It had a little porch, a picnic table and a fire pit. We were really close to the bathrooms/showers/laundry room too. The cabins have electriciy, heating and air conditioning and ceiling fans so although we slept in our sleeping bags, we still had the comfort of modern amenities. The KOA had a pool, dog park, store, and the owners planned nightly summer activities like movies, sundaes, etc. It was really cute. After unpacking we headed into town.

Durango was cute but very tourist-y. Lots of cheesey souvinier shops and restaurants. The big thing to do there is take your kids and ride the train from Durango to Silverton. We did not take the train ride. There are also tons of places to go white water rafting. We walked around the whole town and found....another brewery. By the 10th day of our road trip, I was tired and looking for a place we could just chill out for a few hours. We really didn't do anything that exciting in Durango other than have a few beers, head back to our cabin and have a little cookout. I do have more pictures of Durango but they aren't developed yet and who knows if they'll actually turn out...

Telluride

Off. The. Hook.

Telluride was freaking crazy. The drive there through the mountains was gorgeous. We stayed at the Mountain Village Resort which is actually a resort so big, it's considered a small town. We drove into the gated "community", past the golf course, fire station, post office, etc. and checked into the lodge. Keeper had found some ridiculous deal on Travelocity.com and we certainly lucked out. For less than we paid for a crappy room in a Boulder hotel, we got a one bedroom suite at this amazing resort. We had a living room, dining room, full kitchen with stainless steel appliances, deck, and a king size bed and full bath. The resort had all sorts of different condos and lodges but the "marketplace" was equipped with a full gourmet grocery store (and liquor store).

We parked our car and rode the gondolas all over the rest of the time we were there. There were gondola stops at other places within our resort that consisted of not only lodges and condos but restaurants, retail stores, coffee shops, bars, you-name-it. There were ponds and playgrounds and rock climbing walls for kids. Everything you could ever want to do on vacation was located within this resort. Which isn't technically considered Telluride.

Then we rode the gondola further into the actual town of Telluride. It was a Friday afternoon so there was a weekly farmer's market going on. The town looks like any other Colorado mountain town except everything is upscale. Spas, salons, stores, restaurants, bars were all riduculously priced. Everyone was riding bikes or the gondola (and putting there dogs on the gondolas too) so there weren't many cars driving around town. We gave ourselves a walking tour, found a brewery/bar, and claimed Telluride to be completely ridiculous and can't even imagine how crazy it gets during ski season!

We loved the night we spent here. We tasted some great beer, rode the gondolas (met some nice southerners in the gondola), and cooked steak in our suite for dinner that night. I have never stayed at a nicer place than the Mountain Lodge. We would have loved to stay in Telluride for a week to really hike and explore the area...but we were content with our one night of luxury :)

Unfortunately due to our crappy disposable cameras I have 2 pictures that actually turned out from Telluride. This one is a black and white taken while riding the gondola...and it's crappy. But Keeper looks good in the top picture at the brewery/bar that had booths fashioned from old ski lifts :)

Black Canyon

We left Breckenridge Thursday morning and headed south and west... to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We stopped at Curecanti National Recreation Area and had a picnic lunch, then drove on to the south entrance of the park. We found our campsite, pitched our tent, and hit up the main visitor center. All we had was our crappy disposable camera but we stopped and took pictures at most of the lookout points on the South Rim.

It was my bright idea to drive down to the bottom (East Portal) and get a good look at the dam. Keeper's little car is a fine automobile. But it was not meant for driving down a canyon. The road was paved, yes, but very very very steep. We made it to the bottom and noticed a funny smell. Keeper popped the hood and smoke came out. Uh-oh. After some quick pictures, we drove back out of the canyon, the whole time I'm saying, "please God, just let us get back to the top" over and over in my head. I imagined us being stranded and having to walk miles to a ranger station (no cell phone service in this wilderness). We made it out and went back to our campsite.




We decided to be nerds and go to the park activity scheduled for Thursday night after dinner: a 9pm Astronomy Lecture. We met in the park's ampitheater with just about everyone else that was spending the night. We were treated to a general astronomy lecture (sounds boring but was quite interesting to nerds like us) by a public school teacher from Florida (which may be almost as a bad as Arizona when it comes to public schools) who was spending his month of July being the Astronomy speaker at the park every Thursday night. After the lecture, it was nice and dark and we hiked up to a parking lot where 2 rangers and one member from the local astronomy club had set up 3 super-hi-tech telescopes. We had another half hour "constellation tour" by another ranger (so cool) and then we got to look through the telescopes. We saw a globular cluster, Saturn, and Jupiter + four of its moons. So. Freaking. Cool. Black Canyon is one of the best places in the United States to view stars so we really lucked out.

I did not get much sleep that night because of the scurrying rodents/wildlife who kept exploring our plastic tarp on the edges of our tent all night. They make a lot of noise for such little creatures!

We woke up Friday morning and hiked the 3 short trails on the South Rim: Rim Rock Trail, Oak Flat Trail, and Uplands Trail. The weather was much hotter and we were pretty gross even after such short hikes. We drove west and stopped in Montrose (very cute town) for a coffee and then south on the San Juan Skyway to Telluride.