Colorful Colorado

I recently went on a road trip to Colorado.  I have been home for a week now, but I just had to share!

I took my best friend's little sister.  I have known her since she was in the womb.  She graduated from high school in 2012 and this was her gift, but we could not go last year, because I was still part time at my school.  So, we headed out on the 8th at 3am.  Cue fun!

First off, I had never been on a road trip in the truest sense... stopping here and there, no real agenda.  I was pretty excited and I was really happy because, we would get to stay with my aunt and two good friends from college.

On the trip to Colorado, all went well... except that it took us 20 HOURS to get there.  I got a triptik from AAA and it said that it would take us at last 10 hours to get to Four Corners and then 4 more to get to Grand Junction.  Lies!  I can understand picking up two hours for food, gas, restroom, a quick nap, but somehow, we picked up 6!

On our journey, we went to Wupatki National Monument and got to see the volcano there and some craters caused by lava flow.  (Does that count as a crater, when nothing impacted the ground, like a giant boulder??)  We also made a stop at Four Corners.  It is cool to say that I have been there, but, they charge you $3 and you literally walk up and take a photo, that is it.

Once we got to Grand Junction, we were greeted by my aunt, a meal, and a nice bed to sleep in.  She treated us to breakfast in the morning at a place called The Egg and I.  It was really good!

Then we headed to Lakewood to visit with my friends Zach and Jeof.  We went to dinner at a place called Casa Bonita.  I do not really know what to say about this place, other than that it is... something.

Here is a list of all of the fun places we toured and things that we did once in Colorado and on the way home:

1.  Pikes Peak Cog Railway

2.  Garden on the gods

3.  Coors stadium tour

4.  Denver Capital tour

5.  Tattered Cover Book Store visit

6.  Colorado Rockies Game vs. D.C. Nationals

7.  Wild Life Sanctuary

8.  Celestial Seasonings tea factory tour

9.  Pearl Street, Boulder

10.  Snooze A.M Eatery

11.  Hammond's Candies factory tour

12.  GRAND CANYON!!!!

Lennox Crater

Wukoki Ruin

Four Corners

Grand Junction

One of my Aunt's horses.

Casa Bonita

At the top of Pikes Peak

Garden of the gods

The State Capital.

The coolest Grizzly bear ever!  All of the animals at this sanctuary were rescued from people's homes, except two baby bears that were rescued from the wild when their mom was killed.

Two for tea and Tea for two.

They made us wear hair nets/ beard nets in the factory.

Pearl Street, Boulder

Denver

Grand Canyon: At Powell Point

Powell Point

Powell Point

Yavapai Lodge.  This is where we stayed, while at the Grand Canyon.

I tried to pick out a few of the best photos!  We had a great trip!  Happy Summer to all of you!

Rock n' Roll San Diego Half Marathon and Mumford and Sons!!

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to run the Rock n' Roll San Diego Half Marathon.  It was my 12th on my road to 50 by 50.  It happened to leave me completely ruined, much like my first half marathon in 2010... The Long Beach International.  It took me a couple of days to recover from this one.  I came down with some awful calf and shin cramps at mile 8 and I could barely walk for a while, but I powered through.

I generally finish around the 2:50 mark and I have been tirelessly trying to move that to 2:45, but to no avail!  I did get one of my worst times at this race 3:11... ugh.  It. Makes. Me. Sad.  But, I do believe that I will get over it.  Oh wait, I am over it.  I always remind myself that I do these races for myself.  There was a time when I did not think I could accomplish such a task.  Any run seemed hard, but I jumped right in with a 5 k and then I did the Camp Pendleton World Famous Mud Run, a 10k.  People told me that they didn't think I could do it.  This just fueled my fire.  And look at me now!  Twelve half marathons completed!  A full marathon completed!  Numerous 5k and 10k runs completed!

Perhaps we should not get into the habit of telling people what WE think they can and cannot do?!

Any way, I go to do this race for free, because my best friend's mom organized the entire thing through her work, Kohl's.  They essentially sponsored us and 11 others to do this race and we raised $22,000 for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, through Team in Training.  Pretty cool!

All 13 of us finished!  Many thought that they could never do something like this, including my friends mom.  But she did.  They did!  All it takes is one step, followed by another and then you are at the finish line.

You sure learn a lot about yourself in a long race like this.  You fight yourself the entire time.  It is true that you are your own worst enemy... at least it is true for me.  And when you cross the finish line, you discover, that you are not as weak as you and others might think.  And where are those other people by the way?  Oh, what's that?  They are at home warming up the couch!  Often times people telling you that you cannot accomplish something in your life, are saying these things, because they cannot or choose not to do so in their own lives.

This post was not meant to have a message!

So, onto some photos from the race!

I worked the expo for Superhero Events LLC and I got to meet Olympic Marathoner Meb Keflezighi!

The Kohl's Team in Training crew.

My best friend's mom (in purple) and me with some photo bombers.

We felt safe at the start and finish line, because San Diego Police had a birds eye view on everything!

Some sights from the run.

My friends love to play disc golf, so I had to take a picture of this.  The course was HUGE!

My friend's mom. (Sorry, I forgot to rotate before I loaded!)

Immediately after the race, I drove 2 hours home, to see Mumford and Sons in concert!  I took my mom and it was truly an amazing experience.  The guys are extremely talented and they sound the same live as they do on their album... actually, I am going to say that they sound better!  They played so hard and maybe said 10 words to us outside of song playing.  They stopped after playing for 2 hours straight AND THEN they came out and did 3 more songs for their encore!  It was so great!

Their stage was simple, but it played into the experience of their powerful playing, sound, and presence.  I cannot clearly express with words how great this concert was.  If you ever get a chance to see these guys in concert, I suggest that you do so.

All elements of this show were perfect and I loved every moment.  We also met some pretty cool people near us.  Did I mention we were in the 6th row?  Ahhh!  Love!

(The video feed above the stage was done in black & white and cepia tone, which was pretty neat too, since they were in color and all.)

Soooooo  Gooooood!!!!

The mom and me.

Mumford

and

Sons!

So good!

Now get out there and buy their albums and become fans, like me!

Albums:

Sigh No More

Babel

You will not be sorry!

Fresh Orangeade

Once upon a time, there was a girl who shopped at the Goodwill bookstore by her mom's house.  In this bookstore, she happened upon a lovely book, "Safe Party Planning:  Alcohol-Free Drinks For All Occasions, BEVERAGES".

That girl was me and I love this book of fantastic drinks!  There is one in particular that I truly enjoy.  I made it several times while I lived with my grandparents.  I just plucked the oranges and lemons right off of their trees and it was fantastic.  I think that it is a great summer drink and I hope you find joy while putting this drink together and sharing it with your friends.

Fresh Orangeade

Makes about 5 (1 cup) servings

2  1/2     cups water

1/2         cup granulated sugar

2            cups freshly squeezed orange juice

1/2         cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2         lemon, cut into slices

Ice cubes

Sprigs of fresh mint, for garnish (optional, but fun!)


Put water and sugar in a large pitcher; stir until sugar dissolves.  Add orange juice, lemon juice, and lemon slices; stir well.  Refrigerate mixture until ready to serve.  Serve over ice and garnish with fresh mint.

That's it!  Enjoy!