Happy to be THERE ~ Telluride Vacay Day 3

We hit the trails early this morning with the jog strollers again and wouldn't you know that when the terrain was stroller friendly the kids have decided they would rather walk than ride...sigh! 

But the kids are getting along great and Tate, Kari and Lee's oldest son, has been so helpful with the little ones.  I think they prefer to all 3 walk together rather than riding separately. 

This morning's views from the mountain between Telluride and Mountain Village were spectacular and were not the slightest bit affected by the light drizzle.

A trail closure extended our hike a bit but that just gave us more time to enjoy the scenery.  We were all starving by the time we got back to Mountain Village but the sun had come out so we got to have a leisurely lunch at Tomboy Tavern.  Tomboy Tavern is one of Mountain Village's most popular restaurants and their giant yellow outdoor umbrella clad patio is still the to be scene place apres ski.  Though during the summer it seemed totally appropriate for 3 tired, hungry kids and 4 thirsty adults! 

After a relaxing afternoon, we headed out to dinner with plans to try the Thai place, Siam Thai.  Given that we had 7 people it was quite a lengthy wait and when I took Maison inside to go potty it was so hot in there I wanted to faint.  We decided to try a restaurant across the street called There.  The good news was that they had a table available.  The bad news was that it was big enough for about 3 people (if you go to their website and click "The Place" and scroll down you can see the small table in the window on the right).  We were so crowded that at one point Kari told Tate that if he didn't stop touching her she was going to have a panic attack!  I was right there with her.  It was very hot in there and very crowded but considering they had delicious food and an available table we were just happy to be THERE!

Rockin Stroller Coaster ~ Telluride Vacay Day 2

Kari and her family come to Telluride every July and they graciously offered for us to come along this year.  We had never been before and are always up for a new adventure so we were super excited to see what all Telluride had to offer.  I personally was looking forward to a day that didn't involve small places or vomit inducing car rides.

We started our first full day in Telluride off with a morning hike.  Kari had suggested that we rent jog strollers for the kids to make the hike easier.  Some of the terrain was rather rocky so it made for a bumpy ride and a strenuous workout for the person pushing a 30 lb toddler in a 20 lb stroller up hill over rocks!  The hike was well worth the view...Telluride is beautiful!

View from Maison's stroller:

Rocky strolling terrain!

Fast friends:

3 Happy Hikers:

After our hike we had lunch at the Parlor cafe at the Sheridan hotel.  The Sheridan hotel, established in 1895, is the oldest hotel in Telluride and was the perfect spot to relax after our hike.  We went back to house to take naps, read, etc.  I really don't remember the last time I sat down to read.  It was wonderful!

For dinner we took our friend Jan's suggestion and ate at Cosmo's.  It was as good if not better than Jan description...completely fab!  We had a great time despite the couple who lucked out and got the table that was right above our party of 7 that included 3 kids, 2 of which were 3 or under.  The children were actually great so other than their mere presence I have no idea why these people were giving us the stare down.  Did we not see a sign that said no children are allowed?  Seriously if they act better than most adults who cares?

The last 24 hours have been like a roller coaster from bad to fab!  We are loving Telluride so far!

Post-Race Hike

Nothing makes you feel better after a 13 mile run than to go hiking first thing the next morning...ok, not really but "so much to see and so little time". Today's agenda: delicate arch, the arch featured on the Utah license plate. The hike was mostly uphill on a rock. I've heard the phrase "feel the burn" all my life. I felt the burn, I don't like the burn, and I certainly don't want to feel any more burning any time soon.

Delicate Arch:

Adam, Kari, and Lee on the hike up to delicate arch:

Kari (in black under arch) and Adam (in green on left) under the arch. Lee and I don't do heights so we took the pics:

Next stop SLC and then home to our bug!

Pre-Race Hike

We arrived in Moab this afternoon in time to pick up our race packets for the Canyonlands Half Marathon that Jan, Kari, and I are going to run tomorrow. After packet pick up we decided we had time for a short hike before heading back to the resort to meet Jan and her friends for dinner. Since Kari and Lee had never been to Moab/Arches National Park and we had limited time this weekend for hiking and sight seeing, we wanted to make sure we got to see at least some of the most famous arches. Quickly our short hike turned into a 2 hour hike to see the landscape arch.

Landscape arch:

Balanced Rock:

Navajo Arch:

View from the rock fins on the way to Double O Arch:

After dinner, I started to pack up my gear for the race tomorrow and I suddenly got very nervous about what to wear in 40 degree weather before the race, during the race, what I would need during the race...should I bring water? wear a fuel belt? wear gloves? It is all a bit overwhelming. I don't want to make a mistake that I'll regret tomorrow.

All ready to go...I think!

September 5th - Part 2

The final major stop was Pipiwai Trail that takes you to the bamboo garden and the acclaimed Waimuke 400 ft waterfall. They claim it is a 4 hr hike (2 mile each way) because it is severe up or down hill over rocks/roots. Adam and I did it much faster...about 3 hrs round trip. We move pretty fast when we are on a mission...and it started pouring rain on our return and I wanted to get out of there before that bamboo decided to fall on my head!

here is what I call the 'kiddie ride' as we thought it was cool until we saw the real deal

The terrain to get the waterfall was not too bad...mostly dirt trails with lots of roots and rocks a lot of which are in place to prevent the entire place from being a mudslide. We wore our running shoes for this one so relax..sigh! Along the way you go through the bamboo gardens which were super cool. Here are some pics

Ok, so here's the main event. The 400 ft water fall Waimuke. It was TOTALLY worth the hike!!!

It is required at all tourist attractions, per the locals, that you do the 'shaka' hand motion...so i HAD to do a 'double shaka' when we FINALLY made it to the waterfall. And here is Adam AGAIN breaking the law.

After the waterfall hike we hiked a short 15 min to the 7 pools, fully known as Ohe'o Gulch Seven Pools. This was cool but nothing compared to the waterfall so we kind of rushed through it. It's basically a waterfall that collects in 7 separate areas that don't get hit by waves and thus they are pools that people swim in. We were soaked from walking an hour back from the waterfall in the pouring down rain that we were not really up for a swim.

We hauled-ass on the way home only stopping once for a slight motion-sick moment (no puking!) and bathroom break so that we could make it to our dinner reservations. Hana is so big now and slightly commercialized that you can't make it out in less than 3 hrs so we had to call and cancel. We ended up eating dinner Longhi's again because neither of us wanted to be in the car to drive some where else. It was ok. Here are some pics from the way out...