Posts Tagged ‘friends’

My friend Jenni posted on Facebook for friends to sign up for the Warrior Dash, a trail run featuring several military-type obstacles, in southern Wisconsin.

Man, I thought, I would if I were closer.

Obstacle races haven’t reached Wyoming yet. Honestly, running races are scant and when I look for races, I always end up looking in Colorado.

A few days passed and I realized I had more vacation days left than I though, days that had to be used before the end of this fiscal year. I was already taking two days for a wedding in Missouri, but the four-day series running this week made it easy to take the rest of the week off.

And it wasn’t too late to sign up for the Warrior Dash.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t corral our siblings and friends to join us, so we battled the cold, rainy (and challenging) course on our own. The 5K course involved climbing a lot of 12-foot walls and hanging and dropping down on the other side — two things Jenni have never done and rarely do.

But we did it at our own pace and had fun, finished in about 43 minutes. The race was very well organized and I would definitely do another.

Before

So clean. (Sept. 18, 2011)

After

Post-mud pit glory (Sept. 18, 2011)

Oh, yeah.

When we finished (wading through a mud pit under barbed wire), the announcer saw our shirts and said, “We need some Kool Aid over here!” And spectators chanted, “Oh, yeah, oh, yeah, oh, yeah.”

It was a good time. Getting hosed down by firemen was not.

Even better: Changing into dry clothes before retrieving our free beer.

I visited college friends in New York at the end of last month — my first real vacation (not tied to work or family obligations) in a year.

I had a few must-do’s but I left the weekend up to my friends, with the goal of relaxation. We walked, ate well, shopped and saw some sights — in record summer heat. I’ve lived in big cities before, but Wyoming has turned me into somewhat of a country girl. Dinner at 9 p.m.? You don’t smile and say “hi” to people you pass? Buying jewelry on the street?

I didn’t take many pictures. I was too busy living it.

A 12-mile run was on the calendar for Saturday, so I decided to do it Friday morning while everyone else had to work. I didn’t plan for 101 degree heat. I decided to go for it, carrying 2 water bottles and cash for Gatorade on my person.

I mapped a route from Brooklyn to Manhattan and back, “laminated” it with tape and pinned it to my shirt. I didn’t care I looked like a total dork; I didn’t want to get lost. But then I did, right away, by taking the wrong bridge into Manhattan. I planned to take the Brooklyn Bridge over (to avoid tourist crowds) and the Manhattan Bridge back. When I realized I was on the Manhattan Bridge, I decided to go with it and reverse the route. It was a little tricky, but I did it.

Nosh at Eatly. (July 22)

You just ran 12 miles on the hottest day of the summer, what’s next?

Eatly!

Foodie heaven on earth: Giant Italian food store with restaurants themed around a food group such as seafood or salami. All the seating was full, so my friend Monica and I saddled up to a wooden cutting board full of meat and cheese, with a side of sardines, caprese salad and soft, rustic Italian bread.

Waiting in line at the Met. (July 23)

We woke up earrrrrrly to make it to the museum member hours for Savage Beauty, the Alexander McQueen exhibit. This line was nothing; when we left 1.5 hours later, the line was easily a couple hours long. Quotes from McQueen scattered throughout and the eerie music made the exhibit more than just clothes.

Late night cab back to Brooklyn. No AC.

Frozen bananas at the Brooklyn flea. (July 24)

Sunday Funday started at the Brooklyn Flea. Holy hipsters, Batman! We cruised through vendors selling costume jewelry, records, old artwork and other crap knicknacks. Pupusas, biscuits and fruits were consumed. And the cloud cover and light breeze offered some relief from the sweaty weekend.

I bought a Polaroid camera, and then continued to take Polaroid style photos on my smartphone. (July 24)

Josh bought an old SX-70 Polaroid camera at a garage sale the week before. Polaroid stopped making film years ago, but a handful of Polaroid employees saved the last film production plant in The Netherlands and started The Impossible Project. And one of the few places they sell film happens to be in New York. I picked up some film for him and a new-to-me Polaroid 600.

Subway. (July 24)

Street shopping. (July 24)

Bathesda Fountain, Central Park. (July 25)

The weather cooled down Monday, so I took the subway to Central Park for an easy four mile run. Like Friday’s 12 miler, it went by quickly due to the constantly changing scenery. I ate breakfast in the park, cleaned up and walked around the Garment District and Midtown. I met a more college friends, whom I hadn’t seen in years, for dinner at Westville in Chelsea. Good food, great conversation.

And very, very early the next morning (too early), I left. Sixteen hours later, I crawled into bed for an early evening nap.

The new house feels more like home now that we’ve had three visitors.

Yes, we’ve only been here one month. But remember, I had 10 visitors in my first year here. And people say Casper is in the middle of nowhere…

1) My sister who lives in Colorado helped me move in the first weekend. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time outside of putting away my kitchen and running to Walmart/Menards/Target. We did have enough time to stuff our faces with sushi.

2) Two weeks ago, my brother stayed for a few days after a bachelors’ weekend in Vegas. He spent the first day on my couch, nursing a hangover of the magnitude you’d expect from a group of frat brothers celebrating three upcoming weddings. Once his stomach settled, we ate well and made it up to Casper Mountain for a mini hike.

3) Last Thursday and last night, Eric, a high school friend, stopped in Casper during his 48-state motorcycle trip. Casper was a little out of his way, but I’m glad he stopped in. He’s documenting and reflecting on his travels in a blog worth checking out.

Only after taking him to dinner at the Wonder Bar did I realize I took all three visitors there.

Another high school friend might stop in on the way to the Tetons in July. Who’s next?

My birthdays tend to be fairly low-key, but I always find a way to make them special.

This year, I planned to celebrate my birthday and Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I requested days off back in August with every intention of going. The date snuck up on me and by the time I shopped for plane tickets, they were through the roof.

At the same time, my friend Cat decided to visit. So I kept two of the days and made plans to show off Casper and Wyoming and celebrate my birthday. On the actual day (March 3), we hung around Casper and did some of my favorite things: drove up the mountain, walked around my neighborhood, bought good cheeses and sipped my favorite Malbec of the moment.

On Friday, I finished a quick story (it wouldn’t be a day off if I didn’t work some) and we drove through a light snow to Lander. We planned to go snowshoeing in Sinks Canyon, but the warm, sunny day turned the snow to mush. We went anyway.

Slightly frozen Popo Agie River [March 4, 2011]

Snowshoeing in Sinks Canyon [March 4, 2011]

Melting snow = muddy unpaved roads and parking lots. New rule for Lola: No wet gravel.

Trying to get up the hill. [March 4, 2011]

We’re both resourceful, strong women, so we eventually made it out through breaking up the slush, laying grass in front of the tires and pushing hard.

Our cozy accommodations for the night made the trouble worth it: log furniture, wood-burning stove and llamas. We stayed at the Bunk House at the Lander Llama Company.

We celebrated Friday night with dinner (birthday dessert!) at Cowfish and a drink at the Lander Bar. The real celebration was planned for Saturday. My sister drove north to Fort Collins and another grad school friend, Steve, drove south from Gillette, his new home of six weeks.

Casper friends met us out for drinks and karaoke. I sang my one song (“I will survive”) and was convinced to sing a duet with Jeremy. He chose a Casper karaoke favorite, “Bring me to life” by Evanescence. I was the dude. Fun times. And fun pictures, thanks to talented photographer friends.

“WAKE ME UP!” (photo courtesy of Steve Remich)

As far as birthdays go, it was one of the best. I felt so loved and lucky to have crossed paths with such great people. It’s such a happy coincidence when worlds collide harmoniously. Casper often feels so far from, well, everything, but this weekend it felt like the center of the universe.

Most would say my Valentine’s Day sucked:
- my valentine was 1,000 miles away
- I spent most of the day with the school board
- in between shifts, I went to a matinee of the Natalie Portman/Ashton Kutcher rom-com. So did one other guy, which made laughing a bit awkward.
- I came home to half of the young couple above me standing outside with her parents and two police officers. I don’t know what happened to cause the situation, but the husband locked the wife outside and refused to open the door, even for the cops.

Lovely. After that, I was more than happy to sit in a school board meeting for 3+ hours.

Then again, every day last week gave me something to love.

Tuesday: Firemen were called to break out the husband. He had rigged some wires in between the front door and the door up the stairs. They didn’t pay their rent, so they had until Friday to move out. And now they’re gone and I don’t have to hear their baby crying at odd hours of the night. I love sleep.

Wednesday: Reporting road trip! I traveled down to Elk Mountain, a tiny town off I-80 in between Rawlins and Laramie, for two stories: one for business and a food story for the Live Well Wyoming magazine we publish quarterly. A photographer, videographer and I were treated to the best meal I’ve had in Wyoming: venison wellington, duck, salmon, samosas, hummus and white chocolate bread pudding. I love food. And getting out of the office.

At the Elk Mountain Hotel, suited up for chopping duty. [Feb. 16, 2011]

Thursday: My friend Cat bought tickets to visit Wyoming for my birthday in a few weeks. She’ll be my 11th visitor! I think a snowshoeing trip in the Wind River Mountains is in order… I love Cat.

Friday: I finished writing the mainbar and editing three national stories for a package about federal education stimulus funding. I had forgotten how much fun editing others’ work can be. I love what I do.

And I received my last v-day card from my first valentine, my mom, whom I obviously love.

If the point of Valentine’s Day is to send red cards and eat chocolate and tell people “I love you,” mission accomplished. If it’s to experience joy and feel loved, mission accomplished.