Yellowstone: Part 1

Sorry I have been MIA the last few weeks. We are wrapping up the kids school year and have just been plain busy.

For Father's Day weekend Steve, the kids and I went to Yellowstone Park. We got up early Friday morning and headed to Wyoming. We were finally in the park by 2:00 pm. Within minutes we saw bison laying in fields on the side of the road.

We pulled over and began taking pictures. Once we took a sufficient amount of photos we moved on to the campsite and pitched tents and unrolled sleeping bags. We then headed out to visit the geysers. We made it just in time to watch "Old Faithful" go off. Then we took a walk and visited some of the lesser known geysers in that area. Once you get over the "who's cookin' eggs" smell, it is quite incredible.

After hitting the geysers we went back to camp changed into our snuggly clothes and got the fire started. We cooked hotdogs and ate chips. Once the sun went down we sentr the kids to their tent and settled in by the fire and just spent the evening talking and poking at the fire.

I woke up at 7:30 the next morning to the smell of eggs and bacon. I got up, ate breakfast and got dressed to take on some more of the Park. We left the campground and drove down the road and hit traffic. Before wecould get too frustrated we realized that it was because there were bison walking right down the middle of the road. The walked right next to our truck and hardly even noticed we were there. I was blown away. They are HUGE!!! We saw hundreds of bison. There were fields with babies and even elk mixed in.

As we drove on we came to a bunch of cars pulled over to the side of the road and people armed with cameras. When we inquired what was in the woods we were told there were 2 black bears. Steve and 3 of the children headed in the direction with the rest of the people while Katie and I stayed with the truck. Steve got a couple of pictures, but pretty much by the time he got there they had decided to head off farther into the woods. So once my family got back to the car we headed off to our next destination, the Fishing Bridge.

I will have to leave you all hanging there. And fill you in on the rest of the exciting things we saw in a 2nd post tomorrow.

My First Race EVER!!!!

Today was the Salt Lake City Marathon. Now don't get all excited...I did not do the marathon, but I did participate in my 1st 5K...Which for me is a marathon.

Steve and I awoke at 4:30 am, dressed, grabbed our gear and headed to the Trax station. We opted to take the Trax downtown rather than drive and park. We arrive to the Gateway which is the finish line for all the races. Then we shuttled to Liberty park (3.1 miles away) It was during that drive that I got the most nervous. 3.1 miles turned out to be much further than I had been imagining all these months.

We began to congregate with other racers at the park. We stretched and awaited for 7:20 am to come. There were pace times posted beginning with "6 minutes" and ending at the back of the line with "13 minutes+ & strollers" This is where we took our place. Before I knew it they sounded the air horn and we were off. I tried to start off running, but soon realized my shins were going to burn, as usual. So I told Steve I would walk a while, but that I wanted him to go on without me. I need to "run my own race at my own pace". So he ran ahead. I cranked up the iPod and began to pick up my walking pace. I kept going...walking some and jogging some. I felt so good.

Then before I knew it I was about to finish the final leg of the run by running into the Gateway shopping center. There were people lining the sides of the road...Holding posters, ringing cowbells, yelling congratulations. Here is my moment of cornballness...I had just listened to "We Are the Champions" by Queen on my iPod, so I went back to song and played it as I came up the drive strip. I kept running.

Rather than speed walking to the finish line I wanted to run through the finish line.

I completed the race at about 45 minutes...Not "Speedy Gonzalez", but boy am I PROUD OF MYSELF. Steve finished his race at approximately 24 minutes. So he was at the finish line watching me run in and took the pictures you see.

This was definitely one of the coolest things I have ever experienced.