Go see the world, she said. So I did. Most of my racing and travel posts starts with a trip’s intent. If you are a frequent reader, you know that changes a lot especially right before the trip start.   I signed up for the Little Rock Marathon six months ago. I signed up because I wanted to see Little Rock. I wanted to see the capital area, the Arkansas River and the Bill Clinton Presidential Library. I also wanted to drive into Oklahoma via the Trail of Tears byway.  But first, a six-hour drive to Memphis where I stopped on the first night. I spent a few hours in the National Civil R ..read more

We woke up at 5am know that we had to get to Tucson before Saguaro NP closed at 4pm. Total mileage from Cortez, CO to Tucson, AZ: 538 miles.  This time when we drove past Petrified Forest National Park it was open so we went in.  I thought this was a small park off the side of the highway, but it ended up being a spectacular one hour drive south through an amazing landscape.  Petrified Forest National Park was more that I ever expected. The views from driving through were beautiful, like a painting. The Petroglyphs were so interesting to see and learn about the history of who d ..read more

My original plan was to run the Javelina 100K. I signed up six months prior to the start date.  Training didn’t go as planned. Blah blah blah.  In September I decided that I would instead take a tour of National Parks and visit the legendary 4 Corners.  My travel partner was Mark, who initially offered to crew my 100K race, then decided that touring the National Parks was a good vacation idea, too.  I planned to see my friend Mary on Friday night to wish her well on the 100K but my plane was late and the lines for the car rental didn’t get me out of the airport until 11pm ..read more

I’m currently in book reading mode. This happens to me every 5 or 9 years. I suddenly want to read everything, go back to school and watch every movie or documentary on the subject I’m suddenly obsessed with. It’s pretty fun to spend every free moment reading and thinking about reading, and listening to books in the car and on my phone. I’m obsessed. This time it is Western American Literature and Western American History. I should say, this time and last time I got obsessed with every writer writing in the late 19th and early 20th Century. I read master theises, I read research and subscribed ..read more

“National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.”  —Wallace Stegner, 1983 I’ve just finished re-watching America’s Best Idea, the PBS special from 2009. In 1988 I wanted to go see the western National Park and signed up for a trip. Now, I just want to go see all the National Parks; I just want to go see the world. As much as I can. Ken Burns inspired travel ..read more

Robert Root writes the story of how he followed Isabella Bird’s three-month (Sep-Dec) journey at age 42 through the Front Range of Colorado in 1873. While Bird seeks to understand this place, Root seeks to see what Colorado will mean to him after living most of his life in Michigan.  He writes about that first view of the Rocky Mountains while driving from the plains; it is impossible to forget. It is a spellbinding moment of beauty and awe – that first glimpse of snow white peaks in the distance. He enters Colorado from the east similar to all migratory Americans, and me too. (17) I kno ..read more

First stop in Colorado after arriving in Denver was to drive through Rocky Mountain National Park. I followed the rules and bought a timed entry. Based on flight arrival and drive time I purchased 12-2 entry time. Little did I know that after 2:00 you don’t need a timed entry and we got to the entrance at 1:50pm. Cars were waiting on the side of the road for 2:00. We began the beautiful drive on a perfect blue bird sky day. I was reading Following Isabella Travels in Colorado Then and Now on the plane and how she climbed Longs Peak. All the years I’ve lived in Colorado I never hiked the big m ..read more

The hike on Sunday to Charlie’s Bunion was a great day to be in the mountains. As I started on the AT from Newfound Gap I was thankful for cool temperatures and to see a few other solo, women hikers on the trail. I saw a few trail workers and hikers who have been on the trail a few days.  I love being on the AT. While I do not have aspirations to through-hike this trail, I can appreciate the patience and dedication it takes to complete the feat.  While hiking I was thinking of the book I’m reading, Following Isabella Travels in Colorado Then and Now. Since I’m traveling to Colorado ..read more

I bought a few plane tickets and booked a couple car rentals this week. I can’t remember when I’ve felt so excited. Well, at least in the last year.  See, the last year has been filled with moving plans, buying furniture, adopting a dog, buying a house and starting a new job.  While all of these things are exciting in context, at my age they have produced unwanted  anxiety to the level that I’ve never felt before; although all self-inflicted. While anxious, travel and and seeing new places is the last thing on my mind.  However, as things have settled down, one of the thing ..read more

I like how the story includes chapters that take place in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. I also like how I found this book after hiking many of the trails in Greenbrier in GSMNP. I’ve  been on a lot of the trails in the book except for the manways. As I read the book I just kept thinking what a funny name to call the bushwhacking trails since I’ve always known them as organic trails; trails that the Forest Service despises in NH. I think it might be a Smokies thing. I’m not a big murder mystery reader but the landscape of this  book held me close. I couldn’t put down the book ..read more