rebeccmeister (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rebeccmeister) wrote2006-02-12 08:00 am
rebeccmeister) wrote2006-02-12 08:00 am
More Detailed Birthday Recounting
Well, this nasty head cold has me up and at 'em bright and early, so I suppose it's time to recount ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kihle and my Sedona adventures in more detail. [aside: stupid head cold. It's the snotty variety. So disgusting and reminiscent of The Spitting Disease]
On Friday, kihle and I drove up to Sedona, picked up our race packets, dropped offajseagull, and stopped in at a promising-looking coffeeshop called the Bike & Bean (combination bike shop and coffeeshop--I bet it would appeal to a number of people that I know! They had some scrumptious, locally-made biscotti.). After all that, we headed up to Flagstaff for the night. cycloxslug had recommended the youth hostel in Flagstaff to kihle, so we dropped off our stuff there and went foraging for dinner. I'd been to Flagstaff briefly before, but its super-cuteness hadn't been firmly established until we walked around a little bit. I have to say that I saw many, many more coffeeshops in our brief drives through Sedona and Flagstaff than I've seen in attempting to travel around in the GPSA (greater Phoenix Suburbopolitan Area) for the past 2.5 years. Downtown Flagstaff is walkable, and kihle and I found a nice little Thai restaurant that had absolutely delicious food for dinner. I ate and ate until I could eat no more and am extremely sad that I couldn't take those leftovers with me. I had a tasty dish with peanut sauce and fried tofu and onions and potatoes, while kihle had a noodle dish with tofu and broccoli. Then we headed back to the hostel for the evening, where we added the final touches to our running costumes and promptly fell asleep by 9:00. We'd initially planned on stopping by a cute dessert place for chocolate or stopping by a promising used book store, but I guess those will have to await our next expedition.
The next morning, we awoke at the crack of 5:30, assembled our belongings, and headed back to Sedona for the race. It was COLD for us thin-blooded Phoenicians (maybe in the 40's), especially considering our running costumes. The bee skirts and wings were absolutely amazing and were definitely a hit. We thought we were clever at the PF Chang Marathon to dye our hair and wear hot pink, but the bee costumes were so much better--lots of runners complimented us, and we got lots and lots of cheering just for us. Clearly, kihle and I are geniuses (as we kept on telling ourselves).
The run itself went pretty well. It was soooooo unbelievably nice to do a road race that was shorter than a full marathon, to remember that even running 13 miles is a worthwhile accomplishment. The course was a bit hilly and ended on a slightly nasty uphill, but there was a great stretch along a dirt road that was a good reminder that trail-running is better than pavement-running (much, much easier on the joints!). I'm definitely going to keep on doing road races. One of the best parts of running the marathon is how much easier everything else seems post-marathon. I'm about to start preparing for the San Diego Crew Classic, a 2000m race, and one of the rowers made a face because it's a longer distance than she usually has to prepare for. Meanwhile, I'm thinking--a 2k? It'll be over in a heartbeat!
Anyhoo, I think I want to go back and do that run again next year. It's a great excuse to get out of Phoenix. After the run, kihle and I stopped by Bacon Rind Park to snap some photos for all of the bacon lovers in our lives, and then stopped by a promising-looking chicken shop to browse around. Then we stopped for grilled cheese sandwiches (soooo delicious) and espresso before heading back to Tempe. Once we got back to Tempe, I bummed around for a while and finalized the mix CD that I'll be sending along to various parties shortly and opened the packages that I received fromsytharin and my parents. I think my two favorite items were the bumper sticker that my father got from the Ugly Mug Cafe that says, "Friends don't let friends drink Starbucks" and the rose-tinted glasses from syth. I'm tempted to wear them, even though (as she said) they fit a bit awkwardly and I can't see anything and bump into everything when I wear them. Details. Oh! And teague_o orchestrated (har har!) an upcoming trip to the symphony, which is going to be deep fried awesome.
Subsequently, T, K, D and I went to Cheuvront, a wine and cheese place, and had some fantastic wines and cheeses. The bests were the Mapema Tempranillo and the Brillat Savarin, a Brie-like, creamy, buttery cheese. After we got back home, R, E, T, and C came over and hung out for a while and made sure I had some cake and ice cream and a White Russian and then it was time for sleep.
Okay, pictures. The full collection can be viewed here.
But highlights:
Radiators at the hostel!
Honey bee costumes!
Bacon!
kihle and my Sedona adventures in more detail. [aside: stupid head cold. It's the snotty variety. So disgusting and reminiscent of The Spitting Disease]On Friday, kihle and I drove up to Sedona, picked up our race packets, dropped off
ajseagull, and stopped in at a promising-looking coffeeshop called the Bike & Bean (combination bike shop and coffeeshop--I bet it would appeal to a number of people that I know! They had some scrumptious, locally-made biscotti.). After all that, we headed up to Flagstaff for the night. cycloxslug had recommended the youth hostel in Flagstaff to kihle, so we dropped off our stuff there and went foraging for dinner. I'd been to Flagstaff briefly before, but its super-cuteness hadn't been firmly established until we walked around a little bit. I have to say that I saw many, many more coffeeshops in our brief drives through Sedona and Flagstaff than I've seen in attempting to travel around in the GPSA (greater Phoenix Suburbopolitan Area) for the past 2.5 years. Downtown Flagstaff is walkable, and kihle and I found a nice little Thai restaurant that had absolutely delicious food for dinner. I ate and ate until I could eat no more and am extremely sad that I couldn't take those leftovers with me. I had a tasty dish with peanut sauce and fried tofu and onions and potatoes, while kihle had a noodle dish with tofu and broccoli. Then we headed back to the hostel for the evening, where we added the final touches to our running costumes and promptly fell asleep by 9:00. We'd initially planned on stopping by a cute dessert place for chocolate or stopping by a promising used book store, but I guess those will have to await our next expedition.The next morning, we awoke at the crack of 5:30, assembled our belongings, and headed back to Sedona for the race. It was COLD for us thin-blooded Phoenicians (maybe in the 40's), especially considering our running costumes. The bee skirts and wings were absolutely amazing and were definitely a hit. We thought we were clever at the PF Chang Marathon to dye our hair and wear hot pink, but the bee costumes were so much better--lots of runners complimented us, and we got lots and lots of cheering just for us. Clearly, kihle and I are geniuses (as we kept on telling ourselves).
The run itself went pretty well. It was soooooo unbelievably nice to do a road race that was shorter than a full marathon, to remember that even running 13 miles is a worthwhile accomplishment. The course was a bit hilly and ended on a slightly nasty uphill, but there was a great stretch along a dirt road that was a good reminder that trail-running is better than pavement-running (much, much easier on the joints!). I'm definitely going to keep on doing road races. One of the best parts of running the marathon is how much easier everything else seems post-marathon. I'm about to start preparing for the San Diego Crew Classic, a 2000m race, and one of the rowers made a face because it's a longer distance than she usually has to prepare for. Meanwhile, I'm thinking--a 2k? It'll be over in a heartbeat!
Anyhoo, I think I want to go back and do that run again next year. It's a great excuse to get out of Phoenix. After the run, kihle and I stopped by Bacon Rind Park to snap some photos for all of the bacon lovers in our lives, and then stopped by a promising-looking chicken shop to browse around. Then we stopped for grilled cheese sandwiches (soooo delicious) and espresso before heading back to Tempe. Once we got back to Tempe, I bummed around for a while and finalized the mix CD that I'll be sending along to various parties shortly and opened the packages that I received from
sytharin and my parents. I think my two favorite items were the bumper sticker that my father got from the Ugly Mug Cafe that says, "Friends don't let friends drink Starbucks" and the rose-tinted glasses from syth. I'm tempted to wear them, even though (as she said) they fit a bit awkwardly and I can't see anything and bump into everything when I wear them. Details. Oh! And teague_o orchestrated (har har!) an upcoming trip to the symphony, which is going to be deep fried awesome.Subsequently, T, K, D and I went to Cheuvront, a wine and cheese place, and had some fantastic wines and cheeses. The bests were the Mapema Tempranillo and the Brillat Savarin, a Brie-like, creamy, buttery cheese. After we got back home, R, E, T, and C came over and hung out for a while and made sure I had some cake and ice cream and a White Russian and then it was time for sleep.
Okay, pictures. The full collection can be viewed here.
But highlights:
Radiators at the hostel!
Honey bee costumes!
Bacon!