OKC MARATHON AND CAFE KACAO...

We had another great OKC Marathon yesterday!  The weather was a little bit warm for the real runners (the half and full marathoners).  For the rest of us, it was perfect.  Our SIL ran the half and did well - the rest of our family did the 5K - mostly because we are also heading on a hiking vacation this week!  On the 5 K we were just having fun and as we approached the finish line we lined up conga style with our hands on each other's shoulders and the announcer called us the Centipede!  It was funny!  Maybe we'll get a picture of that finish soon (from the sport photo people)!

You can probably tell from my exclamation marks that it was a good day :)

Afterwards we went to Cafe Kacao to eat.  I would've never chosen this place, but our kids recommended it and it was delicious.  I got a massive pancake with mango and blackberries.  It's Latin cuisine and the place looks like a dive on the outside, but remember what your momma told you - never judge a book by it's cover!  While we were waiting, we stood outside the restaurant on Classen Blvd. and cheered for runners.  We had so much fun seeing the smiles on people's faces as we shouted encouragement to them.  I really did enjoy that.

Finally, we headed to our son's house for worship and communion.  Thankful, so thankful, for times like these!

Part of the Memorial, pre-dawn

 Family pic in the TAP building where Team OC gathers to pray

Brothers

Cousins

 Our Preacher coming in at the Finish Line

 Our SIL coming in at the Finish Line

Cousin coming in (yellow hat)

Just us being goofy before the race!

BIKE RIDING THE HUBS HOMETOWN...

 If you ever wondered what there is to see in Tipton, Oklahoma, here you go!  We had a busy last week with a lot of different activities but nothing traditionally Easter!  I went with The Hubs on a business trip to Dallas then we headed to his hometown of Tipton, Oklahoma for the weekend.  It was time for the High School Reunion which we try to attend every 5 years.  Since we drove, we took our bikes and unfortunately didn't get to bike in Dallas due to weather, but we did get to bike around Tipton.

Tipton is primarily a farming community so you see a lot of this...

and a lot of this!  This is a module of cotton waiting to be picked up and taken for processing.  I only tell you because I wouldn't have known until I joined the family, since I am mostly a city girl!  

Tipton Tiger water tower Downtown

Almost 100 years old, the Tipton Children's Home has served children faithfully through the years.  The Hubs actually lived there for 12 years while his parents were Houseparents.  He has a lot of fond memories and some specific food dislikes from his experiences.  

 The stately looking Administration building at Tipton Children's Home.

 Old farm implements in a park

 Sad vacant old buildings downtown

 The Crazy Cactus, one of our relative's snow cone business

The train by his Mom's house came right as we got home -   I like to see it up close when we're there and get a wave from the conductor!

Maybe I should've highlighted the school and their famous astro-turf football field!  After winning the state championship in football several times, they have a really great football field due to their patrons and town support.  It's a sweet little town that I wish could have a downtown renewal.  Lots of good people and a solid church there, though.  :)

HAPPY TO BE MOVING...

Recently I listened to a podcast that was about being happy for movement, that is, your ability to move.  It was a reminder that our body fat, weight, fitness level isn't something to obsess about BUT to be happy that your body works and can move!  I really liked the message and I think it's one many people need, especially women.

Just a few days after listening to that message my foot was bothering me and I was wracking my brain about what I could have done to have that pain.  Maybe I need to wear better shoes?  Not do pounding aerobic dances? Put my feet up a little more periodically? Probably all of the above.  I was feeling pretty sorry for myself...

Lo and behold, I got a huge reminder to be thankful for movement that next day when my sister called to tell me she was in the ER until 3:00 a.m. after breaking her foot the night before!  Her girls were good enough to go get her and take her but of course, the last 10 days I'm doing plenty to help her out (she was widowed several years ago).  She ended up having surgery and got 2 screws in her foot and had to cancel a trip to Germany to see one of her best friends.  She's on a scooter and having a hard time getting around right now.

(The foot propped up and the cat sleeping on her!)

So my foot pain was temporary, but I was gently reminded that the 5 pounds I'm so worried about is no big deal!  I pray for my friends fighting cancer whose bodies are in distress, I pray for healing for my sister's foot too.  And I'm thankful to be moving without too much trouble.

The podcast info:  "Sorta Awesome," with Meg Tietz Episode 128 love your body

MY FIRST MARDI GRAS PARADE...

When we went to Alabama recently, I may have mentioned that we didn't look into many activities there ahead of time, which is pretty much against my nature.  We knew there were bike trails and a beach, and did bring our bikes and some things to do inside the condo, but other than that I didn't know much about what kind of attractions there were.

Once we got there and stopped in at their Welcome Center, we found out about some things to do and riding the ferry to Dauphin Island came up.  We could take our bikes on the ferry for a mere $5 and there were designated bike trails on the island too!  So we planned to do that on Saturday.  I checked the Dauphin Island calendar and saw that there was also going to be the "People's Parade," a Mardi Gras parade at 1 p.m.  We were told it was a "tame one." So I was excited to get to see my first!  Alabama claims that they celebrated Mardi Gras 15 years before Louisiana, just in case you were wondering!  But I think New Orleans took it to another level.

It was a nice sunny morning and we drove out to Fort Morgan where we caught the ferry.  It was fun, getting on there with all the cars!  It was a pretty 40 minute ride there and then we set off to explore.  We biked just a half-mile down to Fort Gaines where the Battle of Mobile Bay was fought and Union General Farragut said his famous line, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"  We didn't pay to go into the fort but got to look around the outside of it. I can't imagine being on tiny Dauphin Island seeing all the ships come in to take over.

We biked through the town and noticed lots of people were already setting up tailgate parties and the parade was several hours away!  We also biked up to the big bridge that connects the island to Mobile.  We tried unsuccessfully to get lunch but some of the restaurants were closing early due to the parade.  Obviously the parade was a BIG deal.  We finally got a lead on one that was a good fish place and right on the water, too.

We biked back toward the ferry area which was also where the parade was to begin.  I have to say it was the funnest parade with the best music!  Multiple floats with little bands on them playing some great tunes.  We were thrown lots of mardi gras beads, moon pies, even little footballs and plastic cups with advertisements on them.  The little girl next to us had brought a large plastic storage box and would shout to everyone that passed by, and her bucket was filled with all of the above, plus stuffed animals, by the end of the parade.  Pretty crazy!

It was a great adventure day! 

JUST ALONG FOR THE RIDE, PART TWO...

We left Zion National Park at about 11 a.m., and a good thing, too.  I have never seen a park so busy! The lines to get on the shuttle bus looked like Disney World!  The key here, as we learned from our shuttle bus driver is to get in early, do a hike, then get out!  We traveled through a 1.1 mile tunnel through a mountain as we made our way out of Zion.  Pretty neat!  Then on to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, about 2 more hours.  The North Rim is pretty different from the South Rim!  I liked the smaller atmosphere - just one lodge and small cabins.  There were also some rock peninsulas that jutted out into the canyon you could walk out onto.  We ate a good dinner in the restaurant there, overlooking the canyon, and caught the sunset.

The Grand Canyon hikers got up at 3:00 a.m. for a 4:00 start.  No need for me to get up yet, although I really couldn't sleep!  The rest of us left at 6:00 a.m. to see the sun rise.  We dropped off The Runner at the trail head, then each found a solitary place to watch the sun rise, and I took advantage of the time to take communion.  It was beautiful and not too cold!

One of my favorite shots right before sunrise!

We met back up in the Lodge to eat breakfast, and got a text from one of the climbers.  She had felt sick and fainted, and she and her husband were coming back up to the trailhead.  We would pick them up.  She was okay, just disappointed.  

We now were a group of five driving around to the South Rim.  We started off, and enjoyed the Vermillion Cliffs for miles!  We also stopped at the Navajo bridges, and walked the bridge.  As we got into the National Park, we took a break at the Desert Tower.  

We had gotten a call that The Runner had finished!  He had beat us over to the South Rim!  WHAT. Pretty amazing!  It took him 5.5 hours.  He needed ice for an ice bath, so that was our next chore.  We  found some bags at the General Store in the park and found him waiting outside Bright Angel Lodge on the sidewalk.  Only one of our rooms was ready to check into, so we got him in there to recover.

The rest of us enjoyed the rim while we waited.  Some wanted to hike down Bright Angel Trail to try to meet up with the group, but my legs were so sore, I did not!  I wanted to see Hermit's Rest, so I rode the free shuttle bus to the west end and enjoyed the stops. I did that for 2 hours, then got back to the BA trail head at 4 p.m.  I got a text that they were 1.5 miles away, so I went on to explore Kolb Studio and The Lookout.  Both are historic buildings on the rim that now have various functions.  Kolb is an art gallery and bookstore with views of the canyon.  I went in there and in talking with one of the workers, found out that the record for running the canyon was 5 hours, 13 minutes.  The Runner barely missed the record!  He's a humble guy who doesn't really even care about that stuff.

So the group came up at 5:00 p.m., 13 hours after starting.  The trek ended up being 26 miles(they weren't exactly sure how much it was, opinions vary).  The Hubs had a bloody big toe but other than that they were doing well.

We celebrated after a quick clean up with a yummy dinner in the Bright Angel Dining Room!

 Someone may have drunk an entire pitcher of Dr. Pepper!  He earned it, I think.

JUST ALONG FOR THE RIDE...

We enjoyed a Grand Canyon hike about this time last year with a group of people from church.  It was awesome, but I didn't want to do the 17 miles-in-a-day-thing again this year!  The Hubs did, however!  This was going to be slightly different - actually a 26 miles-in-a-day-hike - and that put me out of the ball game.  I was okay with that!

Then, someone with a knee injury backed out of the trip, and with all the planning and travel reservations, they asked me to fill the spot.  I went totally unprepared and didn't know what was in store!  I was just along for the ride.  Little did I know I was going to do one of the hardest things I had ever done physically!  

It was a really different trip this year, traveling to three parks in four days.  We hiked in Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, Zion National Park in Utah, and the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.  The surprise for me was doing what I saw later was dubbed "extreme hiking" in Zion!  Most of the group didn't want to do the Angels Landing hike, a 5.4 mile hike with steep trails and part rock scrambling with some chain climbing due to sheer drop offs.  They were saving up their energy for the Grand Canyon hike the next day.  But several did, and I wanted to do it since I wasn't going to do the GC.

I hadn't looked at any information on Angels Landing, but I knew one of our leader's daughters had done it, so I figured if she could, I could.  I found out later that 6 people had died on this particular hike/climb, but none after 2010 when they made some improvements and installed more chains to hang onto up to the top!

Anyway, long story short, I was huffing and puffing on the steep trail, my quads were burning, even before the hard stuff.  So here you are, already tired, then you start rock scrambling and walking up steep rock faces, holding onto a chain, anchored into the rock.  I was glad I brought gloves to wear because of the cold chains.   It was crazy and fun! My friend coached me some, telling me to stay to the inside of the rock wall if someone tried to pass me.  She admonished me for getting out my camera a few too many times, too!

So I didn't get a ton of shots due to the nature of it, but you can google "Zion Angels Landing" and see for yourself what it is like!  Here's a few from the first two days of the trip:

In VOF we went on two short hikes, seeing a slot canyon and lots of petroglyphs!

Zion National Park in UT

Angels Landing in the back ground - we had no idea what was in store for us!

Getting ready to go up Walter's Wiggles - a man made walkway because the trail kept getting washed out in this canyon when it rained.  

Finally made it up on top!

Being goofy! We had just taken a photo of four college girls like this and they were giggling and saying they "were thirteen," so we just had to do it too!

Me and my trip planner/mountain climber friend!