Let's see...It's now Oct 3rd? Wow this year is just flying by.

D and I went on vacation mid last week to mid this week. Well I'm still on vacation while D is back at work. I wonder if D is afraid each time he comes home, thinking I'll have some new project thought up for us to work on. Or if he'll come home and there will be something different about or in the house. Today I'll enjoy my last day of freedom...oh I mean my vacation.

Vacation is always nice. Our vacation was sort of split into 3 parts. We went to Sedona for a few days, did some hiking, spent lots of $$, visited Arcosanti (someplace I've wanted to visit for the past 15 years or longer). The description of driving 2.5 miles down a dirt road to see this has always put me off. But since D always likes to be behind the wheel, he got to drive (heeheeheehee). If you haven't heard of Arcosanti, I'm not surprised. It's a vision of a self-sustaining, eco-friendly community, and the home of the Soleri bells. If you want to see what I'm talking about, check out www.arcosanti.com. Since the founder is from Italy, it has many traits of Greek communities and takes advantage of their abilities to live comfortably creating breezeways, using passive heating and cooling methods, etc.

Then off to the Grand Canyon for some hiking and camping. I haven't been camping in years, but I've done alot of car camping. And, well D being from Oregon, it's in his blood, right? On day 2 of our stay in Sedona, D asks a simple, but poignant question...We did pack the sleeping bags, right? WHOOPS! It was just a matter of circumstance. D packing a few things Tues night. I packed some things Weds AM before we left. The sleeping bags and air mattress were set aside so we wouldn't forget them. Guess we were wrong. So here's a dilema. Do we get a friend to overnight them to our hotel? Do we forgo camping and stay in a hotel, driving to the Grand Canyon every day? Or do we go buy more sleeping bags?

Off to the dreaded Walmart to look for sleeping bags. I'm not a Walmart fan, and pretty much refuse to shop there, unless forced to. 2 sleeping bags and an air mattress (we did bring the pump, though) = just over $50. Now we have 2 more sleeping bags to add to our collection. Priceless. We're up to 9, YES 9, sleeping bags that we have. In a house just under 700 sq ft, having 9 sleeping bags is a bit much. Now we did give D's 2 kids sleeping bags for their birthdays a few years ago. I think those now have to be shipped up to Oregon so they can enjoy them up there (and get them out of here!)

We had a wonderful lightning show driving up to the Grand Canyon. And our stay there was beautiful. Just after we had the tent set up, a huge number of birds flew by. About 10 stopped on the tree just above our tent and were feeding. I just stood there, amazed at this. We never would have experienced that if we stayed in a hotel. And to hear the elk bugling at night (since it is rutting season) was magical. The first time I heard an elk was when I was camping in the Rockies. It's such a beautiful sound to hear at night.

I love squirrels. They are like natures little jesters. We had some when we went down to Indian Gardens that were hilarious. I was resting on a bench, had the trial mix bag open and had one feel like he could help himself. I yelled for him to get out of there and got no response. Then I pounded the table. Still no response. I just this close to flicking him when he took his head out of the bag. What a pig!


We did one, and only one, hike at the Grand Canyon. I'll just say this. 4.6 miles down, 2985 elevation loss down, 4.6 up and 2985 elevation gain coming back. Yeah one hike was enough, but it did make me realize one thing. I hear this alot in our workout family but it is hard to really, truly feel it. I'll preface this first with I'll never again underestimating someone else's abilities based on looks and overestimating my own abilities against others. I bonked on the way down. Each step became harder and harder and I knew I also had to work my way back up. So what did I learn? What was my life's lesson for the day? It was truly a competion against myself, and only myself, to get back up that dammed trail. I was being passed my people I should have outhiked. I had a camelbak full of water and they were just carrying a small bottle. Hell one guy was carrying a gallon jug for him and his 2 hiking partners. You know, the 1 gal jug of Sparklets or Arrowhead you pick up at the grocery store. He carried this 9.2 miles! I had trail shoes, some food and my trekking poles to help me. But it wasn't about them. It was about me. It became real clear, ah that feeling of clarity. All these races, all these events and the lip service about only competing against yourself became a true understanding of only focusing on myself and doing what I am capable of doing. Not compared to others. Just me and my limits. I stopped when I had to, and that's OK. Because those breaks let me get some energy back to get to the next resting point. It's OK to stop because I know I'll going again.

And after that I was back at the tent, in my sleeping bag at 7:30. The original plan was to do the big hike the first day and to do an easy hike 3 miler. 1140 elevation change the following day. Didn't happen. Here's my one word about this hike...