The Fourth Season

Normally, my process for writing a blog post goes something like this: I patiently wait as my 8-year-old computer groans awake, type out a first draft while nearly burning my thighs from the computer overheating, and then pray that nothing will crash as I make final edits. Well, so long sucker! I’m typing this out on a new (refurbished) Mac computer that Owen got me for Christmas! No more scorch marks on my thighs, no more crackling and popping noises emitting from the exposed wires on my charger, and no more sweet talk to make my computer live to see another day. It served me well but I’m excited for the upgrade.

It’s been awhile since I last posted, and our adventures over the winter have slowed but not stopped. I’m excited to share a couple of our recent (and not so recent) escapades.

All the way back in November, I helped pace my friend, Maggie, during her 100-mile ultramarathon. “Pacing” means I ran part of the race with her to make sure she didn’t wander off in the wrong direction, fall asleep on the side of the trail, or stop eating and drinking. By the time my shift came around to run with her, at 11pm, she had already covered 70 miles. For those of you that are Harry Potter fans, remember the scene in the sixth book where Harry has to force Dumbledore to drink the poisonous potion, and Dumbledore begs and pleads Harry to stop? That’s kind of what my experience pacing Maggie was like. Especially when I had to force her to eat yet another freaking Gatorade gel. There were some bright moments though. We saw the glowing eyes of a deer just feet away from us, we watched in awe as a runner glided through the night alone without a pacer, and we cheered with relief as we came upon aid stations. Plus, I’m happy to report that she finished the race, thanks in small part to my help.

This photo was taken around midnight, about 80 miles into my friend's race

For Thanksgiving we visited Owen’s brother, Pat, and his wife, Grace, in Colorado Springs. The highlight of the trip was a hike up into the mountains above the Air Force Academy. I use the term “hike” loosely. The trail was covered in snow and ice, so while we were able to will ourselves up the mountain, the descent got a little interesting. Everyone in our group of six had slightly different strategies for getting down. Two people carried hiking sticks and held them like canoe paddles to slow themselves down. I assumed a crouched position and slid down on my feet, grabbing trees and branches to steer. Grace’s youngest brother slid down on his back. And of course, Owen somehow hiked upright, as if there was no ice whatsoever. He was followed by Penny, Pat and Grace’s dog, who would look back at the rest of us every so often as if to say “What the hell is taking you so long?”

Garden of the Gods- another highlight of our Thanksgiving trip

Penny patiently waiting for Owen to catch up

On the way home from Colorado our flight was delayed by six hours, so we were bored as hell in the airport. As we were wandering around to kill time, I almost ran into someone who looked just like my friend Madeline. Now, we’ve all seen look-alikes of our friends, but this person looked so eerily similar to Madeline that I incredulously said aloud “Madeline?” Turns out, it actually was my friend! We hugged as I held back tears because we hadn’t seen each other in nearly a year. All my anger about our delayed flight disappeared on the spot, and we spent the next couple hours catching up over lunch with her and her boyfriend.

Crossing the Rockies on our flight

I’ve been tossing around the idea of doing a long solo backpacking trip, but for all the camping and backpacking I do, I’d never actually spent a single night alone in the woods. I finally mustered up the courage to do a short solo overnight trip back in December. Looking back, it might not have been the best time of year to make my debut. It got dark at 5pm, and for hours I had nothing to do but read a book (A Walk in the Woods, of course, but I had to skip over all the scary sections about dangers they encountered on their hiking trip). The bottom line, though, was that I did it. I also discovered a nice perk of going it alone: you can have the entire pot of mac and cheese all to yourself.

Evidence of my solo trip

I hiked quickly to make it to camp before the sun set 

Back in December, we went on a most unusual excursion to the Esalen Institute in Big Sur. We've been hearing about the allures of this mystical place for years: it’s an exclusive wellness retreat, but it opens its hot springs up to us plebeians (aka the public) every night from 1-3am. We finally scored hard to get reservations for the hot springs, and followed the precise instructions to arrive at 12:45am and park and wait on the highway. At 1am on the dot, a guide from the resort escorted Owen and I and about 20 others through the dark grounds of the resort. The hot spring baths were perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It was so dark I could barely see, which was probably a good thing given that the baths were clothing optional. If you're wondering, yes, some people actually did get naked, though Owen and I did not, at least not this time. I have a feeling we'll be back though. For two hours, all we did was lounge in the hot baths under the clear night sky, watching shooting stars and listening to the waves crash below us. This might be one of the most woo-woo things I've ever said, but it's completely true: As we floated, weightless, in the water, our minds floated off into a state of nirvana. Much more effective than my meditation app...

We made our annual pilgrimage to the motherland (New Jersey) for the holidays, and as always it was so worth it. Heck- the pizza, cookies, and bagels alone made it worth it. This year there were a couple special events: I got to experience the stereotypical wedding dress shopping at a boutique with my mom, sister, and grandma, but with a twist: they served the champagne in cans! Another unexpected twist came at the Santa Con 5 mile race my sister, her boyfriend, and I ran: milk and cookies at the aid stations! I gladly grabbed a cookie but I was not about to down a glass of milk during a run. We also got to spend a lot of time with Owen’s 2-year-old nephew who is obsessed with tools and tries to take apart anything he gets his hands on. I have a feeling him and Owen will get along very well as he gets older.

We haven’t lived in a place with a “real” winter in years, so we’ve been dying to get our snow fix. New Jersey didn’t have much snow but luckily the mountains in California have been getting blasted. Since I've moved here, I've looked on with envy at all the skiers and snowboarders exploring the Sierras. This year, I finally vowed to become one of them and brush up on my snowboarding skills. I’ve taken two lessons so far, and it’s been super helpful, plus really entertaining. I watched one woman literally cartwheel down the mountain, and I saw another woman’s snowboard slide all the way down the mountain...without her.  

Brushing up on my snowboarding skills

I've been making progress: on my birthday trip to Lake Tahoe a few weeks ago, I spent half a day snowboarding with Owen on blue (medium) runs with only a minor breakdown and slight fears about flying off a cliff. Plus, the views we got of Lake Tahoe were incredible, the type of views I imagined only the gnarliest skier on the blackest of black diamond runs would get. On day two of our trip, we shifted into lower gear and enjoyed a mellow cross-country skiing excursion in a National Forest, stalking dogs and enjoying adult beverages.

Still can't believe I had this view where I was snowboarding

I was freaking out about how gorgeous Lake Tahoe was in the setting sun

Taking in the National Forest

To be clear, snow in the mountains of California is normal this time of year. Snow in the Bay Area, however, is not. When it snows here, people lose their minds (myself included). So when I found snow on my trail run yesterday, I was whooping and hollering like a little kid! I heard that last week, when a major highway got snow, people were literally stopping their cars in rush hour traffic to get out and play in the snow. I've decided that the weather in the Bay Area is having an identity crisis. Since the new year, I've run in everything from sunny, 70 degree weather to torrential downpours to blizzard conditions.

January 12: hot and sunny

A gorgeous winter day on the trails

I can't get enough of the winter sunsets 

February 10: I found snow!

In between our travels, we have delved into the depths of wedding plan, and I’ve been frequently referencing the chapter in my wedding planning book titled “Oh! You Mean I Have to Plan This Thing?” Two recent major successes: we chose our menu and got a free boozy dinner out of the deal, and I confirmed my wedding dress fits me, after two of my coworkers came over to help me put it on- those things are tricky, and it's not like I could ask Owen for help!

Speaking of coworkers, as you may know, I work in local government which means I don’t get nearly the same perks Owen does working for a tech startup. Don’t get me started about the free meals, parties, and swag he gets. Recently, though, I had a work day worth getting envious over. In the name of team bonding, my team went kayaking and saw multiple baby sea otters, then explored the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and capped the day off with ice cream sundaes from a Ghirardelli chocolate shop. Take that, private sector!

Kayaking in the Elkhorn Slough (Photo creds to my coworker John)

Overall, it's been a great winter but I'm itching to go on a bigger adventure, so it's a good thing we have one coming up. Stay tuned!