The Last Frontier

Alaska has been on my list for years; it is wild and untamed. It is dark and cold. It is  full of large creatures. It has very few roads. It is literally in the middle of nowhere. Well, I guess supposedly you can see Russia from some parts of the state, but I did not experience that myself. 

What I did experience were adventures, beautiful scenery and some challenging backcountry hikes. Here are some of the highlights from the trip. For context, I flew into Anchorage and planned most of the outings within a few hours drive of the city. I have noted the driving times below.

Denali NP – it is worth taking a bus on the Denali road (you can do an audio tour or just take the normal park bus depending on what you like. We just took the simple one, and you can see lots of animals and possibly Mt. Denali if the weather cooperates, which it did not do ☹). This is 3 hours north of Anchorage by car or you can take the train.  

There are a couple of short hiking options near the visitor’s center or you can get a permit and a (free) bear canister from the building by the bus depot and tromp around the back country (no trails), fording rivers, whacking bushes and fleeing bears, which is what we did (minus the bears). The park road is about 100 miles long and currently it is closed due to a landslide at mile 42 (supposedly to be fixed in 2025), but there are still plenty of hiking zones to choose from. 

Teklanika River

Hatcher Pass – great views and lots of hiking opportunities with different lengths depending on fitness level. This is about 1 hour north of Anchorage by car.  Note: it is a dirt road part of the way, but it is very smooth and we had no issues whatsoever. We also did the Bomber Traverse, a hike starting from the Gold Mint Trailhead and continuing past the Mint hut, the backdoor gap, the Bomber hut and the Snowbird hut (and many glaciers!). This hike is about 25 miles in total, with about 7 or 8 of them off trail, so we ended up doing it in two days. If you want to sleep in the huts, you can join the Mountaineering Club of Alaska (MCA), or you can just camp near the huts (or anywhere) for free. 

Pennyroyal Glacier -- Backdoor Gap -- Bomber Traverse

Seward – port city, gateway to Kenai Fjords and the start of the Iditarod trail; Great place for hiking, eating, and lots of walking along the water. Lowell point walk (about 2 miles each way), Sweet Darlings for ice cream and Firebrand BBQ for their pork belly are a must. We also hiked up the famous Mt. Marathon, which is a 3,000 foot climb in 1.5 miles if you use the official race trail or about 2.5 miles if you go via the hiker route. The views from the top are fabulous! 3 hours south of Anchorage by car.

View from Mt. Marathon

Kenai Fjords NP – The Exit glacier and Harding icefield are beautiful. The Harding Icefield trail is a 4.1 mile each way out and back which is about 3,000 feet of climbing, but the views of the glacier along the way as well as the icefield at the top are stunning. It is well worth the climb, but I suggest you start early as we were the first ones to the top and had the view to ourselves (around 8:30 am) but there were a lot of people heading up when we were headed down. 20 minutes from Seward by car. 

Harding Icefield

Anchorage – you can rent bikes and ride (or walk) along the coastal trail which goes from downtown to Kincade point, about 10 miles each way. It is a very pleasant and flat bike trail along the mud flats. I would recommend Snow City Café for breakfast/lunch, but be prepared to wait a little while (you can put your name in and walk around while you are waiting or you can grab a mug of coffee and sit outside and enjoy the weather). 

Chugach National Forest – there are so many hikes and so little time, but two that we did that I would recommend are the Lost Lake trail and Crows Pass. The Lost Lake trail is about 20 minutes from Seward and is about 7 miles each way, but it is only about 2,200 feet of gain, so it is uphill but not too strenuous. Again, I suggest starting early, as there were a lot of people on the trail on our way down. The Crows Pass trail is a 21 mile trail each way, but if you start on the south end near Girdwood (about one hour south of Anchorage), you only need to go about 4 or 5 miles before you see all of the good stuff (the Crows Pass cabin, the Raven glacier, great views) and can turn around and go back. After that it is very brushy, so save your energy for something else. Part of this trail follows the famous Ididerod trail too! 

Lost Lake

And just like that, the one week trip was sadly over. 

Have you ever been to Alaska? What was your favorite thing that you did? Have you been to any of the places on my list? 

The Joke Is On Me: Traveler's Checks

The first time I traveled abroad, I went equipped with several hundreds of dollars worth of traveler's checks. In case you have no idea what I am talking about, or forgot about these (it has been a while!) they are a check that you pay cash for and when you get them from the bank, you sign them once. Then when you want to exchange money, you give the teller in a foreign country the check, you countersign and date and they give you foreign currency in exchange. If I recall, they were a little safer than cash because they had a serial number so if you lost one or it got stolen, you may have been able to get your money back. I think this is true. 

Anyway, I did not use all of my travelers checks and I came back to the US and put them somewhere safe and then proceeded to move a few times, travel for work, move again and travel more until finally I bought my house and unpacked some boxes that had been sitting in storage for well over a dozen years and guess what I found? Two hundred dollars worth of travelers checks. So I put them in the "paperwork that needs attention eventually" pile and they sat there for about seven more years. I would look at them from time to time and think that I should probably just take them to the bank, but I was not in a rush, since they were issued by my bank where I still bank and hey, they are the equivalent of cash, right? 

Finally I decided to cross some of those long standing tasks off my eight year old to do list (there are still some things on it. I am looking at you, front yard drip system) and I put the checks in my purse with the intention of taking them into the bank as soon as I had the chance. First I tried the bank near my house, which I found out had been closed down about six months ago, which goes to show how often I go to the bank. Then I decided to take the checks to work with me with the intention of taking a lunch break and finally depositing them. You are probably not surprised to hear that they sat in my purse for another week before I finally made my way down to the bank. By the way, do you know how hard it is to find an actual bank that you can walk inside of and talk to a person in San Francisco/Oakland? It is hard. There are tons of ATMs but an actual person is rare! However, I had to take these to an real human, as they had to be countersigned in front of a person in order to be deposited. 

The first time I went down and got in line (where there were no people) I was told by the teller that their systems were down and they could not do any transactions. I felt like maybe someone was plotting against me. I went back the next day and wonder of wonder, the systems were working, the line was short and I was at the teller before you knew it. And then I deposited the checks and walked away whistling Dixie. As Borat would say, this story is NOT true. First of all, the teller had never seen a travelers check. No joke. Never. So she had to get her coworker to come over and explain the process. Then she had me countersign them. 

Then she looked at the two signatures and said that they did not match. I did not disagree with her. One was signed when I was not even legally allowed to drink yet and one was signed....a few...years...or decades....later. My signature is not the same as it was. I used to perfectly swoop every letter and write in perfect cursive; now my signature looks like I am a harried MD with a hot date. So she brought the coworker over again and the coworker said that they could not take the checks. I asked if they could look up the serial number and then verify it against my ID and she said that they do not keep records that long. She finally said that she would check my signature on file and would compare that. Unfortunately, the signature on file (from when I opened my account, which was opened before I could legally vote, or maybe even before I could drive) also did not match. 

She went into this big spiel about how she is doing this for my protection and I was thinking in my head, "lady, I work in finance; you are using MY LINE!" and I made affirmations about how I totally and completely understand, I work in the same industry, I have to tell people the same thing all of the time etc. We finally got around to a point where she said that she would attempt to deposit them if I crossed off and initialed the co-signature I had just done and then signed again but tried to copy the original one, BUT she was not making any guarantees that it would go through, she said. I thanked her profusely, signed again and left the building. 

I know that $200 is not chump change, and I know that I was an idiot and I should not have waited so long to deposit the checks and I know that now I need to go into the bank to sign a new signature card because my signature has changed a lot from the time I was 14. I also really had no expectations that they would get successfully deposited. However, imagine my surprise and glee when the next day I saw that I was $200 richer! 

Verdict: Don't be an idiot. Deposit your checks on time. BUT if you happen to be an idiot, but things end up working out in the end anyway, enjoy the small victories, because they are awfully sweet. 

Have you ever done something silly like this? If so, what was the outcome? Did you end up being successful in the end? 

Flying Solo

The first time I traveled abroad I went solo. Of course, these were the days when people could take you to the airport and sit with you while you waited, so my parents came with me and waited with me for part of the time. But then I was a free bird, flying east to France to seek my destiny. I arrived in Paris with two huge suitcases, which I had to drag around the city and then onto the train to Bordeaux, where I would be living for the next few months. 

Paris

Since that day, which was many years ago, I have spent a lot of time traveling solo. Sometimes it is nice to have a buddy to share time and experiences with, and usually when you are alone you can easily find a buddy to share with, but sometimes you just want to do things on your own. Also, sometimes nobody has the time or the money or the desire to do what you want to do, but I prefer not to let that stop me! I feel that although it is sometimes difficult and scary and strange, it has many benefits as well. 

Namibia

Things are hard. Yup, things are hard! You have to figure out in a different language how to get to your next destination or find a product that you need or ask a question. I was in Peru and I needed gas for my stove for a multi day hike and I went to the outdoor equipment store and was ignored at first and then stumbled over the words like a two year old (gas? gaso? fuego?) and then found the gas to be very expensive. I decided to take a pause and recollect my thoughts. I went back to my hostel and saw some gas cannisters at the check in counter and tried again. It turned out, they were half used cannisters left by other people and the guy gave it to me for free! After that, I felt like I was superman, just for something that at home would be a simple chore. 

Laguna Churup, Peru - 4,450 meters (14,685 feet)

There are sometimes scary moments. I was walking on a beach in Brazil when I was catcalled by a bunch of guys just hanging out on the shore. I don't think you need to understand the language to get what they were saying. However, I held up my head and walked past them and of course checked my back when I felt it was safe. On one hand, maybe they were just the "construction workers" of Brazil, but without knowing what they were saying or what the customs were, I knew I should be careful. When I was younger I was so embarrassed when this would happen at home, but while traveling I got through it, and was proud of myself for not just giving up and going to sit in my room alone. 

Barerrinhas Lencois Marahenses, Brazil

You are your own cruise director. There is nobody to help you with the planning, which is sometimes a bit daunting, but on the other hand, you are your own boss. If you want to pivot, you can, and you will not be beholden to anyone but yourself. I traveled to Sweden for a 12 day long hike and about six days into it, it started to pour down cold rain nonstop. By day ten I was wet and cold and tired of setting up my tent in the pouring rain, so I decided to get off trail two days early and go and get a hotel with a warm shower. Did I finish what I had planned? Nope! Did I still have a great time? Yes. Was I disappointed in myself? Not really. But if I had been with someone else I may have done things differently due to external influences. This has allowed me to be more confident and sure of myself and to learn to live up to and learn from my failures, manage changes of plans and deal with obstacles along the way. This also means that if you want to throw in the towel on one activity and go lay on the beach and eat bonbons, you only have yourself to answer to (and myself says, "I love bonbons!")

Sweden - beautiful, but rainy in September!

Even introverts can make friends. I can spend all day in a room by myself with my book and not be unhappy. However, I can also strike up a conversation about nothing with a stranger and soon have a fast friend. I stayed in many a hostel and made plans with a new to me friend to go and see the sights and before we knew it we had spent weeks together. In Rome, I arrived late and everyone in the hostel I was staying at was already asleep. The next morning, when I got up, there were all kinds of people, and I sat and chatted with them while eating breakfast and found out they were basically going to all of the places I had planned to go, so we decided to go together. I ended up not only hanging with this group of people for a couple of days but also went with one of them to my next destination of Naples and spent a couple of days together there. It is so easy to meet people and often when you are with someone else, you stick to yourselves. However, when alone, you are sometimes more open to meeting others! 

Frasier Island, Australia

Of course, being alone does have it's issues. For instance, when biking alone, when you need to go to the bathroom, there is nobody to watch your bike! The same thing goes for luggage, although I have learned a lot since my first two-suitcase-trip and I can usually carry my pack into the restroom with me. Hotels are more expensive when you can't share, and sometimes going out to eat alone is not super exciting (tip for this: sit at the bar and then you can talk to the bartender, the guy next to you, or nobody, depending on how you feel). 

Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia

One thing  many people have asked me is whether or not I feel safe, and I can resoundingly say that I do. There are less times than I can count on one hand when I have been bothered or felt unsafe; in fact I have felt less safe in certain places in the U.S. than I have in places like Africa or Central America. Don't let the fearmongers get you down; get out and fly! 

Have you ever traveled alone? Why or why not? Do you enjoy it? What do you consider the most challenging part of traveling / traveling alone?

Weekend Travel: Minneapolis

You may wonder why I decided to go to Minneapolis in the dead of winter. Great question! The week before I arrived the highs were not getting over the single digits and the lows...well, we won't talk about the lows! Also that does not even count the wind chill. I went to see Lisa and her family, and thought it was funny when she told me that it was going to be warm for the weekend that I was there. By warm, she meant lows of about 2 and highs in the low 30s on one of the days! Woohoo! Break out the Bermuda shorts! 

I met Lisa via blogging about 13 (?) years ago, and when I was working in Missouri in 2011, I flew up to MSP to meet with her for a 10 mile race and our friendship was set. At the time she lived downtown and we had a great time exploring the city, and eating ice cream and Kowalski's sausages. She has always been a good host, and so I went to visit her again when she was living in Charlotte and we had a great time eating fish tacos and having a weekend away in Ashville (if you have not been here, I recommend it). 

Over the years she has come to visit me several times and we always have fun hiking and running and eating and catching up. Of course, life has progressed and now she is married with two kiddos and the visits are a little different, but it is still great to catch up and to be part of life's journey! This visit was just as fun as the others! 

I arrived on Friday to two degree weather and got picked up by Lisa and her little buddy Pablo, who was very excited to see me, even though I have not seen him since he was a baby (he is now almost five)! It was a warm (!) welcome! We caught up over pizza and I even was coerced into having a beer with her husband before heading to bed.

On Saturday, we spent a great time at the zoo. Luckily a lot of the exhibits are indoors, and the two boys sped through the maze of jungle animals before we headed to the main event: the dolphins! The zoo has borrowed dolphins from the Chicago zoo and they put on a really nice show with four of them, even going so far as to have a trainer get in the water with them and do tricks. I was impressed and the boys both sat still the whole time, which was a good sign that they liked it too! Later that day, after it warmed up a bit (~18°) we went for a run around Lake Harriet and then had a nice dinner and I spent some time reading with the boys. 

On Sunday, we did a 10k snowshoe race, which was something I've never done before. It was very fun but our snowshoes were not meant for running! Some people had really cool rubber ones that are especially made for running, but ours were a little cumbersome and both of us were sore in weird places the next day. We stopped off on the way home for some gluten free pastries and I got biscuits and gravy that were delicious! My new mission in life is to recreate this, as it's my favorite breakfast item and I've been avoiding it due to digestive issues. We had a nice dinner and did a puzzle with the Grammys in the background after watching 60 minutes and having the nightly apple with the boys. 

Monday was Lisa's birthday! I worked for a little while and then we celebrated by taking a little run and getting her a free Starbucks coffee before I left her to go for a walk so she could have some much needed alone time. After that, we went for a multicultural lunch of dosa, kimchi salad and grain bowl before she dropped me off at the airport. 

I know that one thing that the pandemic has done for me is to give me a better appreciation for time spent with friends, especially those who are farther away. It's not a given that we will see them often or at all, and as we get back to some sort of normal, I really enjoy time with people who I haven't seen in years! Next time, I'm hosting!! 

Have you ever done a non-running race and if so, what was it and how did it go? What friend or family have you finally seen lately that you maybe did not see over the last few years? 

Best of 2022: Travel

This year, I made up for two years of lockdown and scheduled all kinds of weekend shenanigans. Most of them involved the outdoors but I also visited some cities and had some delicious food. I also finally knocked some places off my long time wish list. Here are a few of my favorites! 

Snowshoeing and skiing at Dodge Ridge. In January, Broski, Bunny and I took a long weekend for some skiing and snowshoeing near Pinecrest Lake. It was the perfect weekend; it was sunny but not hot and the runs are short and sweet but so were the lines. I even did a few (tiny) jumps, which gets my blood going! 

Pinecrest Lake

Music, BBQ and kayaking in Austin, TX: In February, KB and I finally made it to Austin after years of wanting to check it out. It did not disappoint and we had a great time running around the lakes, eating BBQ, checking out some live music and kayaking. And did I mention eating? There was a lot of eating. Also KB's sister and friend came from Houston to join us, so it was a fun girls trip all around! 

Could not leave without getting a picture of this. 

Grandma's memorial on Cape Cod: Although not the happiest of occasions, it was good to see the family and to spend time on the Cape. In March, we rented a big house for the entire family and spent time eating, walking on the beach and even enjoying a springtime snowstorm. I also tacked on a visit to some friends in Boston who I haven't seen in a few years and we went out for a seafood feast and had a great time catching up. 

Cape Cod

Wedding weekend and croissant eating in Brooklyn: My favorite pastry is a bear claw/almond croissant and Brooklyn has plenty of options to pick from! Aside from a fabulous time had at my friends wedding where there was dancing and lots of cheese, I spent the rest of my weekend in Brooklyn on the quest for the best almond croissant. From Park Slope to Green Point, my favorite was the Julien Boulangerie, but of course I will have to keep trying to see if it can be beat! 

Bikes and croissants, oh my.

Backpacking in Yosemite: I spent a couple of different weekends doing cross country backpacking trips in Yosemite and both of them were great. There was still a lot of snow at times and this made for some slow going, but it just gave me more opportunities to enjoy the scenery. 

Snow on Vogelsang pass

Teton adventure: In July, Broski, Bugsy and I took a road trip to Wyoming where we did a 5 day hike around the Teton range. It was absolutely beautiful, although it was still a bit snowy and some of the passes were still a bit slippery! 

Hiking near Death Canyon Shelf

Road trip to Washington and Oregon: I finally knocked a couple more of my hopefuls off the list and tackled the Timberline Trail around Mt. Hood, the Enchantments and the northernmost section of the PCT in Washington. 

PCT - Section L

Hiking and dragon hunting in Slovenia: After years of wanting to go see this tiny jewel of a country, I finally made it and it did not disappoint. From wine to beaches, from mountains to cities and lots of good food too, Slovenia has a bit of everything. I spend a good time hiking the Slovenian Mountain Trail and then supplemented that with some relaxation, good food, and fun sights! 

Ljubljana

I also had some fun CA trips to the Lost Coast, Mt. Shasta and Castle Crags, Emigrant Wilderness, Mt. Whitney (x 2!!), and the Hoover Wilderness. 

What was your favorite trip this year? 

Best of 2021: Travel

In 2021 I took more time to do things that were closer to home, as well as doing a few short trips within the US. I also finally bit the bullet late in the year once COVID started dying down and things started opening up (of course, that did not last long!) and I went on one international trip (my first in over two years!!) Here were a few of my favorites, in no particular order. 

Oregon: I went to Sisters and Portland where I did some hiking, running, eating and snowshoeing! 

Deschutes National Forest - Snowshoeing

Deschutes River (near Bend)

The High Sierras: Multi-day backpacking trips. 

(1) Mammoth + The North South Lake Loop: I took this with JG at the beginning of July like we usually do. This year was not too snowy, so were were able to cross over to the Eastern Sierras and get pretty high without encountering snow (we have not always been so lucky). In fact, JG got a bit of sunstroke or the like, as it was blisteringly hot! My favorite parts were the off trail sections. Although difficult, the views are amazing. Two of my favorites were the Darwin Bench and the hike up to Puppet Lake. Of course, Evolution Basin was beautiful too, if you want to stay on trail. 

Minaret Lakes

Cross Country - somewhere near the Palisades

(2) The SEKI Loop: This was planned with four other people, but two of them left the trail early, so it just ended up being JG, PEB and me. We all hike at different speeds, so we spent the days hiking on our own mostly, checking in from time to time and then making camp together at night. Much of it was on the JMT, but it had a nice variety of wooded vs. high granite vs. creek paths vs. long vistas. My favorite part of this trip was jumping in every lake or creek I could find along the way. 

Palisade Lake - yes, I swam here.

Other Sierras: 

(1) Desolation Wilderness: Our first trip was in winter, where we did a bit of snowshoeing and camping on (wet) snow. The second was done as a weekend trip; unfortunately it was right when the Dixie and Tamarack fires started, so we were glad to get out on Sunday and check the status of both of them. However, we had a good time exploring a couple of lakes we had not seen before, as well as camping at one we had gone to last year and had wanted to spend more time at. 

Winter at Echo Lake

Leland Lakes

(2) Emigrant Wilderness: Another great trip, this time to show my brother some of the cool stuff I had found with JG in years past. Once again, we stayed in a place I had not been to, and it was beautiful (see photo below)! 

Camping at Rososco Lake

My brother's first major cross country experience (can you see him in this photo?)

(3) Yosemite: After my exam, I hightailed it to the Sierras and was one of the first to get a permit after the roads opened! I really enjoyed the Grand Canyon of the Sierras (Tuolumne River) as well as many of the sweeping views I found both while hiking and in my camp spots. 

Tuolumne River

Colorado: I decided that instead of doing an international trip in September like I usually would, I would do something fun and domestic, so I went and hiked the Colorado Trail from Durango to Twin Lakes. My friend KH joined me for the latter half, and it was fun to see some new scenery and to spend time with her. My favorite part was the San Juans. 

San Juans

High point of the trail + my worst day on the trail (due to weather) 

Europe: At the very end of the year I decided to sneak out of the country for a few days and finally got to see Prague, a city I had been wanting to go to for years. There were still a lot of COVID related restrictions, but it did not put a damper on my experience at all. 

The Palace - South Tower

The Vltava

Well there you have it. This year was a lot more travel than last year, that is for sure. I hope next year I will finally get to take the trip back to Nepal to finish Everest Base Camp trek (it has been planned for the last two years) but in the meantime, I am having fun improvising! 

Where did you travel this year? If you did not travel, what fun things did you do close to home? 

Looking Back: February

 I am not sure if it is because February was a short month or what but all I can say is what the h-e-double-hockey-sticks happened to February!? I do not feel that it was especially productive, but still things sailed pretty quickly from January to March. Maybe this is a good thing, as it means one day (week, month) closer to, dare I say, "normalcy?" Here's hoping. Until then, one day (week, month) at a time, we keep paddling. Yup, I am in a sailboat with a paddle. 

Running: In February, after two months of solitude, we came out of lockdown. I started back doing a once a week run with my running buddy. However, I still had quite a few solo runs, several of them in the pouring rain and the majority of them still on the road rather than trails. I ended up with 215 miles. I have been having fun finding weird things in my neighborhood, like this series of wooden creatures on a local trail. 

Plumbers crack

Forrest creature

Reading: Two things dragged down my reading numbers this month. One: I am reading a book called Dark Money for a work book club and it is dragging along! It is about the Koch brothers and I have learned a lot but man it is boring at times. Two: I have been studying a lot. However, I did read 12 books and my two favorites were Code Name Helene (WWII alert!) and A Good Neighborhood. For more details you can go here. 

My study buddy

Travel: Hahahahahaha. What? Snore emoji! I went back and forth to work, I went grocery shopping and I went to the gas station. My big traveling lately has been done on YouTube (places like this), which is helping me to plan about 10 summer camping trips of which I will hopefully get to do a few of. 

Misc.: I have done a fair bit of puttering in the garden and we have actually had some rainy days but not enough of them, so the backyard days have been more plentiful than I thought they would. I did some digging and moved some dirt around and did a ton of weeding. In a couple of weeks, I will make sure the drip system is set up and I will throw some veggies in the dirt! It is very satisfying and a nice break from studying. I am also tentatively planning a few summer things, although I am keeping my expectations low while also being cautiously optimistic. 

What was your favorite book in February? Did you go anywhere or do anything? 

Looking Back: 2020

At the beginning of December, the Bay Area was placed back into Stay at Home lockdown. Although plans for this December were not as hearty as other years, I did hope to have a couple of socially distanced gift exchanges or hikes with friends. Instead, I put packages in the mail or dropped them off on people's porches. I scheduled a new round of video calls. I downloaded extra audiobooks onto my phone in preparation for solitary runs. 

There has been a lot of that this year; there have been many broken plans, many frustrations, plenty of audiobooks and a lot of time to reflect and think. There has been a lot of solitude for some and a feeling of being stuck with the same people in the same house forever for others. We have had to have patience and understanding; we have had to have flexibility. We have worried about our loved ones and been angry at them for their beliefs, just as they have been angry at ours. We have seen people in our lives sicken; we have been affected either directly or indirectly by an instance where someone has not recovered. 

January 1, 2020 - View from Mt. Tam

We adapt; we grow; we learn about ourselves and our resiliency when faced by adverse situations. I know that I am introverted; I love to read and putter around the house; I am happy on the couch with a blanket; I can measure success in small ways: reorganizing my closet for the hundredth time (success equals getting rid of even just one running shirt) or making lists and crossing things off (Yay! I went grocery shopping!). We can edit our goals; this year I read more books than I ever had in one year (success!); this year I went to a national park in California that I had not been to before (success!); this year I grew an onion in my garden (okay, it was two onions actually, but...success!); this year I did not gain weight. 

We will probably look back at this year in twenty years just like we do with 9/11 or whatever trauma we know in our lives and say, "where were you when..." or "can you believe we did...?" I lived in Istanbul for a few months, and I missed my first Thanksgiving with my family. At the time, I thought it was hard, but afterward, when looking back, even mere days after, it was not that bad. I have stories to tell about it. Did you know that I could not for the life of me find a turkey in Turkey? I had to make due with a chicken. And some of the side dishes were....creative. But it was an adventure. 

This year I missed all the holidays with all of my friends and family, but in the grand scheme of things...it is not that bad. We are all happy and healthy; we all have jobs; we all care about each other and have been there for each other even when we are not feeling motivated.  This year has been an adventure. Adventures are not always fun. The dictionary defines them as: an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity. I would say that this year qualifies. 

Look, there's hope! I can see it! (PC: MW)

So long 2020; here's hoping that our adventures in 2021 are a little less pandemic, a little more rock and roll. To all my friends and family, here's hoping that in 2021 our adventures will be done together! 

How would you sum up 2020 in one word? What adventures do you hope for in 2021? 

Looking Back: March

Well hello! The month of March was one for the record books so I figured why not put some of my thoughts in writing?

Running: Despite many obstacles, I ran 180 miles in March. The month started out great; summer training was starting to ramp up, it was a little rainy, things were still "normal." Week two was a travel week for me, so it was slated for a low mileage week, but then the shit hit the fan. More on that later. The next Monday, the Bay Area went into a shelter in place and since then running has been a bit of a trial. It often looks like the photo below, which, as you can see, is nearly impossible to get 6 feet away from people.

Photo Credit: LA Times

Reading: In March I read 10 books; to be clear, 5 of them were audiobooks. As I am now running by myself and commuting to work and doing a lot of house and yard projects when I am home, all of the above translates to a lot of time going toward audiobooks. Oh and did I mention that the CFA Exam which was supposed to be in June was cancelled/postponed? So now studying is also postponed, so I have had lots of time to get to reading! My favorites for the month of March were This Tender Land, The Dearly Beloved and The Book Women of Troublesome Creek.

Travel: Now this is a story I never thought I would have to tell. Believe it or not, I did travel in March. On the 11th, I flew to...wait for it...New York City. I went for a work trip combined with my friend's wedding. My flight was basically empty. The Monday before I left , the Dow dropped over 2,000 points. The Wednesday that I flew, the Dow dropped another 1,400+. The first day in the NYC office, it dropped another 2,300 points and then on Friday the 13th, it went up 2,000 points. I would say that was the strangest week (at the time) market-wise, that I have ever been through. To top it off, our firm was starting to make people work from home and restaurants were half empty etc.

March 11: SFO-EWR

On Thursday, my friend who was getting married texted me to tell me that her wedding has been cancelled. So we make plans to still meet up for brunch on Sunday. On Friday, they start shutting down restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn. My friend says brunch is cancelled. I decided to get an earlier flight out and end up flying home on Saturday morning. On my flight home, most people are wearing masks.

Etc. & Misc.: I am still going into the office. Out of our team of 12, three of us are still going in. I am driving there (I usually take public transit) and back each day and am going grocery shopping every two weeks. Other than that, I am at home. I am taking runs by myself, all within 5 miles of my house. I am healthy and I have plenty of food. Since I do not have to study, I am getting a lot of yard work, housework and cleaning/culling projects out of the way early this year. I have not done my taxes yet.

I am still hopeful about having a garden, but am not going to go out to buy plants since that is not essential so I have ordered some online (we shall see!) and am attempting to plant some seeds this year. Also the trees (fig, peach, plum, orange, avocado, blueberry) are looking very good this year!

What was your favorite March read? What are you filling your extra time with? 

Looking Back: December & January & February

And before you know it, poof, a month has already gone by! And then, poof, another! I have been really slacking on posting, but I have been reading your updates when I get a chance; I am just not really commenting as much anymore. Here, in short form, is a summary of my past few months.

December quickie: In December I ran 164 miles to bring my 2017 total to 2,505 for the year, which got me to my 2,400 mile goal. I climbed 29,800 ft, which also bagged me my 450k climbing goal for the year.  I read 6 books, for a total of 94 books. My favorite for December was The Alice Network, which I talked about in my Best of 2017 book post. I traveled home for the holidays.

Running: In January I ran 204 miles and climbed 28,900 ft. In February I ran 210 miles and climbed 23,300 ft. This year I have lowered some of my goals a bit, as I have some more important things on the agenda, but I would still like to break the 2,000 mile / 400,000 ft climbing goal. I seem to be on track so far.

Sunset Speed Work at Lake Merritt

Point Reyes Sunrise Run

Lately a typical running week is three or four runs: a short trail run during the week, one session of road/speed work during the week, a "long" trail on the weekend and sometimes a once a week catch up road run with a friend who is training for her first full running half marathon (she has done a half before but walked a lot of it). This seems to be a good variation while still putting in enough miles but spending less time than if I did all trail runs. I still struggle to find a balance at times (and sleep is often the loser), but it'll get there!

Reading: In January, I started 6 books and put three of them down right away, for a net total of three books. I have started to be better about ditching books that don't catch my interest before I get to the halfway point. This time, I even ditched a couple in the first couple of chapters! In February, I had a better month, and read four books (no rejects!) which were all pretty good. My goal this year is one book per week, or 52 books. So far, I am a little bit behind, but I will likely catch up in August and September, when I generally have most of my vacation time.

Some of my favorites from the past two months were:

Beartown by Fredrik Backman (****)
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (****)
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (****)
We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter (*****)

Travel: You know that buzzer sound when you get an answer wrong on Family Feud? That pretty much sums up my travel for the past two months. A big fat BEEEEEEP. Nothing. Okay, so not totally nothing, I guess, but mostly local. I went to Auburn for a nice hike with the family and I spent a fun game night at a friend's house, but I have slept in my own bed every single night so far this year. After spending virtually no Saturdays in my own bed from August - November of last year, it feels a little strange. Plus I have to wash the sheets more often now.

Auburn Hike with the Fam

Well, that's the last three months in a nutshell! Before I go, I want to give a quick shout out to my friend Lisa, who besides my Mom (hi Mom!) is one of the few people who reads this. After what I would say was a difficult pregnancy, she recently had a baby boy! Congrats Lisa!

What have you been up to for the past few months? What book should I add to my list? In what month do you travel the most?

Looking Back: November

November to me means the beginning of many things: the rainy season, the holidays, the  end of the year. It is always strange when it hits you that this year is almost over! Then you start to reflect on what has happened over the last year and it all seems to be a bit surreal at times! Here are the stats.

Running: In November I ran 172.7 miles and climbed 34,108 feet. Most of my mileage was due to a couple of longer runs on the weekends as well as one race, the Quad Dipsea (QD), which has become sort of an annual tradition. The QD is a two time out and back which has about 2,500 feet of climbing for each out and each back, for a total of almost 10,000 feet. This is always held the weekend after Thanksgiving and is an excellent way to burn off those turkey calories. I also biked 41.8 miles, which brings the yearly total to 268.8 which is an average of about 5.6 miles or one round trip commute per week.

Reading: I did not read as many books in November, most likely for a few reasons. One, my audio-book reading time goes down when I am not in the car or running alone and I did not really do much of either. For real books, I have been getting regular old hard backs from the library, which by the way never have as long of a hold period as the eBooks. However, other things in life are taking up precious reading time, so I have not been doing as much reading of the real books either. Here is the list in order of preference (audio-books in italics). I ended up reading 5 books.

The Last Days of Night****
Refugee****
Behold the Dreamers***
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls***
The Impossible Fortress***

Travel: This month I did not stray too far from home, mostly because it was the holidays and I hosted so I stayed around for that, and then I had the Quad Dipsea one weekend so I stayed around for that. Otherwise, I did a quick weekend trip to Pomona to go to the NHRA drag race finals, which were a lot of fun even though my guy did not end up winning. Also, I did go to Marin county for runs with friends and to do the annual volunteering gig with my brother, where we sweep the course of the North Face 50 mile race. After doing it for four years in a row, we finally earned a new radio handle this year. We will heretofore be known as: Menudo!

Me and the broski, North Face 50 mile sweeps

 

Sunset over the Farallon Islands, Marin Headlands -- NF50 sweep

Sun setting on the Pomona Raceway. NHRA Finals.

Etc.: The garden is dead. I was thinking of planting some winter things, but am not sure I will get to it in time (or maybe I am already to late). So now it's just raking time, although I did buy a fun toy, a leaf blower, so I will probably have some fun with that in the coming days! Although I have never really used one before... Wish me luck!

San Francisco at dusk from the Vallejo steps.

What happened to you in November? How was your Thanksgiving?